Pronunciation: sha-nag
Meaning: for the Tsam dancers
Author/s: Turner et al. (2007)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Öösh, Mongolia
Discovery Chart Position: #626
Shanag ashile
Shanag Ashile is a tiny dromaeosaurid, yet at one point, its meter-long, five-kilo frame had to carry the weight of being "the first unenlagiine known from outside of the southern continents", which was a tall order, all things considered.
As well as being tiny, it's also known only from a couple of partial tooth-bearing jaw bones, but they don't sport any especially unenlagiine features. The latest research had Shanag pegged as a member of the basal dromaeosaurid clade Microraptorinae, which found general acceptance, except that the name was changed to Microraptoria more recently.
Shanag is, it seems, a liquorice allsorts kind of critter. Although found in Late Cretaceous Öösh deposits of Mongolia, it resembles the microraptorians Microraptor zhaoianus and Sinornithosaurus millenii from the similar-aged Jehol group of China. But it also shares features with derived troodontids such as Troodon formosus from North America and the avialian Archaeopteryx, aka Urvogel, which literally means "first bird".
As well as being tiny, it's also known only from a couple of partial tooth-bearing jaw bones, but they don't sport any especially unenlagiine features. The latest research had Shanag pegged as a member of the basal dromaeosaurid clade Microraptorinae, which found general acceptance, except that the name was changed to Microraptoria more recently.
Shanag is, it seems, a liquorice allsorts kind of critter. Although found in Late Cretaceous Öösh deposits of Mongolia, it resembles the microraptorians Microraptor zhaoianus and Sinornithosaurus millenii from the similar-aged Jehol group of China. But it also shares features with derived troodontids such as Troodon formosus from North America and the avialian Archaeopteryx, aka Urvogel, which literally means "first bird".
Etymology
Shanag is named after the Black-hatted dancers in the Tibetan Buddhist Tsam (dance) festival. Center stage at the main ceremony is taken by Buddhist monks who, charged by many days of meditation, represent the Dharma Protector Gods.The species epithet (ashile) is a reference to the Öösh Formation which was referred to as the Ashile Formation by Dr. Henry F. Osborn upon discovery.
Discovery
The remains of Shanag were discovered in the Öösh Formation, Ovorhangai, in the Altai region of Central Mongolia, by the Mongolian Academy of
Sciences–American Museum of Natural History Mongolian expedition of 1999. The holotype (IGM 100/1119) is a nearly complete
right maxilla and dentary (tooth-bearing parts from the right side of the upper and lower jaw) , plus a partial, small lower jaw bone known as the
splenial.
Shanag may own a currently un-named small dromaeosaurid skeleton (ISMD-VP09), discovered in the same beds at Öösh in 2005 and described in 2011, but the two specimens lack overlapping parts for direct comparison.
Preparator
Amy Davidson.
• Paul GS (2010) "
