Dino card No. 1117 of 2,027

Mahakala

Say it: mah-hah-KAH-lah

Name means: “named after Mahakala, a protector deity in Tibetan Buddhism”1

Ate: MeatRaptorsLate Cretaceous

Mahakala was a tiny, feathered raptor that lived in the Gobi Desert about 80 million years ago. It was one of the smallest dromaeosaurids ever found, about the size of a crow. Its small size and bird-like features help scientists understand how flight may have evolved in dinosaurs.1

Lived

84 to 72 million years ago3

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Tögrögiin Shiree in the Gobi Desert, Ömnögovi Province, Mongolia3 1

Food

Meat1 2

Length

0.5 to 0.7 m1

Weight

0.4 kg to 0.7 kg1

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 6 bananas

as long as 4 bananas end to endlighter than a house catas heavy as 6 bananas

How big was Mahakala compared to YOU?

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

cool stuff

Fun facts

Mahakala is one of the most primitive (basal) dromaeosaurids known, even though it lived late in the Cretaceous Period.1

Its skeleton shows a mix of features found in early troodontids and early birds, making it a key fossil for studying bird origins.1

Mahakala belonged to a group called Halszkaraptorinae, whose members were probably strong swimmers.1

The holotype specimen was nearly an adult, but it was still only as big as Archaeopteryx, a famous early bird.1

It lived alongside Velociraptor, Protoceratops, and many other dinosaurs in a dry, sandy environment with seasonal streams.1

Like other dromaeosaurids, Mahakala had a large, curved claw on its second toe that it may have used to catch prey.1

AI-made picture of Mahakala — An AI-made picture of how Mahakala 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.

Ask Rex about Mahakala

Rex only answers questions about this page. 3 questions a day.

Rex is an AI and can make mistakes. He runs on servers in the EU and questions are never saved. Never type your name or other personal things.

For dino experts

Scientific name: Mahakala
Named by: Turner et al. 20073
Group: Raptors
Family / clade: Dromaeosauridae3
Classification: Theropoda > Dromaeosauridae3
Age of the rocks: 84 to 72 million years (Campanian)3
Rock formations: Djadokhta3
Countries: Mongolia3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Mahakala was named in 2007 by Alan H. Turner and colleagues based on a partial skeleton found in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia.1 3
Still debated: Scientists are still debating whether Mahakala was a member of the Halszkaraptorinae subfamily or a more primitive dromaeosaurid outside that group.1

Where the facts come from

Mahakala omnogovae (en.wikipedia.org)
Mahakala omnogovae Turner et al. 2007 - Encyclopedia of Life (eol.org)
Mahakala 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.

Rex is hungry! Dino Wiki is a dad's project for his dino-loving son, free with no ads. Grown-ups can feed Rex a snack to help keep it online.Feed Rex