Ornithodesmus

Ornithodesmus Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 125 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Illustration of the holotype sacrum in multiple views
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	Theropoda
Family:	†Dromaeosauridae
Genus:	†Ornithodesmus Seeley, 1887
Species:	†O. cluniculus
Binomial name
†Ornithodesmus cluniculus Seeley, 1887

Ornithodesmus (meaning "bird link") is a genus of small, dromaeosaurid dinosaur from the Isle of Wight in England, dating to about 125 million years ago. The name was originally assigned to a bird-like sacrum (a series of vertebrae fused to the hip bones), initially believed to come from a bird^[1] and subsequently identified as a pterosaur. More complete pterosaur remains were later assigned to Ornithodesmus, until recently a detailed analysis determined that the original specimen in fact came from a small theropod, specifically a dromaeosaur, making it one of the first dromaeosaurs known to science. All pterosaurian material previously assigned to this genus has been renamed Istiodactylus.