Mononykus

MononykusSingle Claw
Classification
Domain	Eukaryota
Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Subphylum	Vertebrata
Superclass	Tetrapoda
Clade	Sauropsida
Class	Reptilia
Clade	Archosauria Avemetatarsalia Ornithodira Dinosauria Saurischia Theropoda Neotheropoda Averostra Tetanurae Orionides Avetheropoda Coelurosauria Maniraptora Alvarezsauria
Superfamily	Alvarezsauroidea
Family	Alvarezsauridae
Subfamily	Parvicursorinae
Tribe	Mononykini
Species	Mononykus olecranus
Presence
Location	Nemegt Formation, Ömnögovi Province, northwest Gobi Desert, south Mongolia
Temporal Range	70 million years ago, Maastrichtian Stage, Late Cretaceous Period
Episodes	Deserts (Segments 3 and 4) How Did Dinosaurs Get So Big? (Cameo)
Characteristics
Height	60 centimeters (2 feet)
Length	1.2 meters (4 feet)
Mass	3.5 kilograms (7.7 pounds)
Diet	Insectivorous
Hand Claw Length of 7.5 centimeters (3 inches)

Main

Gallery

MainGallery

“ Mononykus is a desert specialist. Like many desert animals, she must patrol a huge area if she is to find enough food. ”

― David Attenborough, Deserts

Mononykus (Single Claw) is a genus of alvarezsaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in the Nemegt Formation of the Ömnögovi Province, an area in the northwest region of the Gobi Desert in southern Mongolia, 70 million years ago, during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period.

Paleobiology

Size and Physique

While it is one of the larger alvarezsaurids, Mononykus is still a very small animal, barely 60 centimeters (2 feet) tall, around 1.2 meters (4 feet) long, and weighing a measly 3.5 kilograms (7.7 pounds).

Mononykus breaking into a log with her claw

“ She now uses the weapon that gives this hunter its name. Mononykus, 'single giant claw', just what she needs to open a termite's nest. ”

― David Attenborough, Deserts

As per its name, each of its stubby arms only have a single 7.5-centimeter (3-inch) claw, much like most alvarezsaurids (though some alvarezsaurids possess two vestigial fingers alongside their main claws). It is believed that alvarezsaurids used these peculiar limbs to break into ant and termite colonies, much like anteaters today, though there is also a theory that alvarezsaurids were nest raiders that used their claws to crack eggs open, evidence of which is seen when a Qiupanykus is found with some oviraptorid eggshells.

Senses

Mononykus listening for termites within a log

“ Bare legs help keep her body cool. Feathers on her body shield her from the sun's rays, and they provide her with a super-sense. They form facial discs that help her detect the faintest of sounds. Such hypersensitive directional hearing gives her a mental map of this hollow log, and what lies within. ”

― David Attenborough, Deserts

Shuvuuia, a smaller alvarezsaurid that lived in Mongolia 75 million years ago, had large sclerotic rings, a sign of sharp eyes with remarkable night vision and asymmetrical ear size for enhanced hearing (said to rival those of a modern-day barn owl), indicating that Shuvuuia may have been a nocturnal hunter with its notable sensory adaptations, Furthermore, based on its well-developed hyoid (tongue bone) and toothless lower jaw tip (both of which were adaptations for animals with long tongues), it is believed that Shuvuuia may have been a myrmecophage, and thus, just like anteaters, possessed a long, sticky tongue to collect termites and ants for consumption.

Mononykus licks up several termites with her long tongue

“ And she has another special piece of equipment. A flexible tongue twice the length of her head. An excellent, protein-packed meal, if only termites weren't quite so irritating ”

― David Attenborough, Deserts

Due to being one of the closest relatives of Mononykus, Prehistoric Planet applied the traits seen in Shuvuuia (not only its sensory adaptations, but also its shaggy, feathered coat) to its depiction of Mononykus, even giving it a barn owl's white and light brown color scheme and facial discs. Mononykus is also depicted with some aspects of the similarly-built roadrunner, another sleek, small, feathered insectivore that dwells in the desert.

Paleoecology

Paleoenvironment

Main: Nemegt Formation

Main: Nemegt Formation

A lone Mononykus in the desert

“ Making the most of fleeting chances is key to surviving in the desert, and some dinosaurs manage to do so very effectively indeed. ”

― David Attenborough, Deserts

The Ömnögovi is the largest aimag (province) of Mongolia, found in the south of the country, in the northeast portion of the Gobi Desert. Within this aimag is an area called the Nemegt Basin, known locally as the "Valley of Dragons" due to its rich fossil content. It encompasses three formations showing the states the area underwent throughout the Late Cretaceous, namely, the Djadochta (75 - 71 million years old), Barun Goyot (72 - 71 million years old), and Nemegt (70 million years old) Formations. Mononykus lived in the last of the three formations, which showed evidence of a rich, humid environment with large river channels, tidal flats, and forests. However, the Nemegt Formation is also known to have undergone periodic droughts, and there is precedence for arid regions much like the Gobi Desert today existing in Mongolia during those times, thus somewhat justifying the depiction of Mononykus living in or at least traveling through a vast desert environment, though the extent of it being a "desert specialist" is unknown.

