Nomingia Characteristics

Nomingia measured 5 feet (1.6 metres) in length, its weight is unknown. It had long legs with clawed feet and claws on its hands, a beak and was covered in feathers. Nomingia took its birdlike attributes one step further than most other dinosaurs, as it is the only dinosaur that has yet been discovered to have been equipped with a pygostyle which is a fused structure on the end of its tail, a structure all birds have. This is the type of bone that birds have so their tail feathers can attach to their bodies. These pygostyles are used for displaying and attracting mates.

Nomingia was an omnivore and ate both meat and plants. Nomingia is a good example of the term 'missing link'. For many years scientists have argued about the theory that dinosaurs evolved into birds. Nomingia was not ready to fly, however, this dinosaur was developing some of the features of modern birds.

Fossils were found, with the generic name mentioning the Nomingiin Gobi, a nearby part of the Gobi Desert.

The remains of Nomingia, consisting of vertebral series, pelvic girdle and left tibio-tarsus, was described by Barsbold et al. in 2000.