Avimimus
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''Avimimus'' ( ), meaning "bird mimic" (
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
''avis'' = bird + ''mimus'' = mimic), is a
genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
oviraptorosauria Oviraptorosaurs ("egg thief lizards") are a group of feathered maniraptoran dinosaurs from the Cretaceous Period (geology), Period of what are now Asia and North America. They are distinct for their characteristically short, beaked, parrot-like s ...
n
theropod Theropoda (; from ancient Greek , (''therion'') "wild beast"; , (''pous, podos'') "foot"">wiktionary:ποδός"> (''pous, podos'') "foot" is one of the three major groups (clades) of dinosaurs, alongside Ornithischia and Sauropodom ...
dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...
, named for its bird-like characteristics, that lived in the late
Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...
in what is now
Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
, around 85 to 70 million years ago.


Discovery and species

The remains of ''Avimimus'' were recovered by Russian paleontologists"Avimimus." In: Dodson, Peter & Britt, Brooks & Carpenter, Kenneth & Forster, Catherine A. & Gillette, David D. & Norell, Mark A. & Olshevsky, George & Parrish, J. Michael & Weishampel, David B. ''The Age of Dinosaurs''. Publications International, LTD. p. 130. . and officially described by Dr.
Sergei Kurzanov Sergei Mikhailovich Kurzanov (Сергей Михайлович Курзанов, born 1947) is a Russian (formerly USSR, Soviet) paleontologist at the Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He is known mainly for his work in ...
in 1981. The ''Avimimus'' fossils were initially described as having come from the Djadokta Formation by Kurzanov; however, in a 2006 description of a new specimen, Watabe and colleagues noted that Kurzanov was probably mistaken about the provenance, and it is more likely that ''Avimimus'' hailed from the more recent
Nemegt Formation The Nemegt Formation (also known as Nemegtskaya Svita) is a geological formation in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia, dating to the Late Cretaceous. The formation consists of river channel sediments and contains fossils of fish, turtles, crocodilians ...
. The
type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...
is ''A. portentosus''. Because no tail was found with the original find, Kurzanov mistakenly concluded that ''Avimimus'' lacked a tail in life. However, subsequent ''Avimimus'' finds containing caudal vertebrae have confirmed the presence of a tail. A second nearly complete specimen of ''Avimimus'' was discovered in 1996 and described in 2000 by Watabe and colleagues. Additionally, these authors identified a number of small theropod footprints in the same area as belonging to ''Avimimus''. A variety of isolated bones that have been attributed to ''Avimimus'' were considered to be distinct from ''A. portentosus'', and were initially referred to as ''Avimimus sp.'' In 2008, a team of Canadian, American, and Mongolian paleontologists headed by Phil Currie reported in 2006 an extensive bonebed of ''Avimimus sp.'' fossils. The bonebed is in the Nemegt Formation, 10.5 meters above the
Barun Goyot Formation The Baruungoyot Formation (also known as Barun Goyot) is a geological formation dating to the Late Cretaceous Period. It is located within and is widely represented in the Gobi Desert Basin, in the Ömnögovi Province of Mongolia. Descriptio ...
, in the Gobi Desert. The team reported finding abundant bones of at least ten individuals of ''Avimimus'', but the deposit may hold more. All individuals were either adult or subadult, and the adults showed little variation in size, suggesting
determinate growth In biology and botany, indeterminate growth is growth that is not terminated, in contrast to determinate growth that stops once a genetically predetermined structure has completely formed. Thus, a plant that grows and produces flowers and fruit ...
. The team also suggests that the individuals were found together because they were
gregarious Sociality is the degree to which individuals in an animal population tend to associate in social groups (gregariousness) and form cooperative societies. Sociality is a survival response to evolutionary pressures. For example, when a mother was ...
in life, providing possible indications that ''Avimimus'' formed age-segregated groups for either
lekking A lek is an aggregation of male animals gathered to engage in competitive displays and courtship rituals, known as lekking, to entice visiting females which are surveying prospective partners with which to mate. It can also refer to a space us ...
or flocking purposes. The adults showed a greater degree of skeletal fusion in the tarsometatarsus and tibiotarsus, and also more prominent muscle scars. The preservation of the bonebeds suggest that they were buried rapidly, uncovered by rapid flow of water, and then buried again a short distance away. In 2018, ''Avimimus sp.'' was formally described as a new species, ''A. nemegtensis''.


