Qiupanykus

Qiupanykus (meaning "Qiupa claw" after the Qiupa Formation) is a genus of alvarezsaurid coelurosaur theropod from the Late Cretaceous Qiupa Formation of southern China.[1]

Qiupanykus
Temporal range:
Late Cretaceous, 72–66 Ma
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Family: †Alvarezsauridae
Subfamily: †Parvicursorinae
Genus: †Qiupanykus
Lü et al, 2018
Species:
†Q. zhangi
Binomial name
†Qiupanykus zhangi
Lü et al., 2018

Fossil eggs believed to be those of an oviraptorid found in association with the holotype specimen indicate that both Qiupanykus and other alvarezsaurids may have been specialist egg eaters that used their robust thumb claws to crack open eggshells.[1]

Phylogeny

Lü Junchang et al. (2018) recovered Qiupanykus as a member of the Alvarezsauridae, falling closer to Parvicursor than to Patagonykus.[1] Although not formally assigned to the clade Parvicursorinae in the description, this position would make it a member of Parvicursorinae sensu Xu et al. (2013).[2]

References
  1. Lü, JC; Xu, L; Chang, HL; Jia, SH; Zhang, JM; Gao, DS; Zhang, YY; Zhang, CJ; Ding, F (2018). "A new alvarezsaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Qiupa Formation of Luanchuan, Henan Province, central China". China Geology. 1: 28–35. doi:10.31035/cg2018005.
  2. Xu, X.; Upchurch, P.; Ma, Q.; Pittman, M.; Choiniere, J.; Sullivan, C.; Hone, D.W.E.; Tan, Q.; Tan, L.; Xiao, D.; Han, F. (2013). "Osteology of the Late Cretaceous alvarezsauroid Linhenykus monodactylus from China and comments on alvarezsauroid biogeography". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 58 (1): 25–46.
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