| Kinnareemimus Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, Valanginian–Hauterivian |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Theropoda |
| Node: | Maniraptoriformes |
| Infraorder: | †Ornithomimosauria |
| Genus: | †Kinnareemimus Buffetaut et al., 2009 |
| Species: | †K. khonkaenensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Kinnareemimus khonkaenensis Buffetaut et al., 2009 |
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Kinnareemimus is a genus of ornithomimosaurian theropod dinosaur from Thailand. It is known only from incomplete remains including vertebrae, partial pubic bones, metatarsals, and an incomplete fibula. The third metatarsal exhibits a distinctive lateral "pinching", known as the "arctometarsalian" condition, variations of which are found in ornithomimosaurs, tyrannosauroids, troodontids, and caenagnathids. Its remains were collected from the Early Cretaceous Sao Khua Formation, dating to the Valanginian to Hauterivian stage, at Phu Wiang, Khon Kaen Province. Its early occurrence makes it among the earliest (if not the earliest) ornithomimosaur known, depending on the age of the formation. Buffetaut et al. suggest the fossils of Kinnareemimus may indicate an Asian origin for advanced ornithomimosaurs.[1]
Kinnareemimus was first described by Eric Buffetaut, Varavudh Suteethorn and Haiyan Tong in 2009 and the type species is K. khonkaenensis. Kinnareemimus was named in honor of Kinnaree, "graceful beings of Thai mythology, with the body of a woman and the legs of a bird, said to inhabit the depths of the legendary Himmapan Forest, by allusion to the bird-like feet of this dinosaur".[1] The name "Kinnareemimus" was first mentioned in a 1999 paper by Sasithorn Kamsupha, and (as "Ginnareemimus") in a publication by Ryuichi Kaneko in 2000.