A new oviraptorosaur (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from Mongolia: The first dinosaur with a pygostyle
Rinchen Barsbold, Halszka Osmólska, Mahito Watabe, Philip J. Currie, and Khishigjaw Tsogtbaatar
A description of Nomingia gobiensis gen. et sp. n., the first known dinosaur with a pygostyle, the structure known so far only in birds, is presented. The specimen comes from the Late Cretaceous strata at Bugin Tsav, Trans-Altai Gobi, Mongolia. N. gobiensis is assigned within the Oviraptorosauria based on the following characters: pneumatized caudal vertebrae, posteriorly concave ischium, and deep cervicodorsal hypapophyses. This specimen has been previously partially described without being formally named (Barsbold et al. 2000).
Key words: Dinosauria, Theropoda, Oviraptorosauria, Late Cretaceous, Gobi Desert, Mongolia.
Rinchen Barsbold [barsgeodin@magicnet.mn] and Khishigjaw Tsogtbaatar, Institute of Geology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Enkh Taivani Gudamji, Ulan Bator 210351, Mongolia. Halszka Osmólska [osm@twarda.pan.pl], Instytut Paleobiologii PAN, ul. Twarda 51/55, PL-00-818 Warszawa, Poland. Mahito Watabe [wmahito@pa2.so-net.ne.jp], Hayashibara Museum of Natural Sciences, Shimoishii 1-2-3, Okayama 700-0907, Japan. Philip. J. Currie [PCurrie@mcd.gov.ab.ca], Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Box 7500, Drumheller, Alberta TOJ OYO, Canada.
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