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Parvicursorine
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] |
Ondogurvel
''Ondogurvel'' () (meaning "egg lizard") is a genus of alvarezsaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) Barun Goyot Formation in southern Mongolia. The type and only species is ''O. alifanovi'', known from a partial skeleton consisting of fragments of two last dorsal vertebrae, three anterior sacral vertebrae, right ilium, left and right pubis and ischium, articulated right tibia, fibula, metatarsals II and IV, and phalanges IV-1 and IV-2, right carpometacarpus, left and right manual phalanx II-1, right femur, left pedal phalanx II-1, and fragments of unidentified phalanges. Discovery and naming In 2022, the type species ''Ondogurvel alifanovi'' was named and described by Alexander O. Averianov and Alexey V. Lopatin. The generic name, "''Ondogurvel''" combines the Mongolian words өндөг “ondo” (), meaning egg, and гүрвэл “gurvel” (), meaning lizard. The specific name, "''alifanovi''" () honors the late Russian paleontologist Vladimir Alifanov who fou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xixianykus
''Xixianykus'' is a genus of alvarezsaurid theropod dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period of China.Xu, X., Wang, D.Y., Sullivan, C., Hone, D.W.E., Han, F.L., Yan, R.H. and Du, F.M. (2010). "A basal parvicursorine (Theropoda: Alvarezsauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous of China.". ''Zootaxa'', 2413: 1-19. Discovery and naming The fossil, holotype XMDFEC V0011, was found in the Majiacun Formation in Henan Province, China. The fossil consists of a partial skeleton, without the skull. Parts of the hind legs, pelvis and spine has also been recovered. ''Xixianykus'' is among the oldest of the derived alvarezsauroids, the parvicursorines, dated to the Santonian– Coniacian, as opposed to other parvicursorines, which are either Campanian or Maastrichtian.Hone, D. (2010)''Xixianykus zhangi'' - A New AlvarezsaurDave Hone's Archosaur Musings, April 23, 2011. The type species is ''Xixianykus zhangi'' described in 2010 by Xu Xing. The genus name refers to Xixia County and to the Greek w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dzharaonyx
''Dzharaonyx'' (meaning "Dzharakuduk claw", named after the type locality) is a genus of alvarezsaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Bissekty Formation of Uzbekistan. The type species is ''Dzharaonyx eski''; ''eski'' being an Uzbek word for "old". Description ''Dzharaonyx'' is known from a series of disassociated but well-preserved postcranial material. The form of the humerus is intermediate between that of ''Patagonykus'' and ''Mononykus''. Classification Phylogenetic analysis places ''Dzharaonyx'' in a polytomy including other Asian members of Parvicursorinae. This makes it the oldest parvicursorine known to date. Paleoenvironment ''Dzharaonyx'' lived in the Bissekty Formation, which has been intensively studied in recent years. It represents a brackish environment. It coexisted with larger theropods including the dromaeosaurid ''Itemirus'', the tyrannosauroid ''Timurlengia'', and the troodontid ''Urbacodon''. The hadrosaur ''Levnesovia'', ankylosaurs, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Linhenykus
''Linhenykus'' is an extinct genus of alvarezsaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia, China. It is the most basal known member of the Parvicursorinae. The genus gets its name from Linhe, a city near the site where the fossil was first found and Greek ''nykus'', "claw". The specific name is derived from Greek ''monos'', "single", and ''daktylos'', "finger", a reference to the fact that it is the only known non-avian dinosaur to have had but a single digit. Description ''Linhenykus'' was a small dinosaur, measuring long and weighing . Its femur length is . Alvarezsauroids are known for their short forelimbs, each with a single greatly enlarged second digit. Although alvarezsaurids were once thought to have only a single digit on each forelimb, more recent evidence has shown that most species have reduced third and fourth digits. ''Linhenykus'' is the first known alvarezsaurid to have only a single, second digit. Although a reduced third metacarpal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the Latin word for the white limestone known as chalk. The chalk of northern France and the white cliffs of south-eastern England date from the Cretaceous Period. Climate During the Late Cretaceous, the climate was warmer than present, although throughout the period a cooling trend is evident. The tropics became restricted to equatorial regions and northern latitudes experienced markedly more seasonal climatic conditions. Geography Due to plate tectonics, the Americas were gradually moving westward, causing the Atlantic Ocean to expand. The Western Interior Seaway divided North America into eastern and western halves; Appalachia and Laramidia. India maintained a northward course towards Asia. In the Southern Hemisphere, Australia and Ant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albinykus
