| Nemegtosaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous |
|
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Sauropsida |
| Superorder: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Sauropodomorpha |
| Infraorder: | Sauropoda |
| (unranked): | Titanosauria |
| Family: | Nemegtosauridae |
| Genus: | Nemegtosaurus Nowinski, 1971 |
| Species | |
|
N. mongoliensis Nowinski, 1971 (type) |
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Nemegtosaurus (meaning 'Nemegt lizard') was a sauropod dinosaur from Late Cretaceous Period of what is now Mongolia. It was named after the Nemegt Basin in the Gobi Desert, where the remains — a single skull — were found. It may have had a long, sloping head and, like most sauropods, had peg-shaped teeth.
The type species, Nemegtosaurus mongoliensis, was first described by Nowinski in 1971. A second species, N. pachi, was described by Dong in 1977, but is a nomen dubium.
Comparisons between the scleral rings of Nemegtosaurus and modern birds and reptiles suggest that it may have been cathemeral, active throughout the day at short intervals.[1]