Bannykus

Extinct genus of dinosaur

Bannykus
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 125–113 Ma
PreꞒ
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Holotype displayed in Japan in 2012
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Superfamily: Alvarezsauroidea
Genus: Bannykus
Xu et al., 2018
Type species
Bannykus wulatensis
Xu et al., 2018
Synonyms
  • Wulatesaurus (informal)

Bannykus is an alvarezsaur from the Early Cretaceous of the Bayin-Gobi Formation of Inner Mongolia, China. It includes one species, Bannykus wulatensis. It is large for an alvarezsaur, with an estimated weight of 24 kg based on femoral circumference.[1]

Discovery

Scaled reconstruction

The holotype of Bannykus wulatensis is IVPP V25026, a partially-articulated incomplete skeleton. The holotype comes from the Bayin-Gobi Formation in Chaoge, Wulatehouqi, Inner Mongolia, China. It was discovered in 2009 and in 2012, its remains were displayed in Japan under the unofficial name "Wulatesaurus". It was given the binomial name Bannykus wulatensis in 2018; its generic name comes from the Mandarin word Ban (Chinese: ), meaning half, and the Greek word onyx, meaning claw. This refers to the transitional characteristics seen in this theropod. The specific name refers to Wulatehouqi (Wulate Rear Banner), the county that the holotype was found in.[1]

Classification

Bannykus, along with Xiyunykus, fills a 70-million year gap in alvarezsaur evolution by exhibiting morphologies intermediate between the typical theropod forelimb of Haplocheirus and the highly reduced forelimbs and minute teeth of Late Cretaceous alvarezsaurids.

References

  • Dinosaurs portal
  1. ^ a b Xu, Xing; Choiniere, Jonah; Tan, Qingwei; Benson, Roger B.J; Clark, James; Sullivan, Corwin; Zhao, Qi; Han, Fenglu; Ma, Qingyu; He, Yiming; Wang, Shuo; Xing, Hai; Tan, Lin (2018). "Two Early Cretaceous Fossils Document Transitional Stages in Alvarezsaurian Dinosaur Evolution". Current Biology. 28: 2853–2860.e3. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2018.07.057. PMID 30146153.
  • v
  • t
  • e
Avemetatarsalia
    • see Avemetatarsalia
Theropoda
    • see Theropoda
Maniraptora
    • see below↓
Alvarezsauridae
Parvicursorinae
Ceratonykini
Mononykini
Therizinosauria
Therizinosauroidea
Therizinosauridae
Pennaraptora
Oviraptorosauria
    • see Oviraptorosauria
Paraves
    • see below↓
Patagonykus puertai

Mononykus olecranus

Therizinosaurus cheloniformis
Scansoriopterygidae?
Anchiornithidae
Archaeopterygidae
Dromaeosauridae
    • see Dromaeosauridae
Troodontidae
    • see Troodontidae
Jeholornithiformes
Omnivoropterygidae?
Confuciusornithidae
Jinguofortisidae
Ornithothoraces
Enantiornithes
    • see Enantiornithes
Euornithes
    • see below↓
Ambopteryx longibrachium

Archaeopteryx lithographica

Confuciusornis sp.
Schizoouridae
Patagopterygiformes
Ambiortiformes
Hongshanornithidae
Songlingornithidae
Yanornithidae
Ichthyornithes
Hesperornithes
Hesperornithidae
Vegaviidae
Cimolopterygidae
Aves / Neornithes
    • see below↓
Patagopteryx deferrariisi Ichthyornis dispar
Palaeognathae
    • see Palaeognathae
Neognathae
Galloanserae
Anserimorphae
    • see Anserimorphae
Pangalliformes
    • see Pangalliformes
Incertae sedis
Dromornithidae
Gastornithiformes
Pelagornithidae
Taxon identifiers
Bannykus


Stub icon

This theropod-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

  • v
  • t
  • e