Albinykus
Sign in to saveAlbinykus (meaning "Albin claw", after a term used by Mongolian shamans to describe light phenomena in the Gobi Desert) is a genus of alvarezsaurid dinosaur whose fossils have been found in the Late Cretaceous-aged (Santonian) Javkhlant Formation in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. The type species, A. baatar, was named by Sterling J. Nesbitt, Julia A. Clarke, Alan H. Turner and Mark A. Norell in 2011.
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Albinykus (meaning "Albin claw", after a term used by Mongolian shamans to describe light phenomena in the Gobi Desert) is a genus of alvarezsaurid dinosaur whose fossils have been found in the Late Cretaceous-aged (Santonian) Javkhlant Formation in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. The type species, A. baatar, was named by Sterling J. Nesbitt, Julia A. Clarke, Alan H. Turner and Mark A. Norell in 2011.
Estimated at under in weight, Albinykus was one of the smallest alvarezsaurs and among the smallest non avian dinosaurs. The body size of alvarezsaurs decreased throughout their evolutionary history, and Albinykus represents a particularly derived form. One distinguishing feature of Albinykus not seen in other alvarezsaurids is the complete fusion of the tarsals to other bones of the leg; the proximal tarsals are fused to the tibia bone of the lower leg and the distal tarsals are fused to the metatarsal bones of the foot.