Linhenykus

Generic theropod body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Linhenykus 5 m (16.4 ft) long
as long as 3 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic theropod body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Linhenykus
Length
5 m (16.4 ft)
Period
Late Cretaceous (75–71 Mya)
Place
China · Mongolia
Food
Carnivore
Clade
Alvarezsauridae
Linhenykus reconstruction by Artwork by Julius T. Csotonyi
Reconstruction · Artwork by Julius T. Csotonyi (CC-BY)

Linhenykus is an extinct genus of alvarezsaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia, China. It is the most basal known member of the Parvicursorinae. The genus gets its name from Linhe, a city near the site where the fossil was first found and Greek nykus, “claw”. The specific name is derived from Greek monos, “single”, and daktylos, “finger”, a reference to the fact that it is the only known non-avian dinosaur to have had but a single digit.

What we know

  • Named by Xu et al., 2011.
  • Fossils found in China and Mongolia.

What we guess

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