A second species, "Elmisaurus elegans", was named in 1989 by Philip J. Currie. This represented a North American form originally described as a species of "Ornithomimus" by William Arthur Parks in 1933, based on specimen ROM 781, a foot. Currie also referred the material of the American form "Caenagnathus sternbergi", based on a jaw fragment, to "Elmisaurus elegans". Due to their poor preservation and geographical distance from the type species, the classification of the American forms has been contentious. In 1997, Hans-Dieter Sues stated that this supposed second species of "Elmisaurus" should be referred to "Chirostenotes", as a "Chirostenotes elegans", though this position was not accepted by Currie. However, other researchers, including Teresa Maryańska, Osmólska, and their colleagues, followed Sues in reassigning "E. elegans" to "Chirostenotes".