Xinjiangovenator is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of coelurosaurian dinosaur

Dinosaur

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...

 of the Valanginian

Valanginian

In the geologic timescale, the Valanginian is an age or stage of the Early or Lower Cretaceous. It spans between 140.2 ± 3.0 Ma and 136.4 ± 2.0 Ma...

 to Albian

Albian

The Albian is both an age of the geologic timescale and a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early/Lower Cretaceous epoch/series. Its approximate time range is 112.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 99.6 ± 0.9 Ma...

 stages of the Early Cretaceous

Early Cretaceous

The Early Cretaceous or the Lower Cretaceous , is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous...

 period. Its remains were found in the Lianmuqin Formation of Wuerho, Xinjiang, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, and were first described by Dong Zhiming

Dong Zhiming

Dong Zhiming , from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing, is one of China's leading paleontologists. He began working at the IVPP in 1962, learning from Yang Zhongjian who was director at the time...

. Based on

Holotype

A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...

 IVPP

Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology

The Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of China is a prominent research institution and collections repository for fossils, including many dinosaur and pterosaurand cat poo specimens...

 4024-2, an articulated partial right leg, it was originally thought to be a new specimen of Phaedrolosaurus

Phaedrolosaurus

Phaedrolosaurus was a genus of theropod dinosaur, based on a single tooth possibly from the Valanginian-Albian-age Lower Cretaceous Lianmugin Formation of Wuerho, Xinjiang, China. This tooth, IVPP V 4024-1, was described by Dong Zhiming as like those of Deinonychus, albeit thicker, shorter, and...

. However, Phaedrolosaurus is based only on teeth, so the hindlimb bones were given their own genus by Rauhut and Xu in 2005. It may be related to Bagaraatan

Bagaraatan

Bagaraatan was a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period. Its fossils were found in the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia. Bagaraatan may have been around 3–4 metres in length....

.