Nomingia
Name: Nomingia
(named after the region it was discovered in).
Phonetic: No-min-ge-ah.
Named By: R. Barsbold, H. Osmólska, M.
Watabe, P. J. Currie & K. Tsogtbaatar - 2000.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Theropoda, Oviraptorosauria, Oviraptoridae.
Species: N. gobiensis (type).
Diet: Uncertain.
Size: About 1.7 meters long.
Known locations: Mongolia - Nemegt Formation.
Time period: Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial post cranial
remains including partial left leg, pelvic girdle and most of the
spine.
The
end five caudal
(tail) vertebrae of Nomingia are fused together
to form a pygostyle like that of
birds. In birds, the pygostyle serves as the attachment point for
the tail flight feathers, and in Nomingia the
pygostyle probably had
a similar function. However as an oviraptosaur, Nomingia
would not
have been capable of flying, so the feather fan that attached to the
pygostyle of Nomingia most probably served as a
display device for
signalling to other members of the species. A possible scenario could
be a Nomingia bowing forward towards another and
then raising its tail
pygostyle high, the largest and best developed belonging to the
healthiest individual.
Other
genera known to have had similar display devices to Nomingia
include
Caudipteryx
and Similicaudipteryx,
though others such as
Epidexipteryx
are also known to have had elaborate tail displays.
Hailing from the Nemegt Formation, Nomingia,
may have come into
contact with other oviraptosaur genera such as Rinchenia
and Avimimus.
Other dinosaurs that Nomingia may have lived
alongside include
ornithomimosaurs
such as Gallimimus,
therizinosaurs
such as
Therizinosaurus,
hadrosaurs
like Saurolophus,
ankylosaurs
like
Tarchia
and sauropods
like Nemegtosaurus.
predatory threats could
have included dromaeosaurs
like Adasaurus
and troodonts
like
Zanabazar,
but it were the tyrannosaurs
such as Alioramus
and
Tarbosaurus
that would have been the apex predators of the Nemegt
Formation.
Further reading
- A new oviraptorosaur (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from Mongolia:
the first dinosaur with a pygostyle - R. Barsbold, H.
Osmólska, M. Watabe, P. J. Currie & K.
Tsogtbaatar
- 2000.
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