New Bird-Like Dinosaur Unearthed in Mongolia

Paleontologists in Mongolia have found the fossilized skeletal remains from a new genus and species of two-fingered oviraptorosaur that walked the Earth during the Cretaceous period.

The newly-discovered dinosaur lived approximately 68 million years ago (Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous epoch).

The feathered, omnivorous creature was a type of oviraptorosaur, a diverse group of theropod dinosaurs known from an excellent fossil record spanning much of the Cretaceous of Asia and North America.

Dubbed Oksoko avarsan, the ancient animal was about 2 m (6.6 feet) long and had a large, toothless beak.

It had one less finger on each forearm than its close relatives, suggesting an adaptability which enabled the animals to spread during the Late Cretaceous.

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Image credit: Michael W. Skrepnick

Three individuals of Oksoko avarsan.

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Image credit: Funston et al, doi: 10.1098/rsos.201184.

Holotype block with skeletons of Oksoko avarsan in ventral view; colors distinguish different individuals; the holotype individual is in blue.

“The remarkably well-preserved fossils provided the first evidence of digit loss in the three-fingered family of dinosaurs known as oviraptors.”

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Oviraptorosaurs ("egg thief lizards"), feathered maniraptoran dinosaurs.