Description

''Avimimus'' was a small, bird-like dinosaur with a length of 1.5 m (5 ft). The
skull The skull, or cranium, is typically a bony enclosure around the brain of a vertebrate. In some fish, and amphibians, the skull is of cartilage. The skull is at the head end of the vertebrate. In the human, the skull comprises two prominent ...
was small compared to the body, though the
brain The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...
and
eye An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system. In higher organisms, the ey ...
s were large. The size of the bones which surrounded the brain and were dedicated to protecting it are large. This is also consistent with the hypothesis that ''Avimimus'' had a proportionally large brain. The jaws of ''Avimimus'' were thought to form a parrot-like beak lacking teeth, and a thorough review of the
holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...
specimen's anatomy confirmed that no teeth were preserved, although a series of tooth-like projections along the tip of the premaxilla were. However, subsequently discovered specimens have been reported to preserve small premaxillary teeth. The small teeth or possible lack thereof in ''Avimimus'' suggests that it may have been an
herbivore A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat ...
or
omnivore An omnivore () is an animal that regularly consumes significant quantities of both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize t ...
. Kurzanov himself, however, believed that ''Avimimus'' was an
insectivore file:Common brown robberfly with prey.jpg, A Asilidae, robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivore, carnivorous animal or plant which eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the Entomophagy ...
. The
foramen magnum The foramen magnum () is a large, oval-shaped opening in the occipital bone of the skull. It is one of the several oval or circular openings (foramina) in the base of the skull. The spinal cord, an extension of the medulla oblongata, passes thro ...
, the hole allowing the spinal cord to connect with the brain, was proportionally large in ''Avimimus''. The
occipital condyle The occipital condyles are undersurface protuberances of the occipital bone in vertebrates, which function in articulation with the superior facets of the Atlas (anatomy), atlas vertebra. The condyles are oval or reniform (kidney-shaped) in shape ...
, however, was small, further suggestive of the skull's relative lightness. The
neck The neck is the part of the body in many vertebrates that connects the head to the torso. It supports the weight of the head and protects the nerves that transmit sensory and motor information between the brain and the rest of the body. Addition ...
itself was long and slender, and is composed of vertebrae that are much more elongate than in other oviraptorosaurs. Unlike
oviraptorid Oviraptoridae is a group of bird-like, herbivorous and omnivorous maniraptoran dinosaurs. Oviraptorids are characterized by their toothless, parrot-like beaks and, in some cases, elaborate crests. They were generally small, measuring between one ...
s and
caenagnathid Caenagnathidae is a family of derived caenagnathoid dinosaurs from the Cretaceous of North America and Asia. They are a member of the Oviraptorosauria, and relatives of the Oviraptoridae. Like other oviraptorosaurs, caenagnathids had specialized ...
s, the back
vertebra Each vertebra (: vertebrae) is an irregular bone with a complex structure composed of bone and some hyaline cartilage, that make up the vertebral column or spine, of vertebrates. The proportions of the vertebrae differ according to their spina ...
e lack openings for
air sacs Air sacs are spaces within an organism where there is the constant presence of air. Among modern animals, birds possess the most air sacs (9–11), with their extinct dinosaurian relatives showing a great increase in the pneumatization (presence ...
, suggesting that ''Avimimus'' is more primitive than these animals. The forelimbs were relatively short. The bones of the hand were fused together, as in modern birds, and a ridge on the
ulna The ulna or ulnar bone (: ulnae or ulnas) is a long bone in the forearm stretching from the elbow to the wrist. It is on the same side of the forearm as the little finger, running parallel to the Radius (bone), radius, the forearm's other long ...
(lower arm bone) was interpreted as an attachment point for feathers by Kurzanov.Kurzanov, S.M. (1981). "An unusual theropod from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia Iskopayemyye pozvonochnyye Mongolii (Fossil Vertebrates of Mongolia)." ''Trudy Sovmestnay Sovetsko-Mongolskay Paleontologiyeskay Ekspeditsiy'' (''Joint Soviet-Mongolian Paleontological Expedition''), 15: 39-49. Nauka Moscow, 1981 Kurzanov, in 1987, also reported the presence of
quill knob A quill is a writing tool made from a moulted flight feather (preferably a primary wing-feather) of a large bird. Quills were used for writing with ink before the invention of the dip pen/metal- nibbed pen, the fountain pen, and, eventually, the ...
s,Kurzanov, S.M. (1987). "Avimimidae and the problem of the origin of birds." ''Transactions of the Joint Soviet-Mongolian Paleontological Expedition'', 31: 5-92.
n Russian N, or n, is the fourteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...
/ref> and while Chiappe confirmed the presence of bumps on the ulna, their function remained unclear.Chiappe, L.M. and Witmer, L.M. (2002). ''Mesozoic Birds: Above the Heads of Dinosaurs.'' Berkeley: University of California Press, 536 pp. Kurzanov was so convinced they were attachment points for feathers that he concluded that ''Avimimus'' may have been capable of weak flight. The presence of feathers is now widely accepted, but most paleontologists do not believe ''Avimimus'' could fly. The ilium was almost horizontally oriented, resulting in exceptionally broad hips. Little is known of the
tail The tail is the elongated section at the rear end of a bilaterian animal's body; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage extending backwards from the midline of the torso. In vertebrate animals that evolution, evolved to los ...
but the
hip In vertebrate anatomy, the hip, or coxaLatin ''coxa'' was used by Celsus in the sense "hip", but by Pliny the Elder in the sense "hip bone" (Diab, p 77) (: ''coxae'') in medical terminology, refers to either an anatomical region or a joint on t ...
suggests that the tail was long. The
leg A leg is a weight-bearing and locomotive anatomical structure, usually having a columnar shape. During locomotion, legs function as "extensible struts". The combination of movements at all joints can be modeled as a single, linear element cap ...
s were extremely long and slender, suggesting that ''Avimimus'' was a highly specialized runner. The proportions of the leg bones add further weight to the idea of ''Avimimus'' was quick on its feet. The animal's shins were long in comparison with its thighs, a trait common among
cursorial A cursorial organism is one that is adapted specifically to run. An animal can be considered cursorial if it has the ability to run fast (e.g. cheetah) or if it can keep a constant speed for a long distance (high endurance). "Cursorial" is often ...
animals. It also had three-toed feet with narrow pointed claws.


