Mononykus
Name: Mononykus
(one claw).
Phonetic: Mo-non-e-kus.
Named By: A. Perle, M. A. Norell, L. M.
Chiappe & J. M. Clark - 1993.
Synonyms: Mononychus olecranus
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, theropoda, Alvarezsauridae, Mononykini.
Species: M. olecranus
(type.).
Diet: Insectivore?
Size: Estimated about 1 meter long.
Known locations: Mongolia - Nemegt Formation.
Time period: Campanian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial anterior skeleton
lacking the tail, partial skull bones.
Mononykus
has a close relationship with another genus of alvarezsaur
named
Shuvuuia
in that many of the fossils once attributed to Mononykus
olecranus were found to be of a distinct genus, and these
were moved
to their own genus named Shuvuuia. Hence many of
the older
reconstruction and information resources about Mononykus
are actually
referencing fossil remains that now belong to Shuvuuia.
On a quick
side note, Mononykus was also originally named as
Mononychus,
but
it was quickly realised that this name was pre-occupied by a genus of
beetle, hence the spelling change to Mononykus.
The
name Mononykus is a reference to the enlarged thumb
claw that in the
holotype specimen of Mononykus is seven and a half
centimetres long.
Although not known for certain for Mononykus,
relative genera like
Shuvuuia have been proven to have had at least a
primitive feather
covering over their bodies, and it’s plausible that Mononykus
may
have also had this covering.
Potential
threats to Mononykus may include dromaeosaurids
like Adasaurus,
and
troodonts
like Zanabazar.
Further reading
- Correction: Flightless bird from the Cretaceous of Mongolia. -
Nature 363:188 - A. Perle, M. A. Norell, L. M.
Chiappe & J. M. Clark - 1993.
- The skull of a relative of the stem-group bird Mononykus.
-
Nature, 392: 275–278. - Chiappe, Norell &
Clarke - 1998.
- Beta-keratin specific immunological reactivity in feather-like
structures of the Cretaceous alvarezsaurid, Shuvuuia deserti.
-
Journal of Experimental Zoology (Mol Dev Evol), 285: 146-157.
- M. H. Schweitzer, J.A. Watt, R. Avci, L. Knapp,
L. Chiappe, M. Norell & M. Marshall - 1999.
- Function in the stunted forelimbs of Mononykus olecranus
(Theropoda), a dinosaurian anteater. - Paleobiology Vol.
31, No. 3 pp. 373–381.- P. Senter - 2005.
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