Mononykus

one claw

• mono · Greek · single, one
• onyx · Greek · claw

The name means "one claw" and refers to the animal's short, stout forelimbs, each of which had a single large, robust claw on the first digit. The other digits were greatly reduced. The original name, Mononychus, was already used for a beetle, so it was replaced with Mononykus.

Named by

Perle et al.

Year named

1993

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stages

Campanian – Maastrichtian

Found in

Nemegt Formation (and possibly Djadochta/Barun Goyot area), Gobi Desert, Mongolia

A small alvarezsaurid theropod. The originally published name Mononychus (Perle et al., 1993) was preoccupied by a beetle (Mononychus Germar, 1824), so Mononykus was published as a replacement name later in 1993. The exact stage and formation are uncertain; it is usually cited from the Nemegt Formation (Late Cretaceous, probably Maastrichtian).