Ornitholestes is a small theropod dinosaur of the late Jurassic of Western Laurasia.
Ornitholestes
Mounted holotype specimen
Illustration of the holotype skull
Hand of the holotype, with the first finger restored on the right
The Morrison Formation is a distinctive sequence of Upper Jurassic sedimentary rock found in the western United States which has been the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in North America. It is composed of mudstone, sandstone, siltstone, and limestone and is light gray, greenish gray, or red. Most of the fossils occur in the green siltstone beds and lower sandstones, relics of the rivers and floodplains of the Jurassic period.
The distinctive banding of the Morrison Formation, a group of rock layers that occur throughout Dinosaur National Monument and the source of fossils like those found at the Dinosaur Quarry
Stratotypes for members of the Morrison Formation
Brushy Basin Member showing the purple and red colors of paleosols (ancient soils). East side of the San Rafael Swell, Emery County, Utah.
Gypsiferous facies of the Ralston Creek Member exposed in a road cut, Fremont County, Colorado.