Bonapartenykus

Bonapartenykus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 70Ma[1] PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Suborder:	Theropoda
Family:	†Alvarezsauridae
Subfamily:	†Patagonykinae
Genus:	†Bonapartenykus Agnolin et al., 2012
Species:	† B. ultimus
Binomial name
Bonapartenykus ultimus Agnolin et al., 2012

Bonapartenykus (named in honor of José Bonaparte)^[2] is a genus of alvarezsaurid theropod dinosaurs known from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian/Maastrichtian stage) of northwestern Patagonia, Argentina. The type species is B. ultimus.^[3] An adult female of B. ultimus has been discovered with two eggs that may have still been inside its oviducts,^[1][2] although some evidence suggests that the eggs may have been incubated in a nest.^[4] The size of the adult female has been estimated as at least 8.5 feet (2.6 m),^[2] and the weight of Bonapartenykus has been estimated as 100 pounds (45 kg).^[1] Its diet probably consisted of insects.^[1] Paleontologist Fernando Novas compared its bones to those of the nandu, a modern-day Patagonian flightless bird.^[5]

The eggs of Bonapartenykus were considered unique enough for them to be designated to a new family of egg, the Arraigadoolithidae, so named for the owner of the site where the discovery was made.^[3][4]

References