Albertonykus
"Alberta claw"
- Lived
- 72 to 66 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Group
- Theropods, Alvarezsauridae
- Found in
- Canada
- Named by
- Longrich and Currie 2009
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
70 million years ago
Habitat
Rivers, floodplains and wetlands covered its part of Alberta. The Horseshoe Canyon Formation also preserves Albertosaurus, Edmontosaurus and Saurolophus.
Field notes
About Albertonykus
What it was like
Albertonykus was a small alvarezsaur, a bird-like theropod about the size of a chicken. It had long legs and short, stout arms with one big claw. It probably used that claw to break open rotting wood to get at insects.
Its world
It lived about 72 to 66 million years ago, near the end of the Cretaceous, in what is now Alberta, Canada. It comes from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation, where it shared the land with the tyrannosaur Albertosaurus and the duckbills Edmontosaurus and Saurolophus.
How it was found
Longrich and Currie named Albertonykus in 2009, from bones found in a bone bed of Albertosaurus.
Field gallery
More views of Albertonykus
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
1 of 2
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Albertonykus.
The evidence
The science behind Albertonykus
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- Separate forelimb and hindlimb bones, including hand claws, preserve parts of several animals.
- Short, stout forelimbs were specialized for digging, perhaps into rotten wood to reach insects.
Borrowed from relatives
- The missing head, neck and body are restored using the light-built Shuvuuia as a comparison.
- The enlarged main hand claw and tiny side fingers follow the specialized hands of Mononykus and Shuvuuia.
Still unknown
- The exact number and arrangement of its fingers and toes.
- Its body covering and color.
- Which insects it ate and how it opened their shelters.
Often drawn wrong
- Long grasping arms with equally large hand claws miss its short, powerful digging forelimbs.
Discovery timeline
- 2009Named itLongrich & Currie
- 2020Close relativeFowler et al.
- 2023Close relativeKubo et al.
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Albertonykus
Named it
Named Albertonykus from limb bones and proposed that its short, strong arms helped it reach insects inside wood.
Albertonykus borealis, a new alvarezsaur (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Early Maastrichtian of Alberta, Canada: implications for the systematics and ecology of the Alvarezsauridae. Cretaceous Research 30: 239-252
Read the paper : Albertonykus borealis, a new alvarezsaur (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Early Maastrichtian of Alberta, Canada: implications for the systematics and ecology of the Alvarezsauridae (opens in a new tab)Close relative
Described hand claws of Trierarchuncus and compared limb bones across alvarezsaurids, including Albertonykus.
Trierarchuncus prairiensis gen. et sp. nov., the last alvarezsaurid: Hell Creek Formation (uppermost Maastrichtian), Montana. Cretaceous Research 116: 104560
Read the paper : Trierarchuncus prairiensis gen. et sp. nov., the last alvarezsaurid: Hell Creek Formation (uppermost Maastrichtian), Montana (opens in a new tab)Close relative
Described Jaculinykus and compared its forelimb bones with Albertonykus and other short-armed alvarezsaurids.
A new alvarezsaurid dinosaur (Theropoda, Alvarezsauria) from the Upper Cretaceous Baruungoyot Formation of Mongolia provides insights for bird-like sleeping behavior in non-avian dinosaurs. PLOS ONE 18: e0293801
Read the paper : A new alvarezsaurid dinosaur (Theropoda, Alvarezsauria) from the Upper Cretaceous Baruungoyot Formation of Mongolia provides insights for bird-like sleeping behavior in non-avian dinosaurs (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Alvarezsauridae
Sources: Wikidata