Alwalkeria
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Alwalkeria Temporal range: Late Triassic, 228 Ma |
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| Life restoration | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Genus: |
†Alwalkeria Chatterjee & Creisler, 1994 |
| Species: | †A. maleriensis |
| Binomial name | |
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Alwalkeria maleriensis (Chatterjee, 1987) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Alwalkeria (/ælwɔːˈkɪəri.ə/; "for Alick Walker") is a genus of basal saurischian dinosaur from the Late Triassic of India. It was a small bipedal omnivore.
This dinosaur was originally named Walkeria maleriensis by Sankar Chatterjee in 1987, in honor of British paleontologist Alick Walker. However, since the original generic name was found to be preoccupied by a bryozoan, the name Alwalkeria was created in 1994 by Chatterjee and Ben Creisler. The species name maleriensis is a reference to the Maleri Formation, in India, where its fossils were found.
The only known specimen, holotype ISI R306 is incomplete and consists of parts of the front ends of the upper and lower jaws, 28 incomplete vertebrae from all parts of the spinal column, most of a femur, and an astragalus (ankle bone). The partial skull is about 4 centimeters long (1.5 in). Although material of Alwalkeria is limited, the spacing and shape of the teeth strongly resemble those of Eoraptor. As in Eoraptor, a gap separates the teeth of the premaxillary and the maxillary bones of the upper jaw. Other similarities in the skull of the two animals also link them on morphological grounds. Estimates suggest that Alwalkeria was at best 50 cm (1.6 ft) long.Gregory S. Paul estimated its weight at 2 kg and length at 1.5 m in 2010.
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