Mononykus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
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Reconstructed skeleton at the American Museum of Natural History | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | Saurischia |
Clade: | Theropoda |
Family: | †Alvarezsauridae |
Subfamily: | †Parvicursorinae |
Tribe: | †Mononykini |
Genus: | †Mononykus Perle et al., 1993 |
Type species | |
†Mononykus olecranus Perle et al., 1993
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Synonyms | |
Mononychus olecranus Perle et al., 1993 (preoccupied generic name) |
Mononykus (/məˈnɒnɪkəs/ mə-NON-ik-əs, sometimes /ˌmɒnoʊˈnaɪkəs/ MON-oh-NY-kəs; meaning "one claw") is a genus of alvarezsaurid dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous in what is now Asia on the Nemegt Formation, about 70 million years ago.
Mononykus was a very small theropod, estimated around 1 to 1.2 metres (3.3 to 3.9 ft) in length with a weight of 3.5 kilograms (7.7 lb). As in Shuvuuia, Mononykus likely developed a shaggy feathering. It was lightly built with long, thin legs and highly reduced and specialized forelimbs that were likely used for foraging termite mounds or other insect colonies.