Alvarezsaurus calvoi
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calvoi
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(all-vah-ress-sor-uhss)
"Alvarez's Lizard"
Describer Bonaparte, 1991
Also Known As --
Type of Species calvoi
Order Saurischia
SubOrder Theropoda
InfraOrder --
Micro-Order --
Family Alvarezsauridae
Size 6 feet (2 meters) long
Period Late Cretaceous, 80 million years ago
Fossilsite Argentina
Diet Carnivore
The partial skeleton of this small, carnivore dinosaur was found in Argentina, on a river bank near the Argentine National University's Museum of Natural Science. Alvarezsaurus, a dinosaur from South America was quiet different from its Northern relatives. This difference gave rise to a new family of theropods, Alvarezsauridae, just to accommodate this new specimen.
This animal was built for speed, with its light wait body, slender legs and long feet. Whether the speed was used for escaping from large predators or for chasing down smaller pray, we cannot tell. No forelimbs have yet been found, but a shoulder blade suggests that its arms and hands were not used for walking, but for catching and holding its pray. Its tail was very long and slender, making for more than half of this dinosaur's total length.
