Look up · dinosaur 1366 of 1,425
sharp-clawed runner
Xiyunykus
Say it like this: “zee-YOO-nick-us”
Xiyunykus pengi
Xiyunykus ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Early Cretaceous. Bones have been found in China.
- When
- Early Cretaceous (Barremian · Aptian) · roughly 125.8 to 113.2 million years ago
- Named in
- 2018 · Xu, X.; Choiniere, J.; Tan, Q.; Benson, R. B. J.; Clark, J.; Sullivan, C.; Zhao, Q.; Han, F.; Ma, Q.; He, Y.; Wang, S.; Xing, H.; Tan, L.
- Hip height
- 0.6 m · 2 ft
- Length
- 2.1 m · 7 ft
- Weight
- 15 kg · 33 lb
- Found in
- China
- Food and walking
- Carnivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Alvarezsauroidea
The story in short
In 2018, X. Xu and colleagues published the name Xiyunykus.
It lived in the Early Cretaceous (Barremian · Aptian), roughly 125.8 to 113.2 million years ago. Finds come from China. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Xiyunykus at a length near 2.1 m, hips about 0.6 m high, and a body mass around 15 kg.
On the family tree it sits in Alvarezsauroidea, among the theropod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Alnashetri
Alnashetri cerropoliciensis
Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) · roughly 100.5 to 93.9 million years ago
Bannykus
Bannykus wulatensis
Early Cretaceous (Aptian) · roughly 121.4 to 113.2 million years ago
Haplocheirus
Haplocheirus sollers
Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Callovian · Oxfordian) · roughly 165.3 to 154.8 million years ago