Patagonykus

Taxobox
name = "Patagonykus"
fossil_range = Late Cretaceous
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
superordo = Dinosauria
ordo = Saurischia
subordo = Theropoda
familia = Alvarezsauridae
genus = "Patagonykus"
genus_authority = Novas, 1996
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision ="P. peuratai" Novas, 1996 (type)

"Patagonykus" was an enigmatic theropod dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Argentina. This ornithomimiformwas discovered in exposures of the Portezuelo Member (Turonian-Coniacian) of the Rio Neuquen Formation in the Neuquen Province of Patagonia. The holotype consists of an incomplete but well-preserved skeleton, lacking a skull, but including many vertebrae, the coracoids, a partial forelimb, pelvic girdle, and hindlimbs. "Patagonykus" ("Patagonian claw") has been classed with the Alvarezsauridae, a family which includes such taxa as the Mongolian "Mononykus" and the Argentinian "Alvarezsaurus". "Patagonykus" is estimated to have been approximately two meters in length.

References

*Novas, F. E. 1997. Anatomy of "Patagonykus puertai" (Theropoda, Avialae, Alvarezsauridae), from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia. "Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology" 17(1); 137-166.
*Novas, F. E. and Molnar, R. E. (eds.) 1996. Alvarezsauridae, Cretaceous basal birds from Patagonia and Mongolia. "Proceedings of the Gondwanan Dinosaur Symposium", Brisbane. "Memoirs of the Queensland Museum" 39(3):iv + 489-731; 675-702.