Alwalkeria

Alwalkeria (; "for Alick Walker") is a historically problematic extinct genus of avemetatarsalian known from the Late Triassic Lower Maleri Formation of India. The genus contains a single species, Alwalkeria maleriensis. It was initially described in 1987 under the genus name , based on a partial skull, several vertebrae, and fragmentary hindlimb bones. As this name is preoccupied, the new genus Alwalkeria was proposed to replace it. Early research interpreted the material belonging to a 'podokesaurid' (coelophysoid) theropod, herrerasaur, or Eoraptor-like basal eusaurischian dinosaur. Subsequent work recognized the chimaeric status of the fossils referred to this species, as they belong to multiple unrelated taxa. Some of the bones may belong to a dinosaur, and the skull is likely from a pseudosuchian. A 2025 study suggested lagerpetid affinities for the femora, though this was deemed unlikely by a subsequent review, which regarded A. maleriensis as a member of Pan-Aves (Avemetatarsalia) of uncertain placement.

== History and classification == In 1987, Sankar Chatterjee named Walkeria maleriensis as a new genus and species of podokesaurid theropod dinosaurs based on specimen ISI R 306, which includes a partial skull, around 28 vertebrae, a proximal left femur, a distal right femur, and an astragalus (ankle bone). The specimen was recovered in the Godavari Valley locality from the Maleri Formation of Andhra Pradesh, India. The remains were collected by Chatterjee in 1974 in red mudstone that was deposited during the Carnian stage of the Triassic period, approximately 235 to 228 million years ago. The specimen is housed in the collection of the Indian Statistical Institute, in Kolkata, India.