Zanabazar

Named for Zanabazar, a Mongolian Buddhist leader and artist (not a descriptive translation)

• Zanabazar · Mongolian · personal name of the 17th-century Mongolian spiritual leader and artist Zanabazar

Zanabazar is named after Zanabazar (1635–1723), the first Jebtsundamba Khutughtu, a Mongolian Buddhist spiritual leader who was also a celebrated artist and sculptor. The name honours him as an important cultural figure in Mongolian history. The dinosaur is a troodontid theropod from Mongolia, and its only species is Zanabazar junior.

Named by

Norell et al.

Year named

2009

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stage

Maastrichtian

Found in

Nemegt Formation, Gobi Desert, Mongolia

A troodontid theropod. The species was first described in 1974 by Barsbold as Saurornithoides junior, and was given its own genus in 2009. The age of the Nemegt Formation is sometimes given as late Campanian to Maastrichtian.