Talos
- Lived
- 84 to 72 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
- Diet
- Omnivore
- Length
- about 2 m (7 ft)
- Group
- Theropods, Troodontidae
- Found in
- United States
- Named by
- Zanno et al. 2011
Size comparison
To scale
Scale in metersOutline: typical theropod shape
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
80 million years ago
Habitat
Rivers and swamps on the western side of the Western Interior Seaway. Dinosaurs from the Kaiparowits Formation include Teratophoneus, Kosmoceratops and Gryposaurus.
Field notes
About Talos
What it was like
Talos was a feathered troodontid, a big-eyed, lightly built theropod about 2 meters (7 feet) long. Its only skeleton shows an injured and healed toe on the foot that carried its large claw, which suggests it lived with the injury for some time.
Its world
It lived in the Late Cretaceous in what is now Utah. Its bones come from the Kaiparowits Formation, a land of rivers and swamps shared with the tyrannosaur Teratophoneus, the horned Kosmoceratops and Utahceratops and the duckbill Gryposaurus.
How it was found
Zanno and colleagues named it in 2011. Its name comes from a bronze giant in Greek myth.
Field gallery
More views of Talos
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Talos.
The evidence
The science behind Talos
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- A partial skeleton preserves the pelvis, hind legs, feet, an ulna from the forearm and parts of the backbone.
- A bone in the enlarged claw-bearing toe shows injury, infection and new bone growth.
- Its long foot bones were more slender than those of several other North American troodontids.
Borrowed from relatives
- Saurornithoides provides a comparison for the missing snout.
- Jianianhualong provides broader comparisons for the missing skull roof and hand.
- Feathers are inferred from feathered relatives such as Jianianhualong.
Still unknown
- What caused the toe injury.
- Its feather colors.
- Its skull and what it ate.
Discovery timeline
- 2009Family treeHu et al.
- 2010Same rocksSampson et al.
- 2011Named itZanno et al.
- 2017Family treeXu et al.
- 2026Family treeRivera-Sylva et al.
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Talos
Family tree
Described extensive feathers on Anchiornis, including long foot feathers, helping explain why bird-like theropods are restored with feathered bodies.
A pre-Archaeopteryx troodontid theropod from China with long feathers on the metatarsus. Nature 461: 640-643
Read the paper : A pre-Archaeopteryx troodontid theropod from China with long feathers on the metatarsus (opens in a new tab)Same rocks
Named Utahceratops and Kosmoceratops from the same formation, showing the distinctive horned dinosaurs of this western coastal region.
New Horned Dinosaurs from Utah Provide Evidence for Intracontinental Dinosaur Endemism. PLoS ONE 5: e12292
Read the paper : New Horned Dinosaurs from Utah Provide Evidence for Intracontinental Dinosaur Endemism (opens in a new tab)Named it
Described a lightly built troodontid with an injured claw-bearing toe, supporting the idea that the enlarged toe had a specialized use.
A New Troodontid Theropod, Talos sampsoni gen. et sp. nov., from the Upper Cretaceous Western Interior Basin of North America. PLoS ONE 6: e24487
Read the paper : A New Troodontid Theropod, Talos sampsoni gen. et sp. nov., from the Upper Cretaceous Western Interior Basin of North America (opens in a new tab)Family tree
Described Jianianhualong, whose feathers, skull roof and hand bones give a broader comparison for missing parts of Talos.
Mosaic evolution in an asymmetrically feathered troodontid dinosaur with transitional features. Nature Communications 8
Read the paper : Mosaic evolution in an asymmetrically feathered troodontid dinosaur with transitional features (opens in a new tab)Family tree
Described a thick-skulled troodontid from Mexico and, in one analysis, tentatively grouped Talos with Saurornithoides and Borogovia.
A Thick-Skulled Troodontid Theropod from the Late Cretaceous of Mexico. Diversity 18: 38
Read the paper : A Thick-Skulled Troodontid Theropod from the Late Cretaceous of Mexico (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Troodontidae
Sources: Wikidata