Zanabazar junior
| Zanabazar Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
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| Genus: | Zanabazar Norell et al., 2009
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Zanabazar is a genus of troodontid dinosaur, which lived during the Late Cretaceous period in Mongolia.
Fossils of this theropod have been found in the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia. Originally classified as a new species of the genus Saurornithoides by Rinchen Barsbold in 1974, based on a small specimen thought to be more closely related to S. mongoliensis than to other troodonts, a 2009 review of the genus found that the support for this idea was lacking. Mark Norell and colleagues re-classified the species in the new genus Zanabazar, which they named in honor of Zanabazar, the first spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism in Outer Mongolia.[1]
Zanabazar is the largest known troodontid, with a skull length of 272mm (10.7 inches). It is significantly larger than all other known troodontids except Troodon.[1]
References
- ^ a b Norell, M.A. (2009). "A Review of the Mongolian Cretaceous Dinosaur Saurornithoides (Troodontidae: Theropoda)". American Museum Novitates. 3654: 63.
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