Xiyunykus

"western claw"

You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Xiyunykus 5 m (16.4 ft) long
as long as 3 people standing fingertip to fingertip
Length
5 m (16.4 ft)
Period
Early Cretaceous (126–120 Mya)
Place
China
Food
Carnivore
Clade
Dinosauria The clade containing all dinosaurs, terrestrial archosaurs with upright limbs.

Xiyunykus (meaning “western claw”; “xiyu” is Mandarin for “west” and refers to Western China where it was found) is a genus of alvarezsauroid theropod from the Early Cretaceous-aged Tugulu Group of what is now China. Only one species has been described, Xiyunykus pengi.

What we know

  • Named by Xu et al., 2018.
  • Fossils found in China.

What we guess

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