Nomingia

Nomingia is a genus of caenagnathid theropod dinosaur hailing from the Late Cretaceous Bugin Tsav Beds. The remains, consisting of vertebral series, pelvic girdle and left tibio-tarsus, was described by Barsbold et al. in 2000. The etymology of the binomial refers to the location where the fossils were found, with the generic name mentioning the Nomingiin Gobi, a nearby part of the Gobi Desert, which is itself mentioned in the specific descriptor.

Description
Nomingia is characterized by a pygostyle-like mass of fused vertebrae at the tail end, which Barsbold et al. inferred probably supported a feather fan as in Caudipteryx. A similar bone structure had only been found in birds before this fossil was discovered.

As other caenagnathids, such as Chirostenotes, N. gobiensis would be a medium-sized theropod sporting beaked jaws and, probably, a crest used for display.