Adasaurus

Adasaurus is a Dromaeosaur theropod dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous. It lived in what is now Central Asia. It was a small carnivore, with a large, sickle-shaped claw on the second toe of each hind foot. An adult was probably about 6.2 feet (2 meters) long.

Adasaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Class:	Sauropsida
Superorder:	Dinosauria
Order:	Saurischia
Suborder:	Theropoda
Infraorder:	Deinonychosauria
Family:	Dromaeosauridae
Genus:	Adasaurus

Two specimens of Adasaurus have been found, both from the Gobi Desert of southern Mongolia. One is an incomplete skeleton with partial skull, including the vertebral column except the back of the tail, all three bones of the pelvis, the shoulder girdle and the hindlimbs. The second specimen includes the back end of another skeleton, including the hindlimbs. Both specimens are in the collection of the Mongolian Geological Institute in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

The age of the strata, like most of Mongolia's later Cretaceous sediments, is not known for certain. It is thought to be somewhere between 74 and 65 million years ago. Other dinosaurs found in this formation include Tarbosaurus, Anserimimus, and Saurolophus.

Adasaurus Media

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  Fossil localities in Mongolia. The fossil remains of Adasaurus have been found in Bügiin Tsav, at Area A

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  Aerial photograph of the Bügiin Tsav locality, Nemegt Formation

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  Labelled diagram of the holotype right pelvis

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  Line diagram showing the reduced sickle claw from the holotype

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  Comparison between some members of Velociraptorinae, featuring Linheraptor, Tsaagan and Velociraptor

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  Proposed scenarios for the sickle claw function, with C, D and F as the more supported behaviors

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  Restoration of Adasaurus (bottom left) alongside a small group of Prenocephale and Therizinosaurus