Classification

''Avimimus'' was originally suggested to be a very close relative of birds, given its unique suite of bird-like features not known in other dinosaurs at the time. In fact, Kurzanov argued that ''Avimimus'', rather than the famous early bird ''
Archaeopteryx ''Archaeopteryx'' (; ), sometimes referred to by its German name, "" ( ''Primeval Bird'') is a genus of bird-like dinosaurs. The name derives from the ancient Greek (''archaîos''), meaning "ancient", and (''ptéryx''), meaning "feather" ...
'', was close to the direct ancestor of modern birds, and that ''Archaeopteryx'' was not as closely related to birds as had previously been suggested. However, this view has not been supported by later
phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...
analyses of dinosaur and bird relationships. Most modern scientists find that ''Avimimus'' in fact belongs to a diverse group of bird-like dinosaurs more primitive than ''Archaeopteryx'', the oviraptorosaurs. Kurzanov placed ''Avimimus'' in its own family, Avimimidae, in 1981. In 1991,
Sankar Chatterjee Sankar Chatterjee (born May 28, 1943) is a paleontology, paleontologist, the Paul W. Horn Professor of Earth science, Geosciences at Texas Tech University and curator of Paleontology at the Museum of Texas Tech University. He earned his Doctor of ...
erected the
Order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...
Avimimiformes to include ''Avimimus''. Neither of these group names is used frequently by
paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...
s as they include only a single species. More recent studies have shown that ''Avimimus'' is best grouped within the
Oviraptoridae Oviraptoridae is a group of bird-like, herbivorous and omnivorous maniraptoran dinosaurs. Oviraptorids are characterized by their toothless, parrot-like beaks and, in some cases, elaborate crests. They were generally small, measuring between one ...
, within the subgroup
Elmisaurinae Caenagnathidae is a family of derived caenagnathoid dinosaurs from the Cretaceous of North America and Asia. They are a member of the Oviraptorosauria, and relatives of the Oviraptoridae. Like other oviraptorosaurs, caenagnathids had specialized ...
.Holtz, Thomas R. Jr. (2010) ''Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages,'
Winter 2010 Appendix.
/ref> The following
cladogram A cladogram (from Greek language, Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an Phylogenetic tree, evolutionary tree because it does not s ...
follows an analysis by Phil Senter, 2007.