Feeding Preferences and Cautious Behavior

Mononykus about to charge at a group of enantiornithines

Mononykus is shown to be a competent hunter, pinpointing and breaking through a termite nest in a dead tree, and understandably shows irritation when termites crawl on her face, frantically scratching her face against the log and with her feet. She also shows some curiosity and confusion when she ends up in an unfamiliar environment, a temporary patch of vegetation in the desert, running around the place and viewing it from multiple angles, checking out a scorpion and deciding it might be too weird and dangerous-looking to eat, and even trying to catch enanthiornithine birds that are "perhaps a little too big to tackle".

Mononykus also exhibits caution, as shown when one hides in a small cave in the rocks when the rains fall (since she may have never witnessed such rainfall before), and when one darts between the legs of Mongolian Titans, moving away from incoming feet and occasionally stopping for a brief period to observe and judge what direction is it best to rush in next.

Appearances

Deserts, Segment III

	Deserts, Segment III
	Setting Nemegt Formation, Gobi Desert, Mongolia

Deserts, Segment III

Setting
Nemegt Formation, Gobi Desert, Mongolia

Mononykus on a log housing termites

The third segment of Deserts shows a female Mononykus traveling through the desert, looking for a meal. With her hypersensitive directional hearing, Mononykus is able to track down the faint sounds of a termite nest in a hollow log. Making her way onto the dead tree, she uses her hearing to mentally map out the termite nest and determines the right position to dig through, breaking a hole through the wood with her left claw. She sticks her long tongue through the wood and licks up some termites, though some do crawl on her face in the process, prompting her to shake and scratch off the irritating insects on the log and with her feet.

Mononykus watches rain fall from within the comfort of a crevice

“ But such conditions don't always stay the same. On rare occasions, cooler mountain winds sweep in, and mix with the rising hot air. A desert storm, bringing with it welcome rain. She may never before have seen the land soaked like this. ”

― David Attenborough, Deserts

When a storm suddenly forms in the desert, Mononykus, who has likely never seen such an event unfold to such an extent before, ran for shelter, taking refuge in a small cave in the rocks. The rain brings to life seeds that have long lied dormant beneath the ground. In a short span of time, green shrubs and various colorful flowers sprout from the ground, filling the once-barren lands of the desert with plants.

Mononykus looking for food amidst the vegetation

“ It transforms this landscape in unexpected ways. Seeds that have been lying dormant burst into life. They transform this arid landscape in a matter of days. And with the vegetation comes an abundance of food... if you know how to catch it. ”

― David Attenborough, Deserts

When the rains subsided, Mononykus rushed out, curiously looking for food through the vegetation, checking out trees, a scorpion, and even charging after eniantiornithine birds, which fly off as soon as she reached them. Running around some more, she eventually manages to find and grab a beetle, before rushing off, presumably to find more food. Eventually, the plants are wiped out, and the temporary lushness of the land is once again reverted to its default arid state.

Deserts, Segment IV

	Deserts, Segment IV
	Setting Nemegt Formation, Gobi Desert, Mongolia Filming Location Namibia, Southern Africa

Deserts, Segment IV

Setting
Nemegt Formation, Gobi Desert, Mongolia

Filming Location
Namibia, Southern Africa

“ A risky place for a tiny Mononykus to come for a drink. ”

― David Attenborough, Deserts

In the fourth segment of the episode, a temporary oasis formed by rain attracts numerous animals of every kind from many miles away, including several Mononykus. A few of them riskily dart and weave between the legs of the Mongolian Titans and other massive animals that came to visit the oasis.

Uncovered: How Did Dinosaurs Get So Big?

	How Did Dinosaurs Get So Big?
	Subject The evolutionary means and efficient systems that let sauropods attain their massive sizes. Experts Professor Paul Barrett, Dr. Susannah Maidment

How Did Dinosaurs Get So Big?

Subject
The evolutionary means and efficient systems that let sauropods attain their massive sizes.

Experts
Professor Paul Barrett, Dr. Susannah Maidment

Near the end of the Uncovered segment "How Did Dinosaurs Get So Big?", stock footage from the fourth segment of Deserts is shown, featuring a Mongolian Titan drinking water alongside a few Mononykus, a herd of Barsboldia, and a Therizinosaurus, with a pair of Tarchia in the background.

Gallery

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Trivia

• It is unknown how exactly dinosaurs drank water. Prehistoric Planet chose to depict various types of dinosaur drinking water in different ways, with theropods shown scooping up water with their lower jaws rather than lapping it with their tongues or sucking it up. In the fourth segment of Deserts, Mononykus, Therizinosaurus, and Tarbosaurus drink water in this manner, and Tyrannosaurus is later depicted doing the same in the second segment of Freshwater.