Dino card No. 0525 of 2,027

Diuqin

Say it: dee-OO-keen

Name means: “bird of prey, after Lechiguana the witch”1

Ate: MeatRaptorsLate Cretaceous

Diuqin was a feathered, bird-like dinosaur that lived about 85 million years ago in what is now Argentina. It was a fast, meat-eating hunter with sharp claws and a beak. Scientists only know it from a few bones, but those bones tell an exciting story!1

Lived

86 to 84 million years ago3

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Neuquén Province, northern Patagonia, Argentina1

Food

Meat3

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Diuqin belongs to a group called unenlagiines, which were bird-like raptors with long arms and feathers.1

Its name comes from the Mapuche language and means 'bird of prey'.1

The only known Diuqin fossil was found on a narrow strip of land between two lakes in Argentina.1

Diuqin lived during the Santonian age, about 85 million years ago, filling a 15-million-year gap in the fossil record of its group.1

The humerus bone of Diuqin has small round holes that scientists think were bite marks from a crocodile, mammal, or another dinosaur.1

Diuqin is known from only a few bones: parts of the backbone, a nearly complete left upper arm bone, and a few fragments.1

AI-made picture of Diuqin — An AI-made picture of how Diuqin might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Diuqin

?What did Diuqin eat?

Diuqin was a meat-eating hunter, so it ate other animals. Its sharp claws and beak helped it catch prey.2

?How big was Diuqin?

Scientists don't know exactly because only a few bones have been found. It was probably small and bird-like, but its full size is still a guess.2

?Did Diuqin have feathers?

Yes, Diuqin was a feathered dinosaur. It belonged to a group of bird-like raptors that had long arms and feathers.2

?Where was Diuqin found?

Diuqin was found in Argentina, on a narrow strip of land between two lakes in Patagonia. It lived there about 85 million years ago.2

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Diuqin
Named by: Porfiri et al. 20243
Group: Raptors
Family / clade: Dromaeosauridae3
Classification: Theropoda > Dromaeosauridae3
Age of the rocks: 86 to 84 million years (Santonian)3
Rock formations: Bajo de la Carpa3
Countries: Argentina3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Diuqin was named in 2024 by a team of scientists including J. D. Porfiri. The fossil was found on an isthmus between Lago Barreales and Lago Mari Menuco in Neuquén Province, Argentina.1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly where Diuqin fits on the dinosaur family tree. It might be a type of unenlagiine, but some studies place it in other groups.1

Where the facts come from

Diuqin lechiguanae gen. et sp. nov., a new unenlagiine (Theropoda: Paraves) from the Bajo de la Carpa Formation (Neuquén Group, Upper Cretaceous) of Neuquén Province, Patagonia, Argentina | BMC Ecology and Evolution | Springer Nature Link (link.springer.com)
Diuqin (en.wikipedia.org)
Diuqin in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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