Nomingia

Nomingia; Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 70 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
	Diagram showing known elements
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	Theropoda
Family:	†Oviraptoridae
Genus:	†Nomingia; Barsbold et al. 2000
Species
	N. gobiensis Barsbold et al., 2000 (type);

Nomingia is a genus of oviraptorid theropod dinosaur hailing from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia.

Discovery and naming[]

Restoration with hypothetical head, arms, and feet

Vertebrae and tail of the holotype specimen

The remains, consisting of most of the vertebral column, pelvic girdle and left tibio-tarsus, holotype GIN 100/119, were found in 1994 in layers of the Nemegt Svita, dating to the Maastrichtian. They were named and described as the type species Nomingia gobiensis by Barsbold, Halszka Osmólska, , Philip Currie and in 2000. The etymology of the binomial refers to the location where the fossils were found, with the generic name mentioning the , a nearby part of the Gobi Desert, which is itself mentioned in the specific descriptor.^[1]

Description[]

Nomingia is a medium-sized oviraptorosaur, estimated by Gregory S. Paul to have been 1.7 metres (5.6 ft) long and 20 kilograms (44 lb) in weight.^[2] It is characterized by a pygostyle-like mass of five fused vertebrae at the tail end, which Barsbold et al. inferred probably supported a feather fan as in Caudipteryx.^[1] A similar bone structure had only been found in birds before this fossil was discovered.

As other oviraptorids such as Chirostenotes, N. gobiensis would have been a medium-sized theropod sporting beaked jaws and, probably, a crest used for display.

Phylogeny[]

Barsbold et al. only formally assigned Nomingia to a more general Oviraptorosauria, though they considered that it was likely a member of the Caenagnathidae (=Elmisaurinae).^[1] Subsequent cladistic analyses have been contradictory regarding to which precise subgroup it belonged.

References[]

^ ^a ^b ^c Barsbold, R.; Osmólska, H.; Watabe, M.; Currie, P.J.; Tsogtbaatar, K. (2000). "New Oviraptorosaur (Dinosauria, Theropoda) From Mongolia: The First Dinosaur With A Pygostyle". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 45 (2): 97–106.
^ Paul, G.S., 2010, The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs, Princeton University Press p. 152