Borogovia

• Mongolia, Gobi Aimag Ömnö ( Nemegt Formation)

• Borogovia gracilicrus

Borogovia was a genus of theropod dinosaur from the group of Troodontidae who lived in what is now Mongolia during the Upper Cretaceous ( Campanian ). So far, only parts of the hind limbs are in the fossil record. The only way is Borogovia gracilicrus.

Features

Borogovia was like all troodontids a small, bipedal running, lightly built carnivores. Its length is estimated to be about two meters. While other troodontids wore an enlarged, curved " sickle claw" on the second toe, this claw was only weakly developed at Borogovia and straight. Another difference from other troodontids shows on the third toe of the foot, which was thinner and shorter than the fourth toe.

History of discovery and naming

The fossil was discovered in 1971 by a Polish- Mongolian expedition to the layers of the Nemegt formation in the Mongolian Gobi Aimag Ömnö. From the same site Altan Ula IV six years earlier was already recovered the skeleton of Titanosauriers Opisthocoelicaudia. Today, the Borogovia material is in the collection of the Institute of Paleobiology of the Polish Academy of Sciences ( Polska Akademia Nauk ) in Warsaw.

The genus was described in 1987 by Halszka Osmólska scientifically. The name Borogovia points to the " Borogove ", a fantasy character from Lewis Carroll's famous children's book Alice in Wonderland. The second part of Artnames, gracilicrus (Latin gracilis - " slim ", crus - " shin " ), points to the very slim shin (tibia) of this species.

System

Bold bars and Osmólska (1990 ) suggest that the hind leg found actually belonged to Saurornithoides, which Borogovia would be a synonym of the latter species.