bagaraatan
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Bagaraatan, which is Mongolian for “little hunter”, was a small carnivorous theropod dinosaur. Polish paleontologist, Halszka Osmólska discovered its remains in the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia in 1996. Although the name might seem odd, it is the phylogenetic categorization that makes this organism an oddity.
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Halska Osmólska never pursued her findings to the phylogenetic level and left it to other scientists to decide on the fragmentary remains found; Lower mandible, upper legs, pelvis, and caudal vertebrae. Scientists have found three possible groups the animal may belong to; Thomas Holtz suggests a Tyrannosauroid, Coria a Troodontid, and Rauhut a Maniraptoran. However, despite the differing opinions and confounding evidence, the phylogenetic grouping so far agreed upon is Tyrannosauroidea. More fossils are needed before a concrete classification can be reached, or an appropriate reconstruction of the animal made.
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