Dino Wiki
Dino Wiki / All dinos / Odd feathered dinos
Cartoon of Xixianykus
Dino card No. 1948 of 2,027

Xixianykus

Say it: SHEE-shee-AN-ee-kus
Name means: “Xixia claw”1
Ate: MeatOdd feathered dinosLate Cretaceous

Xixianykus was a tiny, speedy dinosaur that lived in what is now China. It had long legs for running fast and was covered in feathers. Scientists think it was one of the fastest runners among non-bird dinosaurs.1

Lived
90 to 84 million years ago5
Late Cretaceous
Fossils found in
Henan Province, China12
Length
0.5 to 1 m (1.6 to 3.3 ft)2
estimated from partial skeleton
Weight
0.74 kg (2 lb)3
Height
0.2 m (0.7 ft)3
at the hips
Top speed
about 21 km/h (13 mph)
Running, estimate
Did Xixianykus eat meat?
Xixianykus likely ate colonial insects, such as termites. It had a long, tubular snout and strong arms with a large claw to tear open logs and nests.

When did it live?

Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

Xixianykus about 1 m long (3.3 ft)A house cat about 0.5 m (1.6 ft)A dog about 1 m (3.3 ft)A bicycle about 1.8 m (5.9 ft)

How tall was it?

Xixianykusabout 0.2 m tall (0.7 ft)A house catabout 0.3 m (1 ft)A dogabout 0.5 m (1.6 ft)A horseabout 1.6 m (5.2 ft)

at the hips

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 6 bananas
as long as 2 house cats nose to tailas long as 6 bananas end to endlighter than a house catas heavy as 6 bananassmall enough to walk under a chaircould run 100 metres in 17 seconds (the fastest human needs 9.6)

How big was Xixianykus compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast was it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Xixianykus belonged to a group called alvarezsaurids, which were small dinosaurs with strong arms and long legs.1

2

Its fossils were found in the Majiacun Formation in Xixia County, Henan Province, China.1

3

Xixianykus lived about 89 to 83 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period.2

4

This dinosaur had special bones in its hips and legs that helped it run very fast.1

5

Xixianykus is one of the earliest known members of the Parvicursorinae group, which were extreme runners.1

6

The name Xixianykus means 'Xixia claw', because its fossils were found in Xixia County and it had sharp claws.1

AI-madeAI-made picture of Xixianykus
An AI-made picture of how Xixianykus 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 Xixianykus

?How big was Xixianykus?

Xixianykus was very small, only about 50 centimetres long and 20 centimetres tall. It weighed around 0.74 kilograms, making it one of the smallest known non-bird dinosaurs.34

?How fast could Xixianykus run?

Scientists think Xixianykus was extremely fast because it had very long legs compared to its body, with special foot bones that helped it run. It was built like a tiny roadrunner and could sprint quickly to escape predators.34

?Did Xixianykus eat meat?

Xixianykus likely ate colonial insects, such as termites. It had a long, tubular snout and strong arms with a large claw to tear open logs and nests.34

Ask Rex about Xixianykus

Rex only answers questions about this page. 10 questions a month.

Rex is an AI and can make mistakes. He runs on servers in the EU and questions are never saved. Never type your name or other personal things.

For dino experts

Scientific name
Xixianykus
Named by
Xu et al. 20105
Group
Odd feathered dinos
Family / clade
Alvarezsauridae5
Classification
Theropoda > Alvarezsauridae5
Age of the rocks
90 to 84 million years (Coniacian / Santonian)5
Rock formations
Majiacun5
Countries
China5
Fossil records
1 in the Paleobiology Database5
Discovery
Xixianykus was named in 2010 by Xu and colleagues based on a partial skeleton found in the Majiacun Formation of Henan Province, China.12
Still debated
Scientists are not sure exactly what Xixianykus ate, but its sharp claws and small size suggest it hunted small prey.2

Where the facts come from

  1. A basal parvicursorine (Theropoda: Alvarezsauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous of China | Zootaxa (biotaxa.org)
  2. PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
  3. Xixianykus (en.wikipedia.org)
  4. New "Roadrunner" Dinosaur Found in China | National Geographic (nationalgeographic.com)
  5. Xixianykus 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.

Rex is hungry! Dino Wiki is a dad's project for his dino-loving son, free with no ads. Grown-ups can feed Rex a snack to help keep it online.Feed Rex

More from the same group: Odd feathered dinos

TherizinosaurusOdd feathered dinosOviraptorOdd feathered dinosChirostenotesOdd feathered dinosCitipesOdd feathered dinosLeptorhynchosOdd feathered dinosAvimimusOdd feathered dinos

Also from the same time: Late Cretaceous

TyrannosaurusTyrannosaursTriceratopsHorned dinosVelociraptorRaptorsSpinosaurusSpinosaursAnkylosaurusArmoured dinosParasaurolophusDuck-bills
Ask RexAI dino helperFeed Rextip jar for grown-ups