|
Alvarezsaurs
Alvarezsauroidea is a group of small maniraptoran dinosaurs. Alvarezsauroidea, Alvarezsauridae, and Alvarezsauria are named for the historian Gregorio Álvarez (historian), Gregorio Álvarez, not the more familiar physicist Luis Walter Alvarez, Luis Alvarez, or his son geologist Walter Alvarez who jointly proposed that the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event was caused by an impact event. The group was first formally proposed by Choiniere and colleagues in 2010, to contain the family Alvarezsauridae and non-alvarezsaurid alvarezsauroids, such as ''Haplocheirus'',Choiniere, J.N., Xu, X., Clark, J.M., Forster, C.A., Guo, Y. and Han, F. (2010). "A basal alvarezsauroid theropod from the early Late Jurassic of Xinjiang, China." ''Science'', 327: 571-574. which is the basalmost of the Alvarezsauroidea (from the Late Jurassic, Asia). The discovery of ''Haplocheirus'' extended the stratigraphic evidence for the group Alvarezsauroidea about 63 million years further in the past. The di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tugulusaurus
''Tugulusaurus'' (meaning "Tugulu lizard") is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur that belongs to the Alvarezsauroidea. It is known from the Early Cretaceous Tugulu Group in the Urhe area of the People's Republic of China. It was one of the first members of Alvarezsauria ever discovered. Discovery From 1964 dinosaur fossils were excavated in the Junggar Basin of Xinjiang. In 1973 a number of these were described by paleontologist Dong Zhiming, among them the bones of a small theropod which he named ''Tugulusaurus faciles''. The generic name refers to the Tugulu Group. The specific name is derived from Latin ''facilis'', here with the meaning of "easily moving", referring to the agility of the animal as indicated by its "delicate bones". The holotype, IVPP V4025, was found in layers of the Lianmuqin Formation dating from the Barremian–Albian. It consists of a partial skeleton including four partial tail vertebrae, much of the left leg and part of the right, the first fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parvicursorinae
Alvarezsauridae is a family of small, long-legged dinosaurs. Although originally thought to represent the earliest known flightless birds, they are now thought to be an early diverging branch of maniraptoran theropods. Alvarezsaurids were highly specialized. They had tiny but stout forelimbs, with compact, bird-like hands. Their skeletons suggest that they had massive breast and arm muscles, possibly adapted for digging or tearing. They had long, tube-shaped snouts filled with tiny teeth. They have been interpreted as myrmecophagous, adapted to prey on colonial insects such as termites, with the short arms acting as effective digging instruments to break into nests. ''Alvarezsaurus'', the type genus of the family, was named for the historian Gregorio Álvarez. History of study Bonaparte (1991) described the first alvarezsaurid, ''Alvarezsaurus calvoi'', from an incomplete skeleton found in Patagonia, Argentina. Bonaparte also named a family, Alvarezsauridae, to contain it. He a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patagonykus
''Patagonykus'' (meaning "Patagonian claw") is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Argentina. This alvarezsauroid was discovered in exposures of the Portezuelo Formation (Turonian-Coniacian) of the Rio Neuquén Subgroup in the Neuquén Basin, Neuquen Province of Patagonia, Argentina. The holotype consists of an incomplete but well-preserved skeleton, lacking a skull, but including many vertebrae, the coracoids, a partial forelimb, pelvic girdle, and hindlimbs. ''Patagonykus'' has been classed with the Alvarezsauridae, a family which includes such taxa as the Mongolian ''Mononykus'' and the Argentinian ''Alvarezsaurus''. In 2010 Gregory S. Paul estimated its length at 1 meter (3.3 ft) and its weight at 3.5 kg (7.7 lbs). Classification Agnolin ''et al.'' (2012) originally placed ''Patagonykus'' within Alvarezsauridae, within the clade Patagonykinae as sister taxon to ''Bonapartenykus''. Makovicky, Apesteguía and Gianechini (2012) found it to be in a polytomy w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aorun
