Linhenykus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
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Skeletal restoration, showing known parts in white | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | Saurischia |
Clade: | Theropoda |
Family: | †Alvarezsauridae |
Tribe: | †Mononykini |
Genus: | †Linhenykus Xu et al., 2011 |
Species: | †L. monodactylus
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Binomial name | |
†Linhenykus monodactylus Xu et al., 2011
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Linhenykus is an extinct genus of alvarezsaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia, China. It is the most basal known member of the Parvicursorinae. The genus gets its name from Linhe, a city near the site where the fossil was first found and Greek nykus, "claw". The specific name is derived from Greek monos, "single", and daktylos, "finger", a reference to the fact that it is the only known non-avian dinosaur to have had but a single digit.