Borogovia (meaning borogove, which is a fictional creature from Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky") is a Troodontid from late Cretaceous Mongolia, which lived from 70 to 65 million years ago. It was about 6.6 feet (2 meters) long and weighed about as much as a beaver. Known from hind-limb material, and thought by some to be a species of Saurornithoides. It had a similar appearance to that of the Dromaeosauroides.[1]
Description[]
The generic name Borogovia is derived from the 'borogoves'
In 1971, a Polish-Mongolian expedition discovered at the Altan Ula IV site, in the Nemegt Basin of Ömnögovĭ province, the remains of a small theropod. The find was in 1982 reported by Halszka Osmólska and considered by her a possible specimen of Saurornithoides.[1] Later she concluded it represented a species new to science.
In 1987, Osmólska named and described the type species Borogovia gracilicrus. The generic name is derived from the fantasy creatures known as 'borogoves' in the Lewis Carroll poem Jabberwocky, part of his Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The specific name is a combination of Latin gracilis, "lightly built", and crus, "shin", in reference to the elegant build of the lower leg.[2]
The holotype specimen, ZPAL MgD-I/174, was found in the Nemegt Formation, dating from the early Maastrichtian. It consists of two lower legs of a single individual, including fragments of both tibiotarsi, the undersides of both metatarsi and the second, third and fourth toes of each foot.[2]
The tibiotarsi have an estimated length of twenty-eight centimetres. Borogovia is about two meters (6 feet) long, weighing some twenty kilograms (forty-five pounds). The tibiotarsus is very elongated. The third toe is narrow. The second phalanx of the second toe is short. The claw of the second toe is short and relatively flat. Osmólska claimed that the second toe could not be hyperextended and suggested that it had regained a weight-bearing function, compensating for the weakness of the third toe.[2]
Borogovia was by Osmólska assigned to the Troodontidae in 1987.
JPInstitute.com Description[]
Borogovia was a small meat-eater from Asia that was very closely related to Troodon.
Like its North American cousin, Borogovia would have had a large brain and been a swift hunter. This theory is based mostly on what scientists know about Troodon, however, as only part of one of its legs and most of a foot have been found.
Discovered in 1971, Borogovia was originally described as a species of Saurornithoides, but later study placed it in the troodontid family. It appears to have been a more gracile form based on how thin one of the toes appears. There also appears to be a minor pathology that indicates that the type specimen was injured. Like Troodon, Borogovia is categorized as a bird-like dinosaur and may have been feathered.
Borogovia was named after "Borogove", a creature from the Alice in Wonderland fairytale.