Rahonavis
| Rahonavis Temporal range: Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) | |
|---|---|
| Reconstructed skeleton, Royal Ontario Museum | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Clade: | incertae sedis |
| Genus: | †Rahonavis Forster et al., 1998b |
| Type species | |
| †Rahonavis ostromi | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Rahonavis is a genus of bird-like theropod from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian, from about 72.1 to 66 mya) of what is now northwestern Madagascar. It is known from a partial skeleton (UA 8656) found by Catherine Forster and colleagues in Maevarano Formation rocks at a quarry near Berivotra, Mahajanga Province. Rahonavis was a small predator, at about 70 centimetres (2.3 ft) long and 0.45-2.27 kg (1-5 lbs), with the typical dromaesaurid-like raised sickle claw on the second toe. It was originally the first African coelurosaur until the discovery of Nqwebasaurus in 2000.
The name Rahonavis means, approximately, "cloud menace bird", from Malagasy rahona (RA-hoo-na, "cloud" or "menace") + Latin avis "bird". The specific name, R. ostromi, was coined in honor of John Ostrom.