Paleoecology

The
Barun Goyot Formation The Baruungoyot Formation (also known as Barun Goyot) is a geological formation dating to the Late Cretaceous Period. It is located within and is widely represented in the Gobi Desert Basin, in the Ömnögovi Province of Mongolia. Descriptio ...
of Mongolia, is estimated to date back to the
Campanian The Campanian is the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous epoch on the geologic timescale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). In chronostratigraphy, it is the fifth of six stages in the Upper Cretaceous Series. Campa ...
stage Stage, stages, or staging may refer to: Arts and media Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly Brit ...
, between 84 and 70 million years ago of the Late
Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...
period. During the Late Cretaceous period, the land that is now the Barun Goyot Formation had an arid environment with fields of sand
dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...
s and only intermittent
stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...
s. It is slightly younger than the nearby
Djadochta Formation The Djadochta formation (sometimes transcribed and also known as Djadokhta, Djadokata, or Dzhadokhtskaya) is a highly fossiliferous geological formation in Central Asia, Gobi Desert, dating from the Late Cretaceous period, about 75 million ...
, and seems to have been slightly wetter. This formation is noteworthy for the exquisite preservation of small and fragile dinosaur skeletons, a rare occurrence considering that these fossils are typically broken up and dispersed when found in other rock formations.Novacek, M. J., 1996. "Dinosaurs of the Flaming. Cliffs" Anchor/Doubleday. 367 p. The region that is preserved in the Barun Goyot Formation was home to the
maniraptoran Maniraptora is a clade of coelurosaurian dinosaurs which includes the birds and the non-avian dinosaurs that were more closely related to them than to '' Ornithomimus velox''. It contains the major subgroups Avialae, Dromaeosauridae, Troodontidae ...
'' Hulsanpes perlei'', the
oviraptorids Oviraptoridae is a group of bird-like, herbivorous and omnivorous maniraptoran dinosaurs. Oviraptorids are characterized by their toothless, parrot-like beaks and, in some cases, elaborate crests. They were generally small, measuring between one ...
''
Conchoraptor ''Conchoraptor'' (meaning "conch plunderer") is a genus of oviraptorid dinosaurs that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous epoch, about 70 million years ago. It is known from the Barun Goyot and Nemegt Formation, Nemegt formations of Mongolia ...
gracilis'' and '' Ajancingenia yanshini'', the
alvarezsaurid Alvarezsauridae is a family of small, long-legged dinosaurs. Although originally thought to represent the earliest known flightless birds, they are now thought to be an early diverging branch of maniraptoran theropods. Alvarezsaurids were highly ...
s ''
Ceratonykus ''Ceratonykus'' (meaning "horned claw") is a monospecific genus of alvarezsaurid dinosaur from Mongolia that lived during the Late Cretaceous (late Campanian stage, 72.1 Ma) in what is now the Barun Goyot Formation. The type and only species, ''C ...
oculatus'', '' Mononykus'' and ''
Parvicursor ''Parvicursor'' (meaning "small runner") is a genus of tiny maniraptoran dinosaur with long slender legs for fast running. Discovery and naming The holotype PIN no. 4487/25, mostly consisting of vertebrae, the pelvis and the right hindlimb, w ...
remotus'', the pachycephalosaur '' Tylocephale gilmorei'', the
ankylosaurs Ankylosauria is a group of herbivorous dinosaurs of the clade Ornithischia. It includes the great majority of dinosaurs with Armour (zoology), armor in the form of bony osteoderms, similar to turtles. Ankylosaurs were bulky quadrupeds, with short ...
''
Saichania ''Saichania'' (Mongolian meaning "beautiful one") is a genus of herbivorous ankylosaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period of Mongolia. The first fossils of ''Saichania'' were found in the early 1970s in Mongolia. In 1977 the type speci ...
chulsanensis'' and ''
Tarchia ''Tarchia'' (meaning "brainy one") is a genus of herbivorous ankylosauridae, ankylosaurid dinosaur from the late Cretaceous of Mongolia. Discovery and naming In 1970, a Polish-Mongolian expedition discovered an ankylosaurian skull near Khulsan. ...
gigantea'', and the
