Nankangia

Nan-kang-e-ah.
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Benjamin Gutierrez

Vertebrate Paleontologist

Benjamin Gutierrez is a leading expert on dinosaurs, particularly the mighty theropods. His fieldwork in South America has uncovered new species and provided insights into dinosaur social structures.

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Name

Nankangia ‭(‬named after Nankang County‭)‬.

Phonetic

Nan-kang-e-ah.

Named By

J.‭ ‬Lu,‭ ‬L.‭ ‬Yi,‭ ‬H.‭ ‬Zhong‭ & ‬X.‭ ‬Wei‭ ‬-‭ ‬2013.

Classification

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

Diet

Uncertain/Omnivore‭?

Species

N.‭ ‬jiangxiensis‭

Size

Roughly up to about‭ ‬2.4‭ ‬meters long.

Known locations

China,‭ ‬Jiangxi Province‭ ‬-‭ ‬Nanxiong Formation.

Time Period

Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous.

Fossil representation

Partial post cranial skeleton and lower jaw.

In Depth

       Nankangia is a genus of oviraptorid dinosaur that lived in China during the late Cretaceous.‭ ‬Although only known from partial remains,‭ ‬Nankangia has been speculated to have been more inclined to eating plants because the jaw symphysis is not downturned.‭ ‬However the exact diet for Nankangia,‭ ‬like with many other oviraptorid genera is not known with certainty.

       Nankangia is one of many oviraptorid dinosaurs that are known from the Nanxiong Formation,‭ ‬with other genera including Jiangxisaurus,‭ ‬Banji,‭ ‬Ganzhousaurus,‭ ‬and Huanansaurus.‭ ‬One of the more dangerous dinosaurs in the same ecosystem as Nankangia is the tyrannosaur Qianzhousaurus.

Further Reading

-‭ ‬A new oviraptorosaur‭ (‬Dinosauria:‭ ‬Oviraptorosauria‭) ‬from the Late Cretaceous of Southern China and its palaeoecological implications.‭ ‬-‭ ‬PLoS One‭ ‬8‭(‬11‭)‬:e80557.‭ ‬-‭ ‬J.‭ ‬Lu,‭ ‬L.‭ ‬Yi,‭ ‬H.‭ ‬Zhong‭ & ‬X.‭ ‬Wei‭ ‬-‭ ‬2013.

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT