Nomingia

Name: Nomingia ‭(‬named after the region it was discovered in‭)‬.
Phonetic: No-min-ge-ah.
Named By: R.‭ ‬Barsbold,‭ ‬H.‭ ‬Osm�lska,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Watabe,‭ ‬P.‭ ‬J.‭ ‬Currie‭ & ‬K.‭ ‬Tsogtbaatar -‭ ‬2000.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Saurischia,‭ ‬Theropoda,‭ ‬Oviraptorosauria,‭ ‬Oviraptoridae.
Species: N.‭ ‬gobiensis (type).
Diet: Uncertain.
Size: About‭ ‬1.7‭ ‬meters long.
Known locations: Mongolia‭ ‬-‭ ‬Nemegt Formation.
Time period: Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: ‭P‬artial post cranial remains including partial left leg,‭ ‬pelvic girdle and most of the spine.




       ‬The end five caudal‭ (‬tail‭) ‬vertebrae of Nomingia are fused together to form a pygostyle like that of birds.‭ ‬In birds,‭ ‬the pygostyle serves as the attachment point for the tail flight feathers,‭ ‬and in Nomingia the pygostyle probably had a similar function.‭ ‬However as an oviraptosaur,‭ ‬Nomingia would not have been capable of flying,‭ ‬so the feather fan that attached to the pygostyle of Nomingia most probably served as a display device for signalling to other members of the species.‭ ‬A possible scenario could be a Nomingia bowing forward towards another and then raising its tail pygostyle high,‭ ‬the largest and best developed belonging to the healthiest individual.
       Other genera known to have had similar display devices to Nomingia include Caudipteryx and Similicaudipteryx,‭ ‬though others such as Epidexipteryx are also known to have had elaborate tail displays.‭ ‬Hailing from the Nemegt Formation,‭ ‬Nomingia,‭ ‬may have come into contact with other oviraptosaur genera such as Rinchenia and Avimimus.‭ ‬Other dinosaurs that Nomingia may have lived alongside include ornithomimosaurs such as Gallimimus,‭ ‬therizinosaurs such as Therizinosaurus,‭ ‬hadrosaurs like Saurolophus,‭ ‬ankylosaurs like Tarchia and sauropods like Nemegtosaurus.‭ ‬predatory threats could have included dromaeosaurs like Adasaurus and troodonts like Zanabazar,‭ ‬but it were the tyrannosaurs such as Alioramus and Tarbosaurus that would have been the apex predators of the Nemegt Formation.

Further reading
-‭ ‬A new oviraptorosaur‭ (‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Theropoda‭) ‬from Mongolia:‭ ‬the first dinosaur with a pygostyle‭ ‬-‭ ‬R.‭ ‬Barsbold,‭ ‬H.‭ ‬Osm�lska,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Watabe,‭ ‬P.‭ ‬J.‭ ‬Currie‭ & ‬K.‭ ‬Tsogtbaatar -‭ ‬2000.



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