Open Paleo

Qiupanykus

Lü et al., 2018 chee-OO-pah-NY-kuhs /ˌtɕʰuˈpaːˈnɑ͡ikəs/

Named after the Qiupa Formation where the fossil was found, combined with Greek onyx (claw); meaning "claw from the Qiupa Formation".

72.2–66.0 million years ago Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Qiupanykus is an extinct genus of alvarezsaurid theropod from the Late Cretaceous Qiupa Formation of Henan Province, China. The type and only species is Q. zhangi, named for Shuancheng Zhang, who assisted in finding the fossils of Qiupanykus.

Under dispute

Qiupanykus zhangi was described as a parvicursorine recovered near the base of Parvicursorinae (Lü and colleagues, 2018). More recent work places it outside Parvicursorinae as a more basal alvarezsaurid: Kubo and colleagues (2023) recovered it as one of several successive sister taxa to Parvicursorinae, a result Averianov and colleagues (2025) suggest may reflect its incomplete material.

Diagnosis

  1. Posterior sacral vertebrae bearing strong ventral keel
  2. Proximal caudals with transverse processes centrally positioned on centrum
  3. Pubic articular surface of pubic peduncle reduced and knob-like
  4. Fibular crest of tibia large and quadrangular
  5. Functional sacrum comprised of eight vertebral elements (two anterior caudal plus six sacral)
  6. Small pneumatic foramen present in caudal vertebrae

Species

Qiupanykus zhangi Lü et al., 2018

Type species

Named for Shuancheng Zhang, who assisted in finding the fossils of Qiupanykus in Henan Province, China.

Holotype
HGM 41HIII-0101 , Henan Geological Museum
Material
Partial postcranial skeleton including cervical vertebrae, sacral vertebrae, caudal vertebrae, partial ilium and ischium, pubis, articulated right hindlimb, digits, pedal claws
Horizon
Qiupa Formation, Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous , 72.2–66.0 million years ago
Locality
Guanping, Qiupa Town, Henan, China

References

  1. Lü, J.; Xu, L.; Chang, H.; Jia, S.; Zhang, J.; Gao, D.; Zhang, Y.; Zhang, C.; Ding, F. (2018). A new alvarezsaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Qiupa Formation of Luanchuan, Henan Province, central China. China Geology 1(1): 28-35. China Geology. doi:10.31035/cg2018005 lü2018a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Theropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length and hip height estimates, and the appearance features.

    jones2026c
  3. Kubo, K.; Kobayashi, Y.; Chinzorig, T.; Tsogtbaatar, K. (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(11): e0293801. Public Library of Science (PLoS). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0293801

    New alvarezsaurid description recovered Qiupanykus outside Parvicursorinae as more basal.

    kubo2023a
  4. Averianov, A. O.; Lopatin, A. V.; Atuchin, A. A. (2025). Forelimb structure and function in a new Late Cretaceous parvicursorine theropod dinosaur from Mongolia. Proceedings of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences 329(4): 382-408. Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences. doi:10.31610/trudyzin/2025.329.4.382

    Questions Qiupanykus validity, noting its diagnosis mostly lists characters common to all parvicursorines.

    averianov2025a