Borogovia
- Lived
- 72 to 66 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
- Diet
- Omnivore
- Length
- about 1.5 m (5 ft)
- Group
- Theropods, Troodontidae
- Found in
- Mongolia
- Named by
- Osmolska 1987
Size comparison
To scale
Scale in metersOutline: typical theropod shape
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
70 million years ago
Habitat
Rivers crossed the floodplains of the Nemegt Formation, in what is now Mongolia. Other dinosaurs there included Tarbosaurus, Deinocheirus and Gallimimus.
Field notes
About Borogovia
What it was like
Borogovia was a small troodontid about 1.5 meters (5 feet) long, a lightly built, feathered theropod with long legs. It is known only from its lower legs and feet.
Its world
It lived about 72 to 66 million years ago, near the end of the Cretaceous, in what is now Mongolia. It comes from the Nemegt Formation, where it shared the land with Tarbosaurus, Therizinosaurus, Deinocheirus and the ostrich-like Gallimimus.
How it was found
Osmolska named Borogovia in 1987. Its name comes from the borogoves, creatures in a nonsense poem.
Field gallery
More views of Borogovia
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Borogovia.
The evidence
The science behind Borogovia
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- A single partial skeleton preserves only the lower hind legs and feet.
- The second toe ends in a straight claw rather than the curved sickle claw of most troodontids.
- Its third toe is slender, while the fourth is more robust. The middle bone of the second toe is extremely short.
Borrowed from relatives
- Its missing head, arms and body can be compared with Jianianhualong, another troodontid.
- A feather covering is inferred from feathered relatives such as Jianianhualong.
Still unknown
- The shape of its skull and teeth.
- Its feather colors.
- How it used its unusual second toe.
Discovery timeline
- 1987Named itOsmolska
- 2017Family treeXu et al.
- 2021RedescriptionCau & Madzia
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Borogovia
Named it
Named Borogovia from partial hind legs and described its unusual straight claw on the second toe.
Borogovia gracilicrus gen. et sp. n., a new troodontid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 32: 133-150
No link available
Family tree
Described feathers in Jianianhualong, supporting a feather covering for troodontids whose fossils preserve only bones.
Mosaic evolution in an asymmetrically feathered troodontid dinosaur with transitional features. Nature Communications 8
Read the paper : Mosaic evolution in an asymmetrically feathered troodontid dinosaur with transitional features (opens in a new tab)Redescription
Confirmed its troodontid relationships and described its straight, unrecurved second-toe claw as unlike the sickle claw of most relatives.
The phylogenetic affinities and morphological peculiarities of the bird-like dinosaurBorogovia gracilicrusfrom the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia. PeerJ 9: e12640
Read the paper : The phylogenetic affinities and morphological peculiarities of the bird-like dinosaurBorogovia gracilicrusfrom the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Troodontidae
Sources: Wikidata