Jaculinykus yaruui Jaculinykus

"Jaculus claw"

You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Jaculinykus 5 m (16.4 ft) long
3 people holding hands
Length
5 m (16.4 ft)
Period
Late Cretaceous (72–71 Mya)
Place
Mongolia
Food
Carnivore
Clade
Alvarezsauridae

Jaculinykus (meaning “Jaculus claw”) is an extinct genus of alvarezsaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Baruungoyot Formation of Mongolia. The genus contains a single species, J. yaruui, known from a nearly complete articulated skeleton including bones of the skull. Jaculinykus is notable for its unique hand, which has a hypertrophied first digit and greatly reduced second digit, which is intermediate between the tridactyl hand of Shuvuuia and monodactyl hand of Linhenykus.

What we know

  • Named by Kubo et al., 2023.
  • Fossils found in Mongolia.