Nemegtomaia

Good mother from Nemegt

• Nemegt · Mongolian · the Nemegt locality/formation in the Gobi Desert
• maia · Greek · good mother

The name combines Nemegt, the Mongolian locality and formation in the Gobi Desert where the fossils were found, with the Greek "maia", meaning "good mother". "Maia" follows Maiasaura and refers to the brooding behaviour of oviraptorids. Nemegtomaia was a replacement name. The earlier name Nemegtia was already in use for another animal.

Named by

Lü et al.

Year named

2004

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stage

Maastrichtian

Found in

Nemegt Formation, Ömnögovi Province, Gobi Desert, Mongolia

Nemegtomaia is an oviraptorid theropod, a feathered, beaked dinosaur. The type species is N. barsboldi. It was first named Nemegtia barsboldi in 2002, but Nemegtia was preoccupied, so the genus was renamed in 2004. The exact age of the Nemegt Formation, and so the stage, is debated. Maastrichtian is the commonly cited stage.