Parvicursor
Template:Short description Template:Italic title Template:Speciesbox
Parvicursor (meaning "small runner") is a genus of tiny maniraptoran dinosaur with long slender legs for fast running.<ref>Parvicursor from Palaeos (technical)</ref>
Discovery and namingEdit
The holotype PIN no. 4487/25, mostly consisting of vertebrae, the pelvis and the right hindlimb, was discovered in 1992 and described in 1996.<ref>Karhu, A.A. and Rautian, A.S. (1996). "A new family of Maniraptora (Dinosauria: Saurischia) from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia". Paleontological Journal Russian Academy of Sciences 30(5): 583-592.</ref> It was discovered in Barun Goyot Formation of Khulsan, Mongolia, dated at approximately 72 million years old.<ref name="Averianov" />
DescriptionEdit
At only about Template:Convert from snout to end of tail, and Template:Cvt in weight, it was initially seen as one of the smallest non-avian dinosaurs known from an adult specimen.<ref name="technosaurs">Which was the smallest dinosaur? Template:Webarchive Royal Tyrrell Museum. Last accessed 2008-05-23.</ref> However, in 2022 its holotype was concluded to represent a juvenile individual.<ref name="Averianov"/>
Like other members of the family Alvarezsauridae, the forelimbs of Parvicursor were short and stubby, with hands all but completely reduced to a single large claw, possibly useful for opening tough termite mounds or other types of digging. It is unlikely that the claw could have served much for defense, as it was short and not adapted for flexible movements — it is more likely it would do as the animal's name implies: cursor means runner.
Close relatives include Shuvuuia and Mononykus, and together with these it is classified in the alvarezsaurid subfamily Parvicursorinae.
TaxonomyEdit
There may be a second, yet-unnamed, species of Parvicursor. Two specimens of tiny alvarezsaurids were described by Suzuki et al. in 2002. These authors considered the specimens to be juvenile Shuvuuia, which lived in the same formation.<ref name="suzukietal2002">Template:Cite journal</ref> However, a study by Nick Longrich and Phil Currie in 2009 suggested that several characters of the skeleton, including fused wrist and pelvic bones, indicated that these specimens were in fact adults of a tiny alvarezsaurid species. A phylogenetic analysis found that they grouped together with Parvicursor, and the authors provisionally referred them to Parvicursor sp. pending further study.<ref name=LC08>Template:Cite journal</ref>
It has been suggested that Linhenykus and Ceratonykus may be junior synonyms of Parvicursor.<ref name=dyke2011>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Averianov"/>
PhylogenyEdit
Parvicursor in a cladogram after Fowler et al. (2020):<ref name=Fowler2020>Template:Cite journal</ref>