NATOVENATOR
a piscivorous theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia
Pronunciation: NAY-toe-VEN-uh-tuh
Meaning: Swimming hunter
Author/s: Lee
et al. (
2022)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Ömnögovi, Mongolia
Discovery Chart Position: #1085
Natovenator polydontus
(Swimming hunter with many teeth)Etymology
Natovenator is derived from the Latin "nato" (swim) and "venator" (hunter).
The
species epithet,
polydontus, is derived from the Greek "polys" (many) and "odous" (tooth) in reference to its unusually high number of (tiny) teeth.
Zoobank registry:
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:9A6C7438-1B6D-4026-AF55-76B604055EA8.
Discovery
The remains of
Natovenator were discovered in the Baruungoyot Formation at Hermiin Tsav, Ömnögovi Province, Mongolia, during the Korea-Mongolia International Dinosaur Expedition (KID) in 2008.
The
holotype (MPC-D 102/114) is a mostly articulated skeleton with a nearly complete skull.
Preparators
H.-J. Lee and D.K. Kim.
Estimations
Timeline:
Era: Mesozoic
Epoch: Late Cretaceous
Stage: Campanian-Maastrichtian
Age range: 72-71 mya
Stats:
Est. max. length: 0.7 meters
Est. max. hip height: ?
Est. max. weight: 3 Kg
Diet: Piscivore
References
• Lee S, Lee Y-N, Currie PJ, Sissons R, Park J-Y, Kim S-H, Barsbold R and Tsogtbaatar K (2019) "
A new halszkaraptirine from the Baruungoyor Formation of Mongolia: Preliminary description and phylogenetic analysis".
Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Abstracts of Papers, 79th Annual Meeting: 167.
• Lee S, Lee Y-N, Currie PJ, Sissons R, Park J-Y, Kim S-H, Barsbold R and Tsogtbaatar K (2022) "
A non-avian dinosaur with a streamlined body exhibits potential adaptations for swimming".
Communications Biology 5: 1185. DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-04119-9.
• Fabbri M, Navalón G, Benson RBJ, Pol D, O’Connor J, Bhullar B-AS, Erickson GM, Norell MA, Orkney A, Lamanna MC, Zouhri S, Becker J, Emke A, Dal Sasso C, Bindellini G, Maganuco S, Auditore M and Ibrahim N (2022) "Subaqueous foraging among carnivorous dinosaurs".
Nature, 603(7903): 852–857. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04528-0.
• Paul GS (2024) "
The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs: third Edition".
Time stands still for no man, and research is ongoing. If you spot an error, or want to expand, edit or add a dinosaur, please use
this form. Go
here to contribute to our FAQ.
All dinos are GM free, and no herbivores were eaten during site construction!
To cite this page:
Atkinson, L.
"
NATOVENATOR :: from DinoChecker's dinosaur archive".
‹
http://www.dinochecker.com/dinosaurs/NATOVENATOR›. Web access: 06th Mar 2026.
