Banji

Ban-jee.

By Maeve Foster

Published on February 21, 2015

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Name

Banji ‭(‬striped crest‭)‬.

Phonetic

Ban-jee.

Named By

X.‭ ‬Xu‭ & ‬F.-L.‭ ‬Han‭ ‬-‭ ‬2010.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Saurischia,‭ ‬Theropoda,‭ ‬Oviraptorosauria,‭ ‬Oviraptoridae,‭ ‬Oviraptorinae.

Diet

Omnivore‭?

Species

B.‭ ‬long‭

Size

Sometimes credtied as being about‭ ‬65‭ ‬centimetres long,‭ ‬but this figure is highly speculative given that at the time of writing this dinosur is only known from a single skull which is also from a juvenile.

Known locations

China‭ ‬-‭ ‬Nanxiong Formation.

Time Period

Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous.

Fossil representation

Almost complete skull and lower jaw,‭ ‬potentially from a juvenile.

In Depth

Banji is a genus of small oviraptorid dinosaur that lived in China During the late Cretaceous.‭ ‬The name Banji translates as‭ (‬striped crest‭)‬,‭ ‬and is a reference to the striations that run vertically along the crest.‭ ‬Another feature seen in the holotype skull is that the nasal opening is by proportion unusually large when compared to other oviraptosaur genera.‭ ‬This large opening might be a result of the skull being that of a juvenile and still growing to size and proportion,‭ ‬however only a complete adult skull would confirm this one way or another.

Banji

In Depth

Further Reading