Haplocheirus hapluuoo-KUHEERUHS
"simple"
- Length
- 2 m (6.6 ft)
- Period
- Middle Jurassic (174–163 Mya)
- Place
- China
- Food
- Carnivore
- Clade
- Dinosauria The clade containing all dinosaurs, terrestrial archosaurs with upright limbs.
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.
What we guess
The reconstruction notes for Haplocheirus — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.