ceratopsians Ceratopsia or Ceratopia ( or ; Greek: "horned faces") is a group of herbivorous, beaked dinosaurs that thrived in what are now North America, Asia and Europe, during the Cretaceous Period, although ancestral forms lived earlier, in the Late Jura ...
''
Bagaceratops ''Bagaceratops'' (meaning "small-horned face") is a genus of small protoceratopsid dinosaurs that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous, around 72 to 71 million years ago. ''Bagaceratops'' remains have been reported from the Barun Goyot Forma ...
rozhdestvenskyi'', ''
Breviceratops ''Breviceratops'' (meaning "short horned face") is a genus of protoceratopsid dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous in what is now the Barun Goyot Formation, Mongolia. Discovery and naming The first fossils were discovered during the 1 ...
kozlowskii'', '' Lamaceratops tereschenkoi'' and '' Platyceratops tatarinovi''. The largest dinosaur among them was the
titanosaur Titanosaurs (or titanosaurians; members of the group Titanosauria) were a diverse group of sauropod dinosaurs, including genera from all seven continents. The titanosaurs were the last surviving group of long-necked sauropods, with taxa still thr ...
'' Quaesitosaurus orientalis''. It was observed that many of the same genera were present at the Barun Goyot and Djadochta Formations, though there was variation at the species level. Vertebrates present in the Barun Goyot Formation included the primitive birds '' Gobipteryx minuta'' and '' Hollanda luceria'' and the lizards ''
Estesia ''Estesia'' (in honour of Richard Estes) is an extinct genus of Late Cretaceous anguimorph lizard found in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. Discovery It was discovered in June 1990 by a joint expedition made up of Mongolian and American palaeon ...
mongoliensis'', ''
Ovoo Ovoo, oboo, or obo (, , , , Traditional Mongol: , "heap"; Chinese: 敖包 ''áobāo'', lit. "magnificent bundle .e. shrine) are cairns used as border markers or shrines in Mongolian folk religious practice and in the religion of other Mongol ...
gurvel'', '' Proplatynotia longirostrata'' and ''
Gobiderma ''Gobiderma'' is an extinct genus of Late Cretaceous lizard whose fossils are known from the Gobi Desert in southern Mongolia. It was first discovered as a result of a joint Polish-Mongolian Paleontological Expedition, and formally named in 1984 ...
pulchrum''. The early mammals that were present in this region during the time of ''Avimimus'' were the placental mammals ''Asioryctes nemegetensis'' and ''Barunlestes butleri'', the
amphibian Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...
'' Gobiates khermeentsavi'', the
multituberculate Multituberculata (commonly known as multituberculates, named for the multiple tubercles of their teeth) is an extinct order of rodent-like mammals with a fossil record spanning over 130 million years. They first appeared in the Middle Jurassic, a ...
mammals ''
Catopsbaatar ''Catopsbaatar'' is a genus of multituberculate, an extinct Order (biology), order of rodent-like mammals. It lived in what is now Mongolia during the late Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous epoch (geology), epoch, about 72 million years ...
catopsaloides'', ''
Chulsanbaatar ''Chulsanbaatar'' is an extinct genus of mammal from the Cretaceous of Mongolia. It was a member of the order of Multituberculata and is within the suborder Cimolodonta. The genus ''Chulsanbaatar'' was named by Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska in 1974 , ...
vulgaris'' and ''
Nemegtbaatar ''Nemegtbaatar'' is an extinct genus of mammal from the Upper Cretaceous Period of what is now Central Asia. It belonged to the order Multituberculata. ''Nemegtbaatar'' is within the suborder Cimolodonta and is a member of the superfamily Dja ...
gobiensis'', and the marsupial mammal ''Asiatherium reshetovi'' and '' Deltatheridium pretrituberculare''. Numerous dinosaur eggshells found in this region support the presence of sauropods and maniraptors.


See also

* Timeline of oviraptorosaur research


References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q131076 Oviraptorosauria Feathered dinosaurs Dinosaur genera Maastrichtian dinosaurs Nemegt Formation Baruungoyot Formation Dinosaurs of Mongolia Fossil taxa described in 1981 Fossil taxa described in 2018 Taxa named by Sergei Kurzanov Taxa named by Philip J. Currie Taxa named by Rinchen Barsbold