purplecat | Dinosaur of the Month: Alvarezsauridoe

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Crossposted to Primeval Denial:

Patagonychus Skeleton

Patagonychus Skeleton

Alvarezauridae is a family of small long-legged dinosaurs. Some of the Alvarezsauridae are teeny-tiny, such as the Parvicursor which was only about 39 centimetres in length. Alvarezsaurids had tiny but stout forelimbs with compact bird-like hands. They had long, tube-shaped snouts filled with tiny teeth and long legs well-suited for speed-running. At least one species, Shuvuuia, was covered in down-like proto-feathers.

Size comparison of several parvicursorine dinosaurs. From left to right: Parvicursor remotus (green), Ceratonykus oculatus (red), Shuvuuia deserti (blue), and Mononykus olecranus (violet). Scaled to tibia length in their respective descriptions. Image by Matthew Martyniuk.

Originally the Alvarezsauridae were considered to be early birds, but they are now classified as non-avian therapods.

It's not really known what the Alvarezsauridae ate. Some have speculated that they ate termites, though the small forelimbs would mean that they basically had to lie on the termite mound to break into them. A specimen has been found near oviraptoid eggs, so it is possible they were nest raiders.

Resources

Alvarezsauridae (Wikipedia)
Alvarezsauridae (Therapods Fandom Wiki)

Crossposts: https://louisedennis.livejournal.com/693528.html

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