Bonapartenykus

Bonapartenykus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 70 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Order:	Saurischia
Suborder:	Theropoda
Family:	†Alvarezsauridae
Subfamily:	†Patagonykinae
Genus:	†Bonapartenykus Agnolin et al., 2012
Species:	† B. ultimus
Binomial name
Bonapartenykus ultimus Agnolin et al., 2012

Bonapartenykus (named in honor of José Bonaparte) is a genus of alvarezsaurid theropod dinosaurs known from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian/Maastrichtian stage) of northwestern Patagonia, Argentina. The type species is B. ultimus. An adult female of B. ultimus has been discovered with two eggs that may have still been inside its oviducts, although some evidence suggests that the eggs may have been incubated in a nest. The size of the adult female has been estimated as at least 8.5 feet (2.6 m), and the weight of Bonapartenykus has been estimated as 100 pounds (45 kg). Its diet probably consisted of insects. Paleontologist Fernando Novas compared its bones to those of the nandu, a modern-day Patagonian flightless bird.

The eggs of Bonapartenykus were considered unique enough for them to be designated to a new oofamily, the Arriagadoolithidae, so named for the owner of the site where the discovery was made.