Bagaraatan

Ba-ga-raa-tan.
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Cassidy Wood

Paleoentomologist

Cassidy Wood uncovers the tiny yet significant world of prehistoric insects. Her research on amber-preserved specimens has revealed intricate details about ancient ecosystems.

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Name

Bagaraatan (Small hunter).

Phonetic

Ba-ga-raa-tan.

Named By

Osmolska - 1996.

Classification

Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Theropoda - further classification is uncertain, refer to main text.

Diet

Carnivore.

Species

B. ostromi

Size

Femur 31.5 centimetres long, Tibia 36.5 centimetres long, Fibula 31.5 centimetres long. Total body size is uncertain due to much of the skeleton being missing, but roughly estimated on this website to be about 2.7 meters long.

Known locations

Mongolia - Nemegt Formation.

Time Period

Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous.

Fossil representation

Mandible (lower jaw) and partial post cranial remains, including the upper legs, pelvis and caudal vertebrae.

In Depth

       The problem with Bagaraatan is that it is only known from partial remains that in themselves could be placed within a variety of different theropod groups. Leading palaeontologists have described Bagaraatan as a tyrannosaur, troodontid and even a maniraptorian, all of the main carnivorous theropod classes that were active in Asia towards the end of the Cretaceous.

       Named after the Mongolian for ‘small hunter’, the only thing that can be said about Bagaraatan is that it was a bipedal dinosaur, like other theropods, and that it was a carnivore.

Further Reading

– An unusual theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Nemegt Formation of Mongolia. – Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 41(1):1-38. – H. Osm�lska – 1996.

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