Zanabazar

Zah-nah-bah-zar.
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Liam Carter

Paleoanthropologist

Liam Carter explores the roots of humanity by studying early human fossils and artifacts. His ground-breaking work has provided a deeper understanding of our ancestors' lifestyles and social structures.

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Name

Zanabazar‭ (‬After the first spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism‭)‬.

Phonetic

Zah-nah-bah-zar.

Named By

Classification

Chordata, ‭Reptilia.‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Saurischia,‭ ‬Theropoda,‭ ‬Troodontidae.

Diet

Carnivore.

Species

Z.‭ ‬junior‭ (‬type‭)‬

Size

Up to‭ ‬3‭ ‬meters long.

Known locations

Mongolia,‭ ‬Nemegt Formation.

Time Period

Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous.

Fossil representation

Skull and partial skeleton.

In Depth

       When the remains‭ ‬of Zanabazar were first studied in‭ ‬1974,‭ ‬it was taken to be another specimen of Sauromithoides.‭ ‬When re-examined in‭ ‬2009,‭ ‬the bones were found to be different,‭ ‬and were renamed Zanabazar,‭ ‬after the first spiritual head‭ (‬Jebtsundamba Khutuktu‭) ‬of Tibetan buddhism who lived between‭ ‬1635-1723.‭ With a skull length of‭ ‬272‭ ‬millimetres,‭ ‬Zanabazar is one of the larger troodontids.

Further Reading

– A Review of the Mongolian Cretaceous Dinosaur Saurornithoides (Troodontidae: Theropoda). – American Museum Novitates 3654: 63. – M. A. Norell, P. J. Makovicky, G. S. Bever, A. M. Balanoff, J. M. Clark, R. Barsbold & T. Rowe – 2009.

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT