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Dinosaurs from Mongolia

The Gobi Desert in southern Mongolia preserves some of the world's most iconic fossils, with formations spanning the entire Late Cretaceous. The Djadochta Formation (Campanian) produced the famous "Fighting Dinosaurs" specimen, a Velociraptor mongoliensis fossilized in combat with a Protoceratops andrewsi, and revealed the first scientifically identified dinosaur eggs in Citipati osmolskae nests. The Nemegt Formation (Maastrichtian) hosted Tarbosaurus bataar, the Asian equivalent of T-Rex, together with Therizinosaurus cheloniformis (with the largest claws of any known dinosaur), Gallimimus bullatus, and Deinocheirus mirificus. The older Bayan Shireh Formation recorded Pinacosaurus grangeri and the first Asian ankylosaurs. Preservation in the semi-arid desert climate enables exceptional detail conservation, including soft tissues, footprints, and complete nests, making Mongolia one of the world's most important regions for studying behavioral paleobiology of dinosaurs.

10 species in the catalog

10 Cretaceous

Filter by: 10 species

MN · 125–100 Ma

Psittacosaurus

Psittacosaurus mongoliensis

"Mongolian parrot lizard"

Psittacosaurus mongoliensis is one of the most primitive known ceratopsians and simultaneously the dinosaur represented by the greatest number of individual specimens in the world. It lived during the Early Cretaceous, between 125 and 100 million years ago, in Central Asia. Roughly two meters long and up to 20 kg, it was relatively small: hatchlings were born under 13 cm in length. Its most distinctive feature is the curved, parrot-like horny beak that gave it its name. Rigid bristles on the tail and scales preserved in exceptional specimens provide unique insights into the actual appearance of dinosaurs.

Cretaceous Herbivore 2m

MN · 80–75 Ma

Pinacosaurus

Pinacosaurus grangeri

"Plank lizard of Granger"

Pinacosaurus grangeri is a medium-sized ankylosaurid from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian, about 80 to 75 million years ago) of the Djadokhta Formation of Mongolia and the Bayan Mandahu Formation of Inner Mongolia, China, with older records from the Alagteeg Formation. It was described by Charles W. Gilmore in 1933 based on holotype AMNH 6523, collected in 1923 at Shabarakh Usu (today Bayn Dzak, 'Flaming Cliffs') by palaeontologist Walter Granger during the Central Asiatic Expeditions led by Roy Chapman Andrews. It reached about 5 metres in length and 1.9 tonnes in body mass. The skull was low and broad, with a toothless beak, weakly developed squamosal horns, four pyramidal occipital horns and a series of accessory narial openings perforating the premaxilla, a diagnostic feature of the genus. The body was covered with keeled polygonal osteoderms, with two cervical half rings protecting the neck and a tail ending in a bony club. The genus contains two valid species: P. grangeri (Mongolia and China) and P. mephistocephalus (Godefroit et al., 1999), distinguished by 'devil-like' squamosal horns projecting far beyond the skull roof. Pinacosaurus is best known for the extraordinary juvenile bonebeds of Alag Teeg (Mongolia) and Bayan Mandahu (China), with about 100 partially articulated immature skeletons preserved together, direct evidence of gregarious behaviour in young ankylosaurs. In 2023, Yoshida, Kobayashi and Norell described in Communications Biology the first preserved laryngeal apparatus in a non-avian dinosaur, also in Pinacosaurus, suggesting bird-like vocalisation.

Cretaceous Herbivore 5m

MN · 76–69 Ma

Therizinosaurus

Therizinosaurus cheloniformis

"Reaping lizard with turtle-like form"

Therizinosaurus cheloniformis is one of the most bizarre dinosaurs ever discovered. It was a herbivorous theropod that lived during the Late Cretaceous, approximately 70 million years ago, in present-day Mongolia. Reaching up to 10 meters in length and weighing around 5 tonnes, its most striking feature was the enormous claws on its forelimbs, which could reach 70 cm in length, the largest of any known animal. Despite belonging to the same group as velociraptors and T. rex (Theropoda), Therizinosaurus was herbivorous, using its claws to pull down branches and feed on foliage. It was initially described as a giant turtle by Evgeny Maleev in 1954, and it took decades before paleontologists understood its true nature as a theropod dinosaur.

Cretaceous Herbivore 10m

MN · 75–71 Ma

Citipati

Citipati osmolskae

"Lord of the funeral pyre (Osmólska)"

Citipati osmolskae is a large oviraptorid from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian, about 75 to 71 Ma) Djadokhta Formation of the Gobi Desert, Ömnögovi Province, southern Mongolia. It reached roughly 3 metres in length and 75 to 110 kg, with a long neck, short tail, tall compressed skull, toothless jaws sheathed in rhamphotheca (horny beak) and a prominent cranial crest comparable to that of a modern cassowary. It was named in 2001 by James M. Clark, Mark A. Norell and Rinchen Barsbold on the basis of the holotype IGM 100/978, a skeleton with an exceptionally preserved skull. It became world famous for specimens such as 'Big Mama' (IGM 100/979) and 'Big Auntie' (IGM 100/1004), found in brooding posture atop clutches of elongatoolithid eggs, with forelimbs folded over the nest exactly as in modern birds. These fossils are considered some of the most iconic behavioural evidence linking non-avian dinosaurs to modern birds.

