Mononykus

Mononykus
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
~70 Ma
Reconstructed skeleton at the American Museum of Natural History
Scientific classification Edit this 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
Synonyms

Mononychus olecranus Perle et al., 1993 (preoccupied generic name)

Mononykus (/məˈnɒnɪkəs/ mə-NON-ik-əs, sometimes /ˌmɒnˈnkəs/ 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.