Alvarezsaurus

Taxobox

name = "Alvarezsaurus"
fossil_range = Late Cretaceous
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
superordo = Dinosauria
ordo = Saurischia
subordo = Theropoda
familia = Alvarezsauridae
genus = "Alvarezsaurus"
genus_authority = Bonaparte, 1991
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = "A. calvoi" Bonaparte, 1991 (type)

"Alvarezsaurus" (pronEng|ˌælvərɛzˈsɔrəs; "Alvarez's lizard") was a genus of small alvarezsaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period of Argentina, approximately 89 - 85 million years ago. Estimates suggest that it measured about 2 meters in length and weighed approximately 20 kg. It was found in the Bajo de la Carpa Formation and was named by paleontologist José Bonaparte in 1991 after the historian Don Gregorio Alvarez.

The type species is "A. calvoi". It was bipedal, had a long tail and its leg structure suggests that it was a fast runner. It may have been insectivorous and was basal to better-known members of its family, such as "Mononykus" and "Shuvuuia". It has been alternately classified with both non-avian theropod dinosaurs and early birds.

In popular culture

"Alvarezsaurus" was featured in the Discovery Channel television series "Dinosaur Planet", which speculated that it was a predator of young "Saltasaurus", though there is no evidence for such behavior.

External links

* [http://www.dinoruss.com/de_4/5a6b3b5.htm Dinoruss]
* [http://internt.nhm.ac.uk/jdsml/nature-online/dino-directory/detail.dsml?Genus=Alvarezsaurus Natural History Museum, London]