| Jaculinykus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous | |
|---|---|
| |
| Restoration of Jaculinykus yaruui. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| clade: | Alvarezsauria |
| Family: | †Alvarezsauridae |
| Genus: | †Jaculinykus |
| Species: | †J. yaruui |
| Type species | |
| †Jaculinykus yaruui | |
Jaculinykus is a genus of extinct theropod dinosaur belonging to the family Alvaresauridae, produced by fossils from the upper chalk strata of Mongolia. It was described by Kota Kubo and others in 2023, and the type species J. yaruui was named. It belongs to the derivative Parvicursoridae subfamily among the Alvaresaurid family, and the structure of the forelimbs of the thick first finger and the traced second finger suggests an intermediate state in the specialization of the fingers unique to Alvalesaurid family In addition, the type specimen of this genus has a posture similar to the resting posture of birds, suggesting that the systematic origin of dormant behavior of birds may be traced back to a more basic stage than before.
Discovery and Naming[]
Holotype specimen of J. yaruui
During the Nemegt Educational Expedition of 2016, Otgonbat ('Oogii') Besudei in Ömnögovĭ province found the skeleton of a small theropod and prepared it. The holotype, MPC-D 100/209, has been found in a layer of the Barun Goyot Formation that may date back to late Campanian or possibly Maastrichtian. It consists of a fairly complete adult skeleton with skull. However, it lacks the plow bones, the nasal bones, the postorbitalia, the supraoccipital, the eighth or ninth cervical vertebra, the posterior vertebrae, seven front tail vertebrae, the sternum, the fork bone, the second phalan of the second right finger, the right claw and the left femoral bone.
In 2023, the type species was named and described by Kohta Kubo, Yoshitsugu Kobayashi, Tsogtbaatar Chinzorig and Khishigjav Tsogtbaatar. The generic name is derived from the "jaculus", the Latin name for the Amphiptere (a mythical flying snake) and the Greek ὄνυξ, onyx, "claw", a common suffix in the names of Alvarezsauridae. The specific name is derived from the Mongolian yaruu, "fast shooting".
Classification[]
Close relatives of this representative of the subfamily Parvicursorinae were probably the taxa Shuvuuia and Mononykus, slightly more distant in development were the genera Ondogurvel, Albinykus, and Xixianykus, and even more distant were, for example, the genera Linhenykus or Nemegtonykus.
Gallery[]
