Outline: a typical theropod
Albinykus
"Albin claw"
- Lived
- 86 to 72 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Group
- Theropods, Alvarezsauridae
- Found in
- Mongolia
- Named by
- Nesbitt et al. 2011
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
80 million years ago
Field notes
About Albinykus
What it was like
Albinykus was a tiny alvarezsaur, a bird-like dinosaur with long legs and short, strong arms. It is known from the legs and hips of one animal, which was found crouched as if sitting on a nest.
Its world
It lived in the Late Cretaceous in what is now Mongolia. Its bones come from the Javkhlant Formation, where the small horned Yamaceratops and the plant eater Haya also lived.
How it was found
Nesbitt and colleagues named it in 2011. Its name comes from a Mongolian word for a light of legend.
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
Close relatives
Other members of Alvarezsauridae
Sources: WikidataNamed in: S. J. Nesbitt, J. A. Clarke, and A. H. Turner, M. A. Norell. 2011. A small alvarezsaurid from the Eastern Gobi Desert offers insight into evolutionary patterns in the Alvarezsauroidea. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 31(1):144-153