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sharp-clawed runner
Mononykus
Say it like this: “muh-NON-ik-uhs”
Mononykus olecranus
Mononykus ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in Mongolia.
- When
- Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago
- Named in
- 1993 · Perle, A.; Norell, M. A.; Chiappe, L. M.; Clark, J. M.
- Hip height
- 0.3 m · 1 ft
- Length
- 1–1.2 m · 3–4 ft
- Weight
- 4 kg · 9 lb
- Found in
- Mongolia · Nemegt
- Food and walking
- Carnivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Parvicursorinae
The story in short
The genus Mononykus dates to 1993, the year A. Perle and colleagues described it. The name means “one claw.”
It lived in the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian), roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago. Finds come from Mongolia, including the Nemegt Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Mononykus at a length near 1–1.2 m, hips about 0.3 m high, and a body mass around 4 kg.
On the family tree it sits in Parvicursorinae, among the theropod dinosaurs.