Oksoko

Say it: Oak-soak-oh

Name means: “from Öksökö, a three-headed eagle in Altaic mythology”1 2

Ate: A bit of everythingOdd feathered dinosLate Cretaceous

Oksoko was a small, feathered dinosaur that lived in what is now Mongolia. It had only two fingers on each hand, which is very unusual for a meat-eating dinosaur. Oksoko probably used its beak to eat plants and small animals.2 3

Lived

72 to 66 million years ago3

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Bügiin Tsav and Guriliin Tsav, Nemegt Formation, Mongolia1 2

Food

A bit of everything3 2

Weight

31 kg to 45 kg2

estimates for juvenile specimens

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Oksoko had only two functional fingers on each hand, a rare feature among theropod dinosaurs.2

Fossils of at least six Oksoko individuals have been found, some preserved together in a resting pose with their heads tucked under their arms.2

Oksoko lived about 72 to 66 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period.3

The name Oksoko comes from a three-headed eagle in Altaic mythology, because the main fossil block contains three skulls.1 2

Oksoko was a type of oviraptorid, a group of feathered dinosaurs that were close relatives of birds.2

The specific name avarsan means 'rescued' in Mongolian, because the fossils were confiscated from poachers.1 2

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

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Oksoko
Named by: Funston et al. 20203
Group: Odd feathered dinos
Family / clade: Oviraptoridae3
Classification: Theropoda > Oviraptorosauria3
Age of the rocks: 72 to 66 million years (Maastrichtian)3
Rock formations: Nemegt3
Countries: Mongolia3
Fossil records: 3 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Oksoko was named in 2020 by paleontologists Gregory Funston and colleagues. The fossils were confiscated from poachers in Mongolia.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are still debating why Oksoko's arms became so reduced, and whether it used its two-fingered hands for foraging, nesting, or display.2

Where the facts come from

Oksoko avarsan (en.wikipedia.org)
A new two-fingered dinosaur sheds light on the radiation of Oviraptorosauria (royalsocietypublishing.org)
Oksoko in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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