Genus
Valid Extinct

Mononykus

Perle et al. 1993
Etymology une griffe

Mononykus is a genus of alvarezsaurid dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous in what is now Mongolia, specifically the Nemegt Formation. Mononykus was a very small theropod, estimated around 1 to 1.2 metres in length with a weight of 3.5 kilograms (7.7 lb). As in Shuvuuia, Mononykus likely developed a shaggy feathering. It was lightly built with long, thin legs and highly reduced and specialized forelimbs that were likely used for foraging termite mounds or other insect colonies.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
6
Group
Dinosaures
Carnivore Ground dwelling, solitary Terrestrial
Mononykus
click to enlarge
Reconstructed Mononykus olecranus skeleton (AMNH 28508 and AMNH 28498) on display at the American Museum of Natural History. © Jonathan Chen · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
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Theropoda Unranked clade
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Neotheropoda Unranked clade
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Averostra Unranked clade
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Tetanurae Unranked clade
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Coelurosauria Unranked clade
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Alvarezsauria Infraorder
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Alvarezsauroidea Unranked clade
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Alvarezsauridae Family
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Parvicursorinae Subfamily
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Mononykus Genus
Measurements
Length
1,25 m ⓘ
Mononykus olecranus
1 m ⓘ
Mass
3,5 kg ⓘ
Mononykus olecranus
Fossil sites 6 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇲🇳 Mongolia
6
Geological formations
Nemegt
5
Djadokhta
1
Temporal distribution
Maastrichtian (72.2–66 Ma)
5
Campanian (83.6–72.2 Ma)
1
Species (1)
Mononykus olecranus 72 Ma
Synonyms (1)
Mononychus replaced by Mononykus
Images 2
Bibliography
Original description
A. Perle, M. A. Norell, and L. M. Chiappe, J. M. Clark. 1993. Correction: Flightless bird from the Cretaceous of Mongolia. Nature 363:188
Bibliography (6)
S. Lee, J.-Y. Park, and Y.-N. Lee, S.-H. Kim, J. Lü, R. Barsbold, K. Tsogtbaatar. 2019. A new alvarezsaurid dinosaur from the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia. Scientific Reports 9:15493:1-12 DOI ↗
M. Watabe, S. Suzuki, and K. Tsogtbaatar, T. Tsubamoto, M. Saneyoshi. 2010. Report of the HMNS-MPC Joint Paleontological Expedition in 2006. Hayashibara Museum of Natural Sciences Research Bulletin 3:11-18
M. Watabe and S. Suzuki. 2000. Report on the Japan–Mongolia Joint Paleontological Expedition to the Gobi desert, 1993. Hayashibara Museum of Natural Sciences Research Bulletin 1:17-29
A. Perle, L. M. Chiappe, and R. Barsbold, J. M. Clark, M. A. Norell. 1994. Skeletal morphology of Mononykus olecranus (Theropoda: Avialae) from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia. American Museum Novitates 3105:1-29
A. Perle, M. A. Norell, and L. M. Chiappe, J. M. Clark. 1993. Correction: Flightless bird from the Cretaceous of Mongolia. Nature 363:188
A. Perle, M. A. Norell, and L. M. Chiappe, J. M. Clark. 1993. Flightless bird from the Cretaceous of Mongolia. Nature 362:623-626