Pronunciation: BOR-o-GO-vee-uh
Meaning: Borogove
Author/s: Osmólska (1987)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Ömnögovi, Mongolia
Discovery Chart Position: #329
Borogovia gracilicrus
Borogovia was a small, agile theropod that lived during the Late Cretaceous in Mongolia, and takes its name from the creatures known as Borogoves in a poem called "Jabberwocky". Said poem was penned by Lewis Carroll in 1871 whilst teaching at Christ Church College (a constituent of Oxford University) where, instead of nurturing the country's finest future minds, he spent much of his time gazing out of the window at a profound-thought-provoking tree...
"Twas brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe: all mimsy were the borogoves and the mome raths outgrabe."
Despite the 80's fad of including "Jabberwocky" in primary school studies, no-one has a clue what any of it means. It's nonsense, and intentionally so. But we do know that Borogovia was closely related to Troodon so probably had huge eyes, possibly for nocturnal hunting. And judging from the only known fossils, it was around two meters long and weighed 12 kg.
Because Borogovia and fellow troodontids Tochisaurus nemegtensis and Saurornithoides junior were discovered within 100 km of each other in Mongolia's Nemegt Formation and lack any major distinguishing features, it has been suggested that they might all be specimens of the same dinosaur. If further research could corroborate that theory, the former pair would have been sunk into Saurornithoides junior under the hugely inconsistent "first name stands" rule, but this was never likely. The three critters lack any major distinguishing features mainly because their remains lack any comparable parts, and Saurornithoides junior was renamed Zanabazar in 2009.
The most distinct feature of Borogovia is an unusually straight claw on each of its retractable second toes; the digits that, in troodontids and other deinonychosaurs, are referred to as "killing claws". Recently, their use as death-dealers has been called into question and replaced with a couple of alternate theories: they were more for grasping and pinning as seen in modern raptors, or used as climbing crampons. Both hypotheses are viable, particularly if the claws are huge and curved with an enormous amount of flexibility. But the "killing claws" of Borogovia were straight, the toes themselves short and robust, and they weren't particularly flexible. Just what was Borogovia using them for?
"Twas brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe: all mimsy were the borogoves and the mome raths outgrabe."
Despite the 80's fad of including "Jabberwocky" in primary school studies, no-one has a clue what any of it means. It's nonsense, and intentionally so. But we do know that Borogovia was closely related to Troodon so probably had huge eyes, possibly for nocturnal hunting. And judging from the only known fossils, it was around two meters long and weighed 12 kg.
Because Borogovia and fellow troodontids Tochisaurus nemegtensis and Saurornithoides junior were discovered within 100 km of each other in Mongolia's Nemegt Formation and lack any major distinguishing features, it has been suggested that they might all be specimens of the same dinosaur. If further research could corroborate that theory, the former pair would have been sunk into Saurornithoides junior under the hugely inconsistent "first name stands" rule, but this was never likely. The three critters lack any major distinguishing features mainly because their remains lack any comparable parts, and Saurornithoides junior was renamed Zanabazar in 2009.
The most distinct feature of Borogovia is an unusually straight claw on each of its retractable second toes; the digits that, in troodontids and other deinonychosaurs, are referred to as "killing claws". Recently, their use as death-dealers has been called into question and replaced with a couple of alternate theories: they were more for grasping and pinning as seen in modern raptors, or used as climbing crampons. Both hypotheses are viable, particularly if the claws are huge and curved with an enormous amount of flexibility. But the "killing claws" of Borogovia were straight, the toes themselves short and robust, and they weren't particularly flexible. Just what was Borogovia using them for?
Etymology
Borogovia takes its name from the "Borogoves" in Lewis Carroll's nonsense poem, Jabberwocky (recited by the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton's 2010 movie version of "Alice in Wonderland").The species epithet, gracilicrus, is derived from the Latin "gracilis" (slender) and "crus" (shin), referring to Borogovia's very long and slender shins.
Discovery
The remains of Borogovia were discovered at the Nemegt Formation's Altan Ula IV locality by a Polish-Mongolian Palaeontological Expedition to
Ömnögovi, Mongolia, in 1971. The holotype (ZPAL MgD-Y174) includes bits of hindlimb, feet and toes. During her description of Hulsanpes in 1982, Halszka Osmólska reported the fossils that would ultimately be named Borogovia, but considered them to be a possible specimen of Saurornithoides.
