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sharp-clawed runner
Patagonykus
Say it like this: “pat-a-GON-i-kus”
Patagonykus puertai
Patagonykus ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in Argentina.
- When
- Late Cretaceous (Turonian · Coniacian) · roughly 93.9 to 85.7 million years ago
- Named in
- 1996 · Novas, F. E.
- Hip height
- Not established
- Length
- Not established
- Weight
- Not established
- Found in
- Argentina · Portezuelo
- Food and walking
- Carnivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Patagonykinae
The story in short
In 1996, F. E. Novas published the name Patagonykus. The name honors a person tied to the fossil or its study.
Fossils referred to Patagonykus date to the Late Cretaceous (Turonian · Coniacian), roughly 93.9 to 85.7 million years ago. Finds come from Argentina, including the Portezuelo Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.
The fossils of Patagonykus are too incomplete for a responsible length, hip height, or weight, so those fields are left blank on purpose.
On the family tree it sits in Patagonykinae, among the theropod dinosaurs.