Cretaceous Omnivore 3m

MN · 75–71 Ma

Oviraptor

Oviraptor philoceratops

"Egg thief that loves ceratopsians"

Oviraptor philoceratops is one of the most misunderstood dinosaurs in paleontological history. Described by Henry Fairfield Osborn in 1924 from fossils found in the Djadochta Formation of Mongolia, its name means 'egg thief that loves ceratopsians' — an unjust accusation: the animal was actually a devoted parent, brooding its own eggs when it was surprised and buried by a sandstorm 75 million years ago. Around 2 meters long, with a toothless beak, a bony crest on the skull similar to a cassowary, and a feathered body, this agile omnivore inhabited the semiarid forests of the Gobi Desert during the Campanian.

Cretaceous Omnivore 2m

MN · 75–71 Ma

Protoceratops

Protoceratops andrewsi

"First horned face (of Andrews)"

Protoceratops andrewsi was a small quadrupedal ceratopsian that lived in the deserts of Central Asia during the Campanian, between 75 and 71 million years ago. About 1.8 meters long and 180 kg, it had a powerful horned beak, a prominent parieto-squamosal frill, and lacked true horns unlike its later relatives. Extraordinarily abundant in the Djadochta Formation, it is known from dozens of specimens at all growth stages from hatchlings to adults, making it one of the most studied dinosaurs in terms of ontogeny. Its fame extends beyond science thanks to the famous Fighting Dinosaurs fossil, in which it appears locked in combat with Velociraptor mongoliensis.

Cretaceous Herbivore 1.8m

MN · 75–71 Ma

Velociraptor

Velociraptor mongoliensis

"Swift thief of Mongolia"

Velociraptor mongoliensis was a small dromaeosaurid dinosaur approximately two meters long and under 20 kg, living during the late Campanian stage of the Cretáceous, 75 to 71 million years ago, in Mongolia. Unlike its depiction in Jurassic Park, it was roughly turkey-sized. It had confirmed feathers, evidenced by quill knobs on the ulna, a sickle-shaped enlarged claw on the second toe, and was likely an agile hunter of small vertebrates in the arid sand-dune environment of the Djadochta Formation.

Cretaceous Carnivore 2.07m

MN · 72–66 Ma

Deinocheirus

Deinocheirus mirificus

"Peculiar horrible hand"

Deinocheirus mirificus was one of paleontology's greatest mysteries for nearly 50 years. Discovered in 1965 in Mongolia only through its gigantic arms — 2.4 meters with curved claws — it remained bodyless until 2014, when two nearly complete skeletons were described by Lee et al. in Nature. The result astonished: the largest known ornithomimosaur measured about 11 meters, weighed 6.4 tons, possessed a dorsal sail formed by tall neural spines, a broad hadrosaur-like bill, and an omnivorous diet including fish and aquatic plants.

Cretaceous Omnivore 11m

MN · 72–66 Ma

Gallimimus

Gallimimus bullatus

"Chicken mimic with bulla"

Gallimimus bullatus is the largest known ornithomimosaur, living approximately 70 million years ago in what is now Mongolia. At up to 6 meters long and around 440 kg, it was a swift biped capable of reaching between 42 and 56 km/h. Toothless, it had a rounded keratinous beak and long neck, adapted to an apparently herbivorous diet. Discovered during Polish-Mongolian expeditions in the 1960s, it became the most complete and well-documented ornithomimosaur of the Cretaceous, and gained worldwide fame by appearing in the herd stampede scene of the 1993 film Jurassic Park.

Cretaceous Herbivore 6m

MN · 72–66 Ma

Tarbosaurus

Tarbosaurus bataar

"Alarming lizard, hero"

Tarbosaurus bataar was the largest land predator in Asia at the end of the Cretaceous, 72 to 66 million years ago. At up to 10 to 12 meters long and around 5 metric tons, it was the Asian equivalent of Tyrannosaurus rex, with whom it shared close kinship within the subfamily Tyrannosaurinae. Its skull measured approximately 1.3 meters, proportionally narrower than that of T. rex, with more laterally oriented orbits resulting in a reduced binocular field. The forelimbs were proportionally even smaller than those of T. rex, with only two functional digits. Known from over 30 specimens, including more than 15 skulls and several complete postcranial skeletons, Tarbosaurus is one of the best-represented tyrannosaurids in the fossil record. Its remains come exclusively from the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia and the Subashi Formation of China.

Cretaceous Carnivore 10m