• Haplocheirus sollers

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    Source: http://microcosmicecology.deviantart.com/art/Haplocheirus-sollers-288865868

    NameHaplocheirus sollers

    Name Meaning: Simple-handed Skillful one 

    First Described: 2010

    Described By: Choiniere et al

    ClassificationDinosauria, Sauirschia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Alvarezsauria, Alvarezsauroidea

    Haplocheirus is the largest known alvarezsauroid, and also the most basal member of the group, and the oldest known member, predating the rest by about 63 million years ago. This also means it was 15 million years older than Archaeopteryx. It had much longer hands than later alvarezsauroids, with three fingers, allowing it to do activities that later members of the group abandoned, such as catching prey. It was about 2 meters long with an enlarged thumb claw, marking it as a member of the alvarezsauroid groups. It had long legs and probably was a fast runner, which was important as it lived alongside large theropods such as Sinraptor and Monolophosaurus, and would have had to escape them. It lived during the Oxfordian age of the Late Jurassic, about 160 million years ago, and was found in the Sishugou Formation of the Junggar Basin in northwestern China. It had feathers, further emphasizing that feathers were a more ancient feature of Dinosauria than Archaeopteryx would have us believe. 

    Sources: 

    http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/h/haplocheirus.html

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplocheirus

    Shout out goes to blujayonthewing!

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    I feel lile when I learn about dinosaurs, I am also learning Latin… sort of.
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