Dzharaonyx
Dzharaonyx was a tiny, feathered dinosaur that lived in what is now Uzbekistan. It was an alvarezsaur, a group of dinosaurs with strong, clawed arms that may have been used to break into insect nests. This dinosaur was about as long as a cat and probably ate ants and termites.1
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Fun facts
Dzharaonyx is the oldest known member of the Parvicursorinae group, living about 93 to 89 million years ago.2
Its name comes from the place where it was found, Dzharakuduk, and the Greek word for claw, 'onyx'.1
Only seven alvarezsaur bones were found out of over 3,500 dinosaur fossils collected from the same area.1
Dzharaonyx had a very large olecranon process on its ulna, which gave it a strong elbow for digging.1
Its tail vertebrae were procoelous, meaning they had a ball-and-socket joint that made the tail flexible.1
The foot of Dzharaonyx was arctometatarsalian, with a pinched middle toe bone that helped it run fast.1
Dzharaonyx lived in a coastal environment with rivers and swamps, alongside many other dinosaurs and marine animals.1
Most asked questions about Dzharaonyx
?How big was Dzharaonyx?
Dzharaonyx was about 0.5 metres long and weighed around 1.75 kilograms, roughly the size of a cat.1
?What did Dzharaonyx eat?
Scientists think Dzharaonyx probably ate colonial insects like ants and termites, based on its strong, clawed arms and the time it lived.1
?When did Dzharaonyx live?
Dzharaonyx lived during the Late Cretaceous period, about 93 to 89 million years ago.1
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Myth buster
Myth: Some people think Dzharaonyx was a bird because of its small size and feathered appearance.
Truth: Dzharaonyx was a theropod dinosaur, not a bird. It belonged to the alvarezsaur group, which are dinosaurs closely related to birds but not true birds.1
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Dzharaonyx
- Named by
- Averianov and Sues 20223
- Group
- Odd feathered dinos
- Family / clade
- Alvarezsauridae3
- Classification
- Theropoda > Alvarezsauridae3
- Age of the rocks
- 94 to 90 million years (Turonian)3
- Rock formations
- Bissekty3
- Countries
- Uzbekistan3
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
- Discovery
- The first bones were found by Soviet paleontologist Lev Nesov between 1977 and 1994. More were collected by an international team from 1997 to 2006. The dinosaur was named Dzharaonyx eski in 2022 by Alexander Averianov and Hans-Dieter Sues.1
- Still debated
- Scientists are not sure what Dzharaonyx ate because no skull bones have been found. They guess it ate insects based on its strong arms and claws, but it might have eaten other things too.1
Where the facts come from
- Dzharaonyx (en.wikipedia.org)
- New Material and Diagnosis of a New Taxon of Alvarezsaurid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous Bissekty Formation of Uzbekistan (complete.bioone.org)
- Dzharaonyx in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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