''Aorun'' (pron.:"AW-roon") is an extinct genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur first discovered in 2006, with its scientific description published in 2013. It is one of the oldest known coelurosaurian dinosaurs and is estimated to have lived ~161.6 million years ago during the Late Jurassic Period. It is the fifth theropod discovered from Wucaiwan. Discovery and naming The fossil which included the skull with numerous teeth, some vertebrae and leg bones were discovered by James Clark, the Ronald B. Weintraub Professor of Biology, in the Department of Biological Sciences of GW's Columbian College of Arts and Sciences with his then doctoral student Jonah Choiniere, along with a team of international researchers in a remote region of Xinjiang in China in 2006. They originally spotted a portion of a leg bone exposed on the surface, and when they dug it up, they found the skull underneath. The type species ''Aorun zhaoi'' was named and described in 2013 by Choiniere, Clark, Catheri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bannykus
''Bannykus'' is an alvarezsaur from the Early Cretaceous of the Bayin-Gobi Formation of Inner Mongolia, China. It includes one species, ''Bannykus wulatensis''. It is large for an alvarezsaur, with an estimated weight of 24 kg based on femoral circumference. Discovery The holotype of ''Bannykus wulatensis'' is IVPP V25026, a partially-articulated incomplete skeleton. The holotype comes from the Bayin-Gobi Formation in Chaoge, Wulatehouqi, Inner Mongolia, China. It was discovered in 2009 and in 2012, its remains were displayed in Japan under the unofficial name "Wulatesaurus". It was given the binomial name ''Bannykus wulatensis'' in 2018; its generic name comes from the Mandarin word ''Ban'' (), meaning half, and the Greek word , meaning claw. This refers to the transitional characteristics seen in this theropod. The specific name refers to Wulatehouqi (Wulate Rear Banner), the county that the holotype was found in. Classification ''Bannykus'', along with '' Xiyunykus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bonapartenykus
''Bonapartenykus'' (meaning "José F. Bonaparte's claw") is a monospecific genus of alvarezsauroid dinosaur from Argentina that lived during the Late Cretaceous (Campanian-Maastrichtian) in what is now the upper Allen Formation of the Río Negro Province. The type and only species, ''Bonapartenykus ultimus'', is known from a nearly articulated but partial skeleton that was found in close association to two incomplete eggs and several clusters of eggshells belonging to the oogenus ''Arriagadoolithus''. ''Bonapartenykus'' was named in 2012 by Federico L. Agnolin, Jaime E. Powell, Fernando E. Novas and Martin Kundrát. ''Bonapartenykus'' has an estimated length of and weight of , making it the largest member of the clade Alvarezsauroidea. Discovery and Naming A partial skeleton of a theropod with eggs was collected in a surface of approximately 30 m2 in fluvial sandstones of the upper Allen Formation in northwestern Patagonia, Argentina. The locality has also produced specimens o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haplocheirus
''Haplocheirus'' is a genus of theropod dinosaur. Upon its description, it was considered the oldest alvarezsauroid, predating all other members by about 63 million years. This has subsequently been questioned. A 2019 study considered ''Haplocheirus'' a compsognathid instead of an alvarezsauroid, while a 2022 study considered it to have more similarities with ornithomimosaurs. ''Haplocheirus'' was described in 2010 from a fossil specimen found from the 160-million-year-old Shishugou Formation in the Junggar Basin of northwestern China. The type species is ''H. sollers'', meaning "simple-handed skillful one", referencing its hypothesized behavior of using its three-fingered hands for activities that other alvarezsauroids could not perform, such as catching prey. Description ''Haplocheirus'' had an enlarged thumb claw like alvarezsaurids, but also retained two other functional fingers, unlike alvarezsaurids, where only the thumb was significantly large and clawed. It had long l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shishugounykus
