Haplocheirus hapluuoo-KUHEERUHS

"simple"

You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Haplocheirus 2 m (6.6 ft) long
2 people holding hands
Length
2 m (6.6 ft)
Period
Middle Jurassic (174–163 Mya)
Place
China
Food
Carnivore
Clade
Dinosauria

Haplocheirus (, from Ancient Greek ἁπλός (haplós), meaning “simple”, and χείρ (kheír), meaning “hand”) is an extinct genus of theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Shishugou Formation of Xinjiang in China. It is generally considered to be an alvarezsauroid, although some researchers have questioned this assignment. The genus contains a single species, H. sollers, which is known from a mostly complete skeleton including the skull.

The quality of the preservation in the only known specimen of Haplocheirus is near-perfect and preserves the animal in three dimensions. This makes Haplocheirus one of the most well-known Jurassic coelurosaurs from anywhere in the world.

What we know

  • Named by Choiniere et al., 2010.
  • Body length estimated at about 2 m.
  • Fossils found in China.