Russian paleontologists Alexander O. Averianov and Alexey V. Lopatin recently published their description of the Ondogurvel alifanovi in Cretaceous Research. The new dinosaur was discovered in the Barun Goyot Formation in Ömnögov, Mongolia. The new species is an alvarezsaurid, a kind of small, two-legged dinosaur. The discovery was based on a partial skeleton, including several vertebrae and limbs, which helped to distinguish Ondogurvel alifanovi from similar alvarezsaurid dinosaurs.

The Ondogurvel alifanovi is named “ondogurvel” or “egg-lizard” from the Mongolian өндөг (egg) and гүрвэл (lizard), and “alifanovi” after the late Russian paleontologist Vladimir Alifanov who found the holotype specimen.

Illustration by BipedalSarcopterygian201.3 via Wikimedia Commons

Averianov, A.O. and A.V. Lopatin. 2022. A new alvarezsaurid theropod dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Gobi Desert, Mongolia. Cretaceous Research advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105168