''Shishugounykus'' (meaning "Shishugou claw" after the Shishugou Formation where it was found) is a genus of basal alvarezsaurian dinosaur from the Shishugou Formation from Xinjiang in China. The type and only species is ''Shishugounykus inexpectus''. The specific name refers to the unexpected discovery of another species of alvarezsaur from the Shishugou Formation (other alvarezsaurs from this formation include ''Haplocheirus'' and possibly ''Aorun ''Aorun'' (pron.:"AW-roon") is an extinct genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur first discovered in 2006, with its scientific description published in 2013. It is one of the oldest known coelurosaurian dinosaurs and is estimated to have lived ~ ...''). Its affinities to alvarezsaurs has subsequently been questioned. References Alvarezsaurs Oxfordian life Middle Jurassic dinosaurs of Asia Jurassic China Fossils of China Fossil taxa described in 2019 {{theropod-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xiyunykus
''Xiyunykus'' (meaning "western claw"; "xiyu" is Mandarin for "west" and refers to Western China where it was found) is an alvarezsaur from the Early Cretaceous of the Tugulu Group of China. It includes one species, ''Xiyunykus pengi''. Paleoecology Dinosaurs contemporaneous with ''Xiyunykus'' in the Tugulu Group of Xinjiang include the stegosaur ''Wuerhosaurus'', the coeval alvarezsaur ''Tugulusaurus'', the carcharodontosaurid '' Kelmayisaurus'', the dubious maniraptoran ''Phaedrolosaurus'', the problematic coelurosaur ''Xinjiangovenator'', and the ceratopsian '' Psittacosaurus xinjiangensis''. Evolutionary significance ''Xiyunykus'', along with ''Bannykus'', fills a 70-million year gap in alvarezsaur evolution by exhibiting cranial and postcranial morphologies intermediate between the typical theropod forelimb of ''Haplocheirus ''Haplocheirus'' is a genus of theropod dinosaur. Upon its description, it was considered the oldest alvarezsauroid, predating all other member ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alvarezsauridae
Alvarezsauridae is a family of small, long-legged dinosaurs. Although originally thought to represent the earliest known flightless birds, they are now thought to be an early diverging branch of maniraptoran theropods. Alvarezsaurids were highly specialized. They had tiny but stout forelimbs, with compact, bird-like hands. Their skeletons suggest that they had massive breast and arm muscles, possibly adapted for digging or tearing. They had long, tube-shaped snouts filled with tiny teeth. They have been interpreted as myrmecophagous, adapted to prey on colonial insects such as termites, with the short arms acting as effective digging instruments to break into nests. ''Alvarezsaurus'', the type genus of the family, was named for the historian Gregorio Álvarez. History of study Bonaparte (1991) described the first alvarezsaurid, ''Alvarezsaurus calvoi'', from an incomplete skeleton found in Patagonia, Argentina. Bonaparte also named a family, Alvarezsauridae, to contain it. He a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic, Mesozoic Era and is named after the Jura Mountains, where limestone strata from the period were first identified. The start of the Jurassic was marked by the major Triassic–Jurassic extinction event, associated with the eruption of the Central Atlantic magmatic province, Central Atlantic Magmatic Province. The beginning of the Toarcian Stage started around 183 million years ago and is marked by an extinction event associated with widespread Anoxic event, oceanic anoxia, ocean acidification, and elevated temperatures likely caused by the eruption of the Karoo-Ferrar, Karoo-Ferrar large igneous provinces. The end of the Jurassic, however, has no clear boundary with the Cretaceous and i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area of , about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8.7% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which has long been home to the majority of the human population, was the site of many of the first civilizations. Its 4.7 billion people constitute roughly 60% of the world's population. In general terms, Asia is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Indian Ocean, and on the north by the Arctic Ocean. The border of Asia with Europe is a historical and cultural construct, as there is no clear physical and geographical separation between them. It is somewhat arbitrary and has moved since its first conception in classical antiquity. The division of Eurasia into two continents reflects East–West cultural, linguistic, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
