Balaur

dragon

• balaur · Romanian · dragon (a draconic being from Romanian folklore)

Balaur comes from the Romanian word for a dragon-like creature in folklore. The name was chosen because the animal was a strange, robust predator from Romania, in the region once known as Hațeg Island. Its species name, bondoc, is Romanian for "stocky", which refers to its heavily built body.

Named by

Csiki et al.

Year named

2010

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stage

Maastrichtian

Found in

Sânpetru Formation, Hațeg Basin, Transylvania, Romania

The type species is Balaur bondoc. It was first described as an unusual dromaeosaurid. It had two sickle claws on each foot and a fused wrist. Later analyses (e.g. Cau et al. 2015) placed it as a flightless early bird (avialan) instead, and its exact position is still debated.