Shanag ashile

This toothy little creature is named after the traditional dancers who perform during the Buddhist Tsam dance ritual. It was discovered back in 1999 in the Oosh Formation of Mongolia, where it scampered about approximately 130MYA during the early Cretaceous.

Researchers assigned Shanag within the Dromaeosauridae family, noting a few morphological differences, including a missing promaxillary fenestra, or ‘opening towards the front of the skull’.

Dromaeosaurs are known to have been feathered dinosaurs, and it is possible that Shanag had colourful plumage. Some studies have placed it within the Microraptorinae clade, which included dinosaurs that some reseachers think may have been capable of gliding, if not actual powered flight.

At up to 1.5 metres in length, Shanag would have been one of the larger microraptorines, so its gliding capability is uncertain. Whether or not it lived on the ground or from tree trunk to tree trunk, Shanag would have used its razor sharp teeth and probable sickle-shaped claws to hunt small prey including insects, tiny mammals and other reptiles.

NICE FACT: Shanag may have been relatively small, but it may have lived alongside herds of giant sauropods, the remains of which are abundant in the area it was discovered.

FURTHER READING: This paper describes Shanag, and depicts the jaw fragments from which it is known. If you like long strings of numbers and symbols, then go down to the appendix where you will find character lists for all 58 taxa used to pin Shanag down to the Dromaeosaur family.