Alvarezsauria
|-?Rapator ornitholestoides
   |
   |-Alvarezsauridae
      |-Alvarezsaurus calvoi
         |
         |-Patagonykus puertai
            |
            |-Mononykinae
               |-Mononykus olecranus
               |-"Ornithomius minutus"
               |-Parvicursor remotus
               |-Shuvuuia deserti

Alvarezsaurids were tiny (0.5-1m.) theropods, with long slender legs, and short stubby
arms, that ended in one powerfull claw. They had a toothless beak, on a very birdlike light
skull. It is uncertain what the claw was for, but one suggestion is that they used it to
rip open termite's nests, feeding on termites, ants and other small insects.

The relationshit Alvarezsauria & Avialae is still uncertain and under discussion.

Alvarezsaurids had pretty large skulls compared to their body size, something that caused a
slight fuzz when the well-known dinosaur artist Gregory Paul published his skeletal reconstruction
of Mononykus olecranus