Outline: a typical theropod
Shishugounykus
"Shishugou claw"
Type species Shishugounykus inexpectus
- Lived
- 162 to 155 million years ago, Late Jurassic
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Group
- Theropods
- Found in
- China
- Named by
- Qin et al. 2019
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
160 million years ago
Field notes
About Shishugounykus
What it was like
Shishugounykus was an early alvarezsaur, a small, bird-like theropod. Later members of its group had short arms with one big claw, but Shishugounykus still had longer arms with more normal hands.
Its world
It lived about 162 to 155 million years ago, in the Late Jurassic, in what is now northwestern China. Its bones come from the Shishugou Formation, where it shared the land with the crested Guanlong, the small Limusaurus and the long-necked Mamenchisaurus.
How it was found
Qin and colleagues named it in 2019. The type species is Shishugounykus inexpectus.
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
Close relatives
Other members of Alvarezsauria
Sources: WikidataNamed in: Z. Qin, J. Clark, and J. Choiniere, X. Xu. 2019. A new alvarezsaurian theropod from the Upper Jurassic Shishugou formation of western China. Scientific Reports 9:11727:1-14