Nomingia is a genus of oviraptorid theropod dinosaur hailing from the Late Cretaceous Bugin Tsav Beds 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 GIN100/119, 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, Mahito Watabe, Philip Currie and Khishigjaw Tsogtbaatar in 2000. The etymology of the binomial refers to the location where the fossils were found, with the generic name mentioning the Nomingiin Gobi, 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.
JPInstitute.com Description[]
This little dinosaur was just about ready to fly! Well, it was at least on its way to becoming a bird. Nomingia is a good example of the term "missing link". For many years scientists have argued about the theory that dinosaurs evolved into birds. While we know that some dinosaurs had feathers and some, like Archaeopteryx, could probably fly, no one had really found a dinosaur that was in the process of changing into a bird. Nomingia wasn't really ready to fly, but this dinosaur definitely was developing some of the features of modern birds. The most important was a short tail that ended in what is called a pygostyle. This is the type of bone that birds have so their tail feathers can attach to their bodies. It lets them steer while flying.
Nomingia exhibited many characteristics of the typical oviraptoroid. It had a beak, long arms with long claws, and long legs. Some scientists note that, despite the move toward bird-like characteristics, members of this family are not thought to have become avians.
Gallery[]
Appearance in other media[]
Jurassic Park[]
- Nomingia appears in Jurassic World: Alive as an Unique.
Read more Nomingia on Jurassic Park Wiki |