Sinovenator (meaning "Chinese hunter") is a genus of troodontid dinosaur from China. It is from the early Cretaceous Period. Discovery and naming Two specimens of a troodontid were described in 2002. They are both housed in the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, under the specimen numbers IVPP V 12615 and IVPP V 12583. Xu Xing, Mark Norell, and colleagues authored the study describing them, finding the specimens to represent a new taxon, for which was chosen the binomial Sinovenator changii. The generic name was derived from the Latin word Sinae, for China, and Venator, or "hunter". Meemann Chang is honoured by the species name for her contributions to the study of the Jehol Fauna. As Chang is a female researcher, the epithet should have been "changae"; however, such mistakes cannot be emended according to the rules of the ICZN and therefore forms such as "Sinovenator changae" or "Sinovenator changiae" that sometimes appear in the literature, are incorrect. The type specimen or holotype of Sinovenator changii is IVPP 12615, a partial skull and disarticulated skeleton. An additional specimen was by the original publication scientifically described and assigned as the paratype of the species: an incomplete but articulated postcranial skeleton, numbered IVPP 12583. A third specimen was referred: IVPP V14322, a fragmentary skeleton. All three are in the collection of the IVPP in Beijing, China. However, Sinovenator fossils appear to be common in the Lujiatun Beds. In a 2006 survey of the Jehol Biota, Xu and Norell reported that hundreds of undescribed specimens are known. The fossils have been preserved three-dimensionally, not strongly compressed on a slab. In 2014, the wrist of one specimen was described, IVPP V14009, an adult. In 2018, PMOL-AD00102, consisting of a partial skull and mandibles, and six cervical vertebrae, was referred to the taxon. Description Sinovenator is a troodontid, a group of small, bird-like, gracile maniraptorans. 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-avian encephalization quotients, meaning they were behaviourally advanced and had keen senses. The holotype individual of Sinovenator was about the size of a chicken, less than a metre long. In 2010, Gregory S. Paul estimated the weight of a one metre long individual at 2.5 kilogrammes. However, the holotype and paratype are subadults; specimens are known