Trierarchuncus

Trierarchuncus
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 66.2–66 Ma
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Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Family: †Alvarezsauridae
Subfamily: †Parvicursorinae
Genus: †Trierarchuncus
Fowler et al., 2020
Species:
†T. prairiensis
Binomial name
†Trierarchuncus prairiensis
Fowler et al., 2020

Trierarchuncus (meaning "captain hook," after its single-clawed hands) is a monotypic genus of alvarezsaurid theropod which includes a single species, Trierarchuncus prairiensis, which is known from fossils found in deposits of the Hell Creek Formation in Montana.[1][2] It is the youngest known alvarezsaurid and one of the last non-avian dinosaurs, going extinct during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, which occurred approximately 66 million years ago.[3][1][4]

  1. ^ a b Denver W. Fowler; John P. Wilson; Elizabeth A. Freedman Fowler; Christopher R. Noto; Daniel Anduza; John R. Horner (2020). "Trierarchuncus prairiensis gen. et sp. nov., the last alvarezsaurid: Hell Creek Formation (uppermost Maastrichtian), Montana". Cretaceous Research. 116: Article 104560. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104560. S2CID 225630913.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Weishampel was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Fortey, Richard (1999). Life: A natural history of the first four billion years of life on Earth. Vintage. pp. 238–260. ISBN 978-0-375-70261-7.
  4. ^ "Badlands - Research - 2020 new alvarezsaurid species". Dickinson Museum Center. Retrieved 2020-07-17.