The small limbs' orientation may have made them useless for snatching prey or digging burrows. They may have been used to dig into nests of insects or to rend plants for digestion.

But some scientists believe that the unusual arms were used to hook and pull ants from their lairs in much the same manner used by some modern anteaters or pangolins. These animals also feature a single digit and elongated claw. This would be a rather unusual behavior for a dinosaur since most others were either confirmed vegetarians or formidable predators.

Still other researchers have suggested that Mononykus was not a birdlike dinosaur at all but an ancient, flightless bird. This interpretation arises because of a keel, or ridge, that runs