Dinosaurs · Small theropod

Alvarezsaurus

Say it al-var-rez-SORE-us. The name means ‘Alvarezs lizard’.

Alvarezsaurus beside a person 1.75 m tall. Ticks mark every metre.Body shape drawn for this site, showing the general build of small theropods

Length: 2 m
Diet: Meat-eater
When: Late Cretaceous89 to 85 million years ago
Fossils found in: Argentina
Named by: Bonaparte (1991)
Family tree: Dinosauria › Saurischia › Theropoda › Neotheropoda › Tetanurae › Avetheropoda › Coelurosauria › Tyrannoraptora › Maniraptoriformes › Maniraptora › Alvarezsauridae

Where Alvarezsaurus sits in the age of dinosaurs.Periods from the ICS chart; dinosaur dates from the Natural History Museum

Small theropods. Small two-legged dinosaurs, many feathered, the group that includes birds. See all 60

Lived at the same time

Other small theropods

Oviraptor Late Cretaceous
Saurornithoides Late Cretaceous
Bambiraptor Late Cretaceous
Borogovia Late Cretaceous
Masiakasaurus Late Cretaceous
Noasaurus Late Cretaceous
Pyroraptor Late Cretaceous
Unenlagia Late Cretaceous

Source: Alvarezsaurus in the Natural History Museum Dino Directory, read 12 November 2026. Sizes are the museum's estimates for a typical adult. "Lived at the same time" lists dinosaurs whose dates overlap, which does not always mean they met.