Life restoration of Nqwebasaurus.
Nqwebasaurus (pronounced: nnkweb-ah-sawr-us. In fact, "nq" is a nasal postalveolar click [ŋǃ]) is the name given to a genus of dinosaur from the Tithonian to Valanginian (Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous). It was a basal coelurosaur related to Ornitholestes. Its fossils were found in South Africa in the Kirkwood Formation, which is called Nqweba in the native language of the Xhosa. It was nicknamed "Kirky" after this formation before receiving its scientific name.[1] Nqwebasaurus is the earliest known coelurosaur from Gondwana.
The type species, Nqwebasaurus thwazi, was described by de Klerk, Forster, Sampson, Chinsamy and Ross in
| Nqwebasaurus
Fossil range: Early Cretaceous | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Theropoda |
| (unranked): | Coelurosauria |
| Genus: | Nqwebasaurus |
| Binomial name | |
| Nqwebasaurus thwazi
de Klerk et al., 2000 | |
2000. According to the authors, the new genus is one of the "most complete and best preserved Cretaceous theropods described thus far from Africa." The well-preserved specimen had a long, three-fingered hand which included a partially opposable thumb (a "killer claw"). The fossil also contained gastroliths in its stomach. The specimen appeared to be a late juvenile about 9 in (22.8 cm) high and around 2.6 (0.7 m) long, making it the eleventh smallest dinosaur, though the length of its tail is not known.