{{Short description|Extinct genus of dinosaurs}} {{Italic title}} {{Speciesbox | fossil_range = [[Late Cretaceous]], {{fossil_range|75|latest=71}} | image=Philovenator curriei life restoration..png | image_caption = Life restoration | authority = Xu ''et al.'', [[2012 in paleontology|2012]] | genus = Philovenator | species = curriei | parent_authority = Xu ''et al.'', 2012 }}
'''''Philovenator''''' (literally meaning "love hunter") is an [[extinct]] [[genus]] of [[troodontid]] [[paravian]] [[dinosaur]]s from the [[Wulansuhai Formation]] (dated to the [[Campanian]] age, sometime between 75 and 71 million years ago) of [[Inner Mongolia]], [[China]]. Its [[specific name (zoology)|specific name]] honors [[Phillip J. Currie]].
==Description== ''Philovenator'' is a [[troodontid]], a group of small, bird-like, [[Gracility|gracile]] [[maniraptora]]ns. All troodontids have many unique features of the skull, such as closely spaced [[teeth]] in the lower jaw, and large numbers of teeth. Troodontids have sickle-claws and [[raptorial]] [[hands]], and some of the highest non-[[Bird|avian]] [[encephalization quotient]]s, meaning they were behaviourally advanced and had keen senses.<ref name="Lüetal">{{cite journal|author1=Junchang Lü |author2=Li Xu |author3=Yongqing Liu |author4=Xingliao Zhang |author5=Songhai Jia |author6=Qiang Ji |name-list-style=amp |year= 2010 |title= A new troodontid (Theropoda: Troodontidae) from the Late Cretaceous of central China, and the radiation of Asian troodontids. |journal= Acta Palaeontologica Polonica |volume=55 |issue=3 |pages=381–388 |doi= 10.4202/app.2009.0047 |url=http://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app55/app20090047.pdf|doi-access=free }}</ref>
Several distinguishing traits were established in the initial description. The thighbone possesses a distinctive process at the inner side of the lower end. The shinbone has on the upper front side a plate-like cnemial crest, protruding far to the front. The condyles of the astragalus and calcaneum are wide, measured from the front to the rear, and are separated by a deep and narrow groove. The [[metatarsus]] has fused with the lower ankle bones into a very elongated and narrow tarsometatarsus, being 25% longer than the thighbone and twenty-five times longer than wide. Of this tarsometatarsus the thickness of the middle section of the shaft, measured from the front to the rear in a vertical position, is larger than its transverse width. The fourth [[metatarsal]] at its underside, if the bone is held in a horizontal position, has a flange along most of the shaft length, being almost as wide as the remainder of the shaft.<ref name="xuetal12"/>
==History of discovery== ''Philovenator'' is known from a single left hindlimb, first discovered in 1988 by the [[China-Canada Dinosaur Project]]. The specimen was catalogued as [[Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology|IVPP]] V 10597. It was found in the [[Wulansuhai Formation]], of [[China]]. In 1993, it was described, and assigned as a juvenile of ''[[Saurornithoides]]''. Its juvenile status is reflected by the small size of the type specimen which indicates a total body length of about two feet. The authors, [[Philip J. Currie]] and Peng, did not find any [[autapomorphies]] of ''Saurornithoides'', but based on the then current knowledge of anatomy and genera, the assignment was reasonable. In 2011, ''[[Linhevenator]]'' was described, and IVPP V 10597 was shown to have many similarities to this new taxon, possibly being a juvenile. However, a 2012 study of the [[histology]] and [[osteology]] of IVPP V 10597 determined that it was a new taxon related to ''Linhevenator'', and it was named ''Philovenator curriei'' by [[Xu Xing (paleontologist)|Xu Xing]] e.a.. The name is derived from "Phil" and "currie", for [[Philip J. Currie]], as well as the [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] ''φιλειν'' (philein), "to love", and [[Latin]] ''venator'', or "hunter", suggesting it loved hunting.<ref name="xuetal12">{{cite journal |author1=Xu Xing |author2=Zhao Ji |author3=Corwin Sullivan |author4=Tan Qing-Wei |author5=Martin Sander |author6=Ma Qing-Yu |year=2012 |title=The taxonomy of the troodontid IVPP V 10597 reconsidered |journal=Vertebrata PalAsiatica |volume=50 |issue=2 |pages=140–150 |url=http://www.ivpp.cas.cn/cbw/gjzdwxb/xbwzxz/201204/P020120423369968204026.pdf}}</ref>
==Classification== The [[phylogenetic]] relationships of [[Troodontidae]] were explored by Tsuihiji ''et al.'' (2014) using the data matrix published by Gao ''et al.'' (2012), a slightly modified version of Xu ''et al.'' (2011) analysis.<ref name=Mei2012>{{Cite journal | last1 = Gao | first1 = C. | last2 = Morschhauser | first2 = E. M. | last3 = Varricchio | first3 = D. J. | last4 = Liu | first4 = J. | last5 = Zhao | first5 = B. | editor1-last = Farke | editor1-first = Andrew A | title = A Second Soundly Sleeping Dragon: New Anatomical Details of the Chinese Troodontid ''Mei long'' with Implications for Phylogeny and Taphonomy | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0045203 | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 7 | issue = 9 | article-number = e45203 | year = 2012 | pmid = 23028847| pmc = 3459897| doi-access = free | bibcode = 2012PLoSO...745203G }}</ref> The resultant matrix includes 91 [[coelurosaur]]s and outgroup taxa which are scored based on 363 morphological traits. ''Philovenator'' was recovered as an advanced [[troodontid]], closely related to other Late Cretaceous troodontids, such as ''[[Saurornithoides]]'' and ''[[Zanabazar junior|Zanabazar]]'' from Mongolia, and ''[[Troodon]]'' from [[North America]]. The [[cladogram]] below shows the phylogenetic position of ''Philovenator'' among the Troodontidae following this analysis.
{{clade| style=font-size:85%;line-height:85% |label1=[[Paraves]] |1={{clade |1=[[Avialae]] |label2=[[Deinonychosauria]] |2={{clade |1=[[Dromaeosauridae]] |label2=[[Troodontidae]] |2={{clade |1=''[[Sinovenator]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Anchiornis]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Mei (dinosaur)|Mei]]'' |2=''[[Talos (dinosaur)|Talos]]'' |3={{clade |1=''[[Byronosaurus]]'' |2={{clade |1=[[SPS 100/44|IGM 100/44]] |2=''[[Sinornithoides]]'' |3={{clade |1={{clade |1=''[[Linhevenator]]'' |2='''''Philovenator'''''}} |2={{clade |1=''[[Gobivenator]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Troodon]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Saurornithoides]]'' |2=''[[Zanabazar (dinosaur)|Zanabazar]]''}} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Portal|Dinosaurs}} {{Paraves|T.}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q2327593}}
[[Category:Troodontidae]] [[Category:Dinosaur genera]] [[Category:Campanian dinosaurs]] [[Category:Taxa named by Xu Xing]] [[Category:Fossil taxa described in 2012]] [[Category:Dinosaurs of China]]