Alvarezsaurids

[Adam Yates <zooamy@zoo.latrobe.edu.au>]

On Fri, 1 Dec 1995, th81 wrote:

> The proper name for the family containing Mononykus is Alvarezsauridae
> Bonaparte 1991 (or was it 1990?).  This family contains Mononykus olecranus,
> Alvarezsaurus cattoi (or whatever the trivial nomen was), another Argentine
> form to be named Patagonykus puerti, and (possibly) "Ornithomimus" minutus.
> 

So what is the current consensus on the relationships of this family? Are 
they closer to modern birds than Archy? Also might their unusually wide 
distribution for a derived Late Cretaceous family be indicative of being 
secondarily flightless, ie. ancestral alvarezsaurids dispersed by flying. 
In this light I think it is possible that the very bird-like Kakuru 
kunjani from Australia might be one as well.

Adam Yates