| Nqwebasaurus Temporal range: Early Cretaceous,
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| Life restoration | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Clade: | †Ornithomimosauria |
| Genus: | †Nqwebasaurus de Klerk et al. 2000 |
| Species: | †N. thwazi
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| Binomial name | |
| †Nqwebasaurus thwazi de Klerk et al. 2000
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Nqwebasaurus (IPA: [ᵑǃʷɛbaˈsɔɹəs]; anglicized as /ɪŋˌkwɛbəˈsɔːrəs/ or /ˌnwɛbəˈsɔːrəs/[1][circular reference]) is a basal coelurosaur and is the basal-most member of the coelurosaurian clade Ornithomimosauria from the Early Cretaceous of South Africa.[2] The name Nqwebasaurus is derived from the Xhosa word Nqweba which is the local name for the Kirkwood district, and thwazi is ancient Xhosa for "fast runner".[3] Currently it is the oldest coelurosaur in Africa and shows that basal coelurosaurian dinosaurs inhabited Gondwana 50 million years earlier than previously thought. The type specimen of Nqwebasaurus was discovered by William J. de Klerk who is affiliated with the Albany Museum in Grahamstown. It is the only fossil of its species found to date and was found in the Kirkwood Formation of the Uitenhage Group. Nqwebasaurus has the unofficial nickname "Kirky", due to being found in the Kirkwood.[2][4][5]
- ^ English phonology#Syllable structure
- ^ a b Choiniere, Jonah; Forster, Catherine; De Klerk, William (2012-08-01). "New information on Nqwebasaurus thwazi, a coelurosaurian theropod from the Early Cretaceous Kirkwood Formation in South Africa". Journal of African Earth Sciences. s 71–72: 1–17. Bibcode:2012JAfES..71....1C. doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2012.05.005.
- ^ "At last, a Xhosaurus". News24. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
- ^ De Klerk, William; Forster, Catherine; Sampson, Scott; Chinsamy-Turan, Anusuya; Ross, Callum (2000-06-27). "A new coelurosaurian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of South Africa". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 20 (2): 324–332. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2000)020[0324:ANCDFT]2.0.CO;2.
- ^ Forster, Catherine; A. Farke, Andrew; A. Mccartney, Jacob; De Klerk, William; Ross, Callum (2009-03-30). "A "Basal" Tetanuran from the Lower Cretaceous Kirkwood Formation of South Africa". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 29 (1): 283–285. Bibcode:2009JVPal..29..283F. doi:10.1671/039.029.0101.