Dinosaurs / Cretaceous / Nemegtomaia
Nemegtomaia
Cretaceous neh-MEG-toh-MY-ah, “good mother of the Nemegt”
Nemegtomaia was a medium-sized oviraptorid that inhabited the lush river valleys of the Nemegt Basin in Mongolia during the Late Cretaceous. Measuring about two metres in length, it possessed a prominent cranial crest and deep, toothless jaws powered by strong adductor muscles. Several well-preserved specimens have been uncovered, including an adult preserved in an exquisite nesting posture over a clutch of eggs. The dinosaur held its arms outstretched over the perimeter of the nest, demonstrating that feathered wings were used to shield eggs from wind, sand, and fluctuating temperatures. Nemegtomaia likely consumed tough desert foliage, nuts, seeds, and small vertebrates, navigating its environment on agile hind legs alongside gigantic sauropods and hadrosaurs.
Found fossilised directly on top of a ring of eggs in a protective brooding posture.
Where and when
Nemegtomaia lived in the Late Cretaceous, from 71 to 68 million years ago (Maastrichtian age). Its remains come from Mongolia, in the Nemegt Formation.
The numbers
Length 1.9 m (estimates run from 1.8 to 2 m). Mass about 40 kg. Hip height about 0.8 m. That is 1.1 human-lengths, or 0.17 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from near-complete skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, first ma, last ma, hip height.