''Albinykus'' (meaning " Albin claw", after a term used by Mongolian shamans to describe light phenomena in the Gobi Desert) is a genus of alvarezsaurid dinosaur. Fossils have been found from Late Cretaceous-age (Santonian) Javkhlant Formation in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. The type species ''A. baatar'' was named by Sterling J. Nesbitt, Julia A. Clarke, Alan H. Turner and Mark A. Norell in 2011. Estimated at under in weight, ''Albinykus'' was one of the smallest alvarezsaurs and among the smallest non avian dinosaurs. The body size of alvarezsaurs decreased throughout their evolutionary history, and ''Albinykus'' represents a particularly derived form. One distinguishing feature of ''Albinykus'' not seen in other alvarezsaurids is the complete fusion of the tarsals to other bones of the leg; the proximal tarsals are fused to the tibia bone of the lower leg and the distal tarsals are fused to the metatarsal bones of the foot. The holotype skeleton of ''Albinykus'', specimen IG ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maniraptora
Maniraptora is a clade of coelurosaurian dinosaurs which includes the birds and the non-avian dinosaurs that were more closely related to them than to ''Ornithomimus velox''. It contains the major subgroups Avialae, Deinonychosauria, Oviraptorosauria and Therizinosauria. '' Ornitholestes'' and the Alvarezsauroidea are also often included. Together with the next closest sister group, the Ornithomimosauria, Maniraptora comprises the more inclusive clade Maniraptoriformes. Maniraptorans first appear in the fossil record during the Jurassic Period (see '' Eshanosaurus''), and survive today as living birds. Description Maniraptorans are characterized by long arms and three-fingered hands (though reduced or fused in some lineages), as well as a "half-moon shaped" (semi-lunate) bone in the wrist (carpus). In 2004, Tom Holtz and Halszka Osmólska pointed out six other maniraptoran characters relating to specific details of the skeleton. Unlike most other saurischian dinosaurs, which h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the bee hummingbird to the ostrich. There are about ten thousand living species, more than half of which are passerine, or "perching" birds. Birds have whose development varies according to species; the only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds. Wings, which are modified forelimbs, gave birds the ability to fly, although further evolution has led to the loss of flight in some birds, including ratites, penguins, and diverse endemic island species. The digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds, have further evolved for swimming. B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is the subject of active research. They became the dominant terrestrial vertebrates after the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event 201.3 mya; their dominance continued throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The fossil record shows that birds are feathered dinosaurs, having evolved from earlier theropods during the Late Jurassic epoch, and are the only dinosaur lineage known to have survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event approximately 66 mya. Dinosaurs can therefore be divided into avian dinosaurs—birds—and the extinct non-avian dinosaurs, which are all dinosaurs other than birds. Dinosaurs are varied from taxonomic, morphological and ecological standpoints. Birds, at over 10,700 living species, are among ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Family (biology)
Family ( la, familia, plural ') is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between order and genus. A family may be divided into subfamilies, which are intermediate ranks between the ranks of family and genus. The official family names are Latin in origin; however, popular names are often used: for example, walnut trees and hickory trees belong to the family Juglandaceae, but that family is commonly referred to as the "walnut family". What belongs to a family—or if a described family should be recognized at all—are proposed and determined by practicing taxonomists. There are no hard rules for describing or recognizing a family, but in plants, they can be characterized on the basis of both vegetative and reproductive features of plant species. Taxonomists often take different positions about descriptions, and there may be no broad consensus across the scientific community for some time. The publishing of new data and opini ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyril Walker (ornithologist)
Cyril Alexander Walker (8 February 1939 – 6 May 2009) was a British palaeontologist, curator of fossil birds in the Natural History Museum. He was also interested in fossil turtles. book, '' Smithsonian Handbook of Fossils''. He has also contributed to many other books, including ''Garden Birds'', ''Field Guide to British Birds'', ''Birds of the World'', ''Nature Notebooks'', and others. An unidentified moa bone of unknown origin and locality, donated by Dr. C. Walker to ornithologist Zlatozar Boev Zlatozar Boev (born 20 October 1955) is a Bulgarian ornithologist, paleontologist, and zoologist. He has published 345 papers and other material, in Bulgarian, English, French, and Russian. He has classified 36 taxa. Boev is a part of the Nationa ... in 1986, was later identified as the little bush moa (''Anomalopteryx didiformis'').1. Boev, Z. 2018. A specimen of little bush moa Anomalopteryx didiformis (Owen, 1844), Emeidae Bonaparte, 1854 from the National Museum of Natural Hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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