Open Paleo

Alnashetri

Makovicky et al., 2012 al-nuh-sheh-tree

From the Günün-a-kunna dialect of the Tehuelche language, meaning 'slender thighs', referring to the long and slender hind limbs of the holotype. The species name honors the nearby village of Cerro Policía.

100.5–93.9 million years ago Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Alnashetri is a genus of alvarezsaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) Candeleros Formation of Río Negro Province, Argentina. The type and only species, Alnashetri cerropoliciensis, is known from partial hindlimb remains.

Under dispute

Alnashetri cerropoliciensis was originally described as a basal alvarezsaurid (Makovicky and colleagues, 2012), and older analyses and the reference-work treatment of Jones (2026) place it within Alvarezsauridae, close to Patagonykinae. The most recent analyses — Meso and colleagues (2024) and the near-complete specimen described by Makovicky and colleagues (2026) — instead recover it outside Alvarezsauridae as a basal, non-alvarezsaurid alvarezsauroid.

Diagnosis

  1. Low ridge on distal tibia separating rostral articular surface from outer face of lateral malleolus, extending up tibial shaft well above tip of ascending process of astragalus.
  2. Small notches extending ventrally from collateral ligament pits at base of distal articular hemicondyles on phalanges III-2 and III-3, proximoventral to the collateral ligament fossae.

Species

Alnashetri cerropoliciensis Makovicky et al., 2012

Type species

Named for the nearby small village of Cerro Policía in Argentina, whose residents generously assisted fieldwork at the La Buitrera locality since its discovery in 1999.

Holotype
MPCA-PV 477 , Museo provincial de Cipolletti "Carlos Ameghino"
Material
Partial left femur, distal portions of left and right tibiae, right fibula, proximal tarsals of both ankles, nearly complete right metatarsus, proximal and distal parts of left metapodials, left pedal digit III.
Horizon
upper Candeleros Formation, Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous , 100.5–93.9 million years ago
Locality
La Buitrera (Hoyada de los esfenodontes), Río Negro, Argentina

References

  1. Makovicky, P. J.; Apesteguía, S.; Gianechini, F. A. (2012). A New Coelurosaurian Theropod from the La Buitrera Fossil Locality of Río Negro, Argentina. Fieldiana Life and Earth Sciences 5: 90-98. Field Museum of Natural History. doi:10.3158/2158-5520-5.1.90 makovicky2012a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Theropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length, mass, and hip height estimates.

    jones2026c
  3. Makovicky, P. J.; Mitchell, J. S.; Meso, J. G.; Gianechini, F. A.; Cerda, I.; Apesteguía, S. (2026). Argentine fossil rewrites evolutionary history of a baffling dinosaur clade. Nature. doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10194-3

    New near-complete specimen recovers Alnashetri as a basal, non-alvarezsaurid alvarezsauroid

    makovicky2026a
  4. Meso, J. G.; Pol, D.; Chiappe, L.; Qin, Z.; Díaz-Martínez, I.; Gianechini, F.; Apesteguía, S.; Makovicky, P. J.; Pittman, M. (2024). Body size and evolutionary rate analyses reveal complex evolutionary history of Alvarezsauria. Cladistics 41(2): 135-155. Wiley. doi:10.1111/cla.12600

    Included Alnashetri in its alvarezsaur analysis.

    meso2024a