Hesperonychus

Hesperonychus
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 76.5–75 Ma
UALVP 48778, holotype pelvis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Clade: Pennaraptora
Clade: Paraves
Genus: Hesperonychus
Longrich & Currie, 2009
Species:
H. elizabethae
Binomial name
Hesperonychus elizabethae
Longrich & Currie, 2009

Hesperonychus (meaning "western claw") is a genus of small paravian theropod dinosaur. It may be a dromaeosaurid or an avialan. There is one described species, Hesperonychus elizabethae. The type species was named in honor of Dr. Elizabeth Nicholls of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology who collected it as a student in 1982.[1] It is known from fossils recovered from the Dinosaur Park Formation and possibly from the uppermost strata of the Oldman Formation of Alberta, dating to the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous around 75 million years ago.[2]

  1. ^ Alberta researchers discover mini meat-eating dinosaur, a 16 March 2009 article from CBC News
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference longrich&currie2009 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).