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Jaculinykus. The second finger is there, you just have to look closely :3.

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Jaculinykus yaruui and Harenadraco prima

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Jaculinykus yaruui Kubo et al., 2023 (new genus and species)

(Type specimen and schematic skeletal of Jaculinykus yaruui, with preserved bones in white on the skeletal, from Kubo et al., 2023)

Meaning of name: Jaculinykus = jaculus [small dragon in Greek mythology] claw [in Greek]; yaruui = speedy [in Mongolian]

Age: Late Cretaceous (Campanian–Maastrichtian?)

Where found: Barun Goyot Formation, Ömnögovi, Mongolia

How much is known: Nearly complete skeleton of one individual.

Notes: Jaculinykus was an alvarezsaurid, a group of unusual small theropods with short but powerful forelimbs, each tipped with an enlarged thumb claw. Their other fingers were highly reduced, and in at least one case (Linhenykus), probably lost entirely. Jaculinykus appears to exhibit an intermediate stage in finger loss, having lost one of the smaller fingers on each hand. This makes it the first known example of an alvarezsaurid with two-fingered hands.

Jaculinykus is also one of the most completely known alvarezsaurids. Most of the bones in the type specimen have probably remained close to the original positions that they were held in when the dinosaur died, and they suggest that Jaculinykus slept in a very bird-like posture with the head turned back and tucked close to the body. A similar sleeping pose had previously been found in the troodontid theropods Sinornithoides and Mei, but Jaculinykus provides the first strong evidence that alvarezsaurids (which were more distant relatives of modern birds than troodontids) adopted the same behavior.

Reference: Kubo, K., Y. Kobayashi, T. Chinzorig, and K. Tsogtbaatar. 2023. A new alvarezsaurid dinosaur (Theropoda, Alvarezsauria) from the Upper Cretaceous Baruungoyot Formation of Mongolia provides insights for bird-like sleeping behavior in non-avian dinosaurs. PLoS ONE 18: e0293801. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0293801

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Jaculinykus

Like other Alvarezsaurids, Jaculinykus had long legs, and enlarged first digit claws on each hand, which were probably used for digging and tearing. It also had a long tube-shaped snout filled with tiny teeth. These adaptations indicate that it probably had an insectivorous diet, feeding on colonial insects such as termites.

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