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sharp-clawed runner · Disputed
Ceratonykus
Say it like this: “suh-RAH-toe-NY-kus”
Ceratonykus oculatus
Ceratonykus ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in Mongolia.
- When
- Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago
- Named in
- 2009 · Alifanov, V. R.; Barsbold, R.
- Hip height
- 0.2 m · 1 ft
- Length
- 0.6–0.8 m · 2–3 ft
- Weight
- 1 kg · 2 lb
- Found in
- Mongolia · Baruungoyot
- Food and walking
- Carnivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Parvicursorinae
The story in short
In 2009, V. R. Alifanov and R. Barsbold published the name Ceratonykus. The name means “horned claw.”
Fossils referred to Ceratonykus date to the Late Cretaceous (Campanian), roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago. Finds come from Mongolia, including the Baruungoyot Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Ceratonykus at a length near 0.6–0.8 m, hips about 0.2 m high, and a body mass around 1 kg.
On the family tree it sits in Parvicursorinae, among the theropod dinosaurs.