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Borogovia

Say it: BOR-oh-GO-vee-ah

Name means: “borogove, a strange bird from Lewis Carroll's poem Jabberwocky”1

Ate: MeatRaptorsLate Cretaceous

Borogovia was a small, bird-like dinosaur that lived in what is now Mongolia. It had long legs and probably ran fast to catch its food. Only its lower leg bones have been found, so scientists are still guessing what the rest looked like.1 2

Lived

72 to 66 million years ago5

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Altan Uul IV, Nemegt Formation, southern Mongolia5 2

Food

Meat1 2

Length

1.5 m1

estimate based on partial hindlimbs

Weight

20 kg3

estimate

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 5 house cats

as long as 3 house cats nose to tailas long as 8 bananas end to endas heavy as 4 watermelons

How big was Borogovia compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Borogovia is named after the borogoves, imaginary birds from Lewis Carroll's poem Jabberwocky.1

Only the lower parts of its legs and feet have ever been found, so scientists are not sure what its head or arms looked like.1 2

Unlike many other raptor dinosaurs, Borogovia did not have a big sickle-shaped claw on its second toe. Its claw was flat and not curved.2

Borogovia lived about 72 to 66 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period.5

It was a troodontid, a group of smart, bird-like dinosaurs that were close relatives of birds.1 2

The only known Borogovia fossil was found by a Polish-Mongolian expedition in 1971.2

AI-made picture of Borogovia — An AI-made picture of how Borogovia might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Borogovia

?How big was Borogovia?

Borogovia was about 2 meters long and weighed around 20 kilograms.4 1

?What did Borogovia eat?

Borogovia was carnivorous, meaning it ate meat.1

?Did Borogovia have a sickle claw?

No, Borogovia did not have a big sickle-shaped claw on its second toe; its claw was flat and not curved.4

?When did Borogovia live?

Borogovia lived during the Late Cretaceous Period, about 84 to 66 million years ago.1

Ask Rex about Borogovia

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Myth buster

Myth: Borogovia had a big sickle claw on its foot like Velociraptor.

Truth: Borogovia did not have a large sickle claw. Its second toe claw was flat and not curved, which is unusual for raptor dinosaurs.2

For dino experts

Scientific name: Borogovia
Named by: Osmolska 19875
Group: Raptors
Family / clade: Troodontidae5
Classification: Theropoda > Troodontidae5
Age of the rocks: 72 to 66 million years (Maastrichtian)5
Rock formations: Nemegt5
Countries: Mongolia5
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database5
Discovery: Borogovia was named by Polish paleontologist Halszka Osmólska in 1987. The only fossil was found in 1971 during a Polish-Mongolian expedition to the Nemegt Basin in Mongolia.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure what Borogovia ate or how it used its unusual feet. It might have been a fast runner or had a special way of catching food.2

Where the facts come from

Borogovia | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
The phylogenetic affinities and morphological peculiarities of the bird-like dinosaur Borogovia gracilicrus from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
Borogovia - Wikipedia (en.m.wikipedia.org)
Borogovia (en.wikipedia.org)
Borogovia in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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