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| Khaan (Matt Martyniuk) |
Name:
Khaan (Mongolian for "lord"); prounounced KAHN
Habitat:
Woodlands of Central Asia
Historical Period:
Late Cretaceous (70 million years ago)
Size and Weight:
About 4 feet long and 30 pounds
Diet:
Probably omnivorous
Distinguishing Characteristics:
Short, blunt skull; large hands and feet
About Khaan:
Its
name is certainly more distinctive, but taxonomically speaking, Khaan
was closely related to fellow, feathered oviraptors (small, feathered theropods) like Oviraptor and Conchoraptor (it was originally mistaken for another central Asian oviraptor, Ingenia).
What makes Khaan special are the completeness of its fossil remains and
its unusually blunt skull, which appears to be more "primitive" than
those of its oviraptor cousins. Like all the small, feathered theropods,
Khaan represents yet another intermediate stage in the slow evolution
of dinosaurs into birds.
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