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sharp-clawed runner
Linhenykus
Say it like this: “LIN-huh-NYE-kuss”
Linhenykus monodactylus
Linhenykus ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in China.
- When
- Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago
- Named in
- 2011 · Xu, X.; Sullivan, C.; Pittman, M.; Choiniere, J. N.; Hone, D.; Upchurch, P.; Tan, Q.; Xiao, D.; Tan, L.; Han, F.
- Hip height
- 0.2 m · 1 ft
- Length
- 0.5 m · 2 ft
- Weight
- 1 kg · 2 lb
- Found in
- China · Bayan Mandahu
- Food and walking
- Carnivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Parvicursorinae
The story in short
Linhenykus was formally named in 2011 by X. Xu and colleagues. The name honors a person tied to the fossil or its study.
Fossils referred to Linhenykus date to the Late Cretaceous (Campanian), roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago. Finds come from China, including the Bayan Mandahu Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Linhenykus at a length near 0.5 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.