A SMALL THEROPOD DINOSAUR FROM THE AGUJA FORMATION (UPPER CRETACEOUS) BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK, TEXAS

Remains of theropod dinosaurs are remarkably scarce and usually very fragmentary in Upper Cretaceous strata of Big Bend National Park. Most taxa have been identified or named based on dental elements alone, or on isolated finds consisting of no more than one or two bones. Parts of an associated postcranial skeleton of a small theropod dinosaur recently collected from the uppermost Aguja Formation comprise the most complete example thus far recovered in Big Bend. The specimen exhibits some unique features, but is compatible with identification as either Troodontidae or Dromaeosauridae.