Alwalkeria alwor-KEEREEUH

You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Alwalkeria 5 m (16.4 ft) long
as long as 3 people standing fingertip to fingertip
Length
5 m (16.4 ft)
Period
Late Triassic (228 Mya)
Place
India
Food
Carnivore
Clade
Dinosauria The clade containing all dinosaurs, terrestrial archosaurs with upright limbs.
Alwalkeria reconstruction by No machine-readable author provided. Karkemish assumed (based on copyright claim
Reconstruction · No machine-readable author provided. Karkemish assumed (based on copyright claim (CC-BY)

Alwalkeria (; “for Alick Walker”) is a historically problematic extinct genus of avemetatarsalian known from the Late Triassic Lower Maleri Formation of India. The genus contains a single species, Alwalkeria maleriensis. It was initially described in 1987 under the genus name , based on a partial skull, several vertebrae, and fragmentary hindlimb bones. As this name is preoccupied, the new genus Alwalkeria was proposed to replace it. Early research interpreted the material belonging to a ‘podokesaurid’ (coelophysoid) theropod, herrerasaur, or Eoraptor-like basal eusaurischian dinosaur. Subsequent work recognized the chimaeric status of the fossils referred to this species, as they belong to multiple unrelated taxa. Some of the bones may belong to a dinosaur, and the skull is likely from a pseudosuchian.

What we know

  • Named by (Chatterjee, 1987).
  • Fossils found in India.

What we guess

The reconstruction notes for Alwalkeria — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.