Xixianykus
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| Xixianykus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Family: | †Alvarezsauridae |
| Genus: | †Xixianykus Xu et al, 2010 |
| Species: | †X. zhangi
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| Binomial name | |
| †Xixianykus zhangi Xu et al., 2010
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Xixianykus is a genus of alvarezsauroid theropod dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period of China.[1] It was discovered in Xixia County in Henan, China. It is among the oldest of the derived alvarezsauroids, the parvicursorines, dated to the Santonian-Coniacian as opposed to other parvicursorines, which are either Campanian or Maastrichtian.[2]
Description
Xixianykus appears to have many adaptations towards a cursorial (running) lifestyle. It was about 50 centimetres (20 in) long but had 20 centimetres (7.9 in) long legs and a short femur combined with a long tibia and metatarsus, which are good indicators of it being a fast runner.[2]
References
- ^ Xu, X., Wang, D.Y., Sullivan, C., Hone, D.W.E., Han, F.L., Yan, R.H. and Du, F.M. (2010). "A basal parvicursorine (Theropoda: Alvarezsauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous of China.". Zootaxa, 2413: 1-19.
- ^ a b Hone, D. (2010). Xixianykus zhangi - A New Alvarezsaur Dave Hone's Archosaur Musings, April 23, 2011.
External links
Wikispecies has information related to Xixianykus.
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