What is Alvarezsaurus?
{{italictitle}} {{Taxobox | name = ''Alvarezsaurus'' | fossil_range = [[Upper Cretaceous]] | image = Alvarezsaurus.jpg | image_width = 250px | image_caption = Skeleton restoration | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]] | classis = [[Reptile|Reptilia]] | superordo = [[Dinosaur]]ia | ordo = [[Saurischia]] | subordo = [[Theropoda]] | familia = Alvarezsauridae | genus = '''''Alvarezsaurus''''' | genus_authority = [[José Bonaparte|Bonaparte]], 1991 | subdivision_ranks = [[Species]] | subdivision = '''''A. calvoi''''' <small>Bonaparte, 1991 ([[Type (biology)|type]])</small> }} '''''Alvarezsaurus''''' is a small dinosaur from the [[Upper Cretaceous]] of [[Argentina]], about 86{{ndash}}83 million years ago. It measured about two meters in length and weighed 20 kilograms. It was named by [[paleontologist]] [[Jose Bonaparte]] in 1991. It walked on two legs, had a long tail, and its leg structure suggests that it was a fast runner.<ref> Paul, Gregory S. 2010. ''The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs''. Princeton University Press, p126.</ref> It may have eaten [[insects]]. It was more [[basal]] than other, better-known, members of its family, such as ''[[Mononykus]]'' and ''[[Shuvuuia]]''. == In popular culture == ''Alvarezsaurus'' was featured in the [[Discovery Channel]] television series ''[[Dinosaur Planet]]''. It was shown as a predator of young ''[[Saltasaurus]]'', although these species did not exist at the same time. ''Alvarezsaurus'' lived about five million years before ''Saltasaurus''. == References == {{reflist}} {{-}} {{biology-stub}} [[Category:Cretaceous dinosaurs]]