Dinosaurs A to Z
Troodontidae

Harenadraco prima

"sand dragon"

Generic raptor body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Harenadraco 5 m (16.4 ft) long
as long as 3 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic raptor body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Harenadraco
Length
5 m (16.4 ft)
Period
Late Cretaceous (72 Mya)
Place
Mongolia
Food
Carnivore
Clade
Troodontidae Dinosauria Saurischia Theropoda Coelurosauria Small, brainy, feathered theropods.
Harenadraco reconstruction by Ddinodan
Reconstruction · Ddinodan (CC-BY)

Harenadraco (meaning “sand dragon”) is an extinct genus of troodontid theropod dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous Baruungoyot Formation of Mongolia. The genus contains a single species, H. prima, known from a fragmentary skeleton. Harenadraco represents the first troodontid known from the Baruungoyot Formation. Since members of this family are also known from the Nemegt and Djadochta Formations, the discovery of Harendraco indicates that troodontids were important faunal components of every formation within the Nemegt Basin.

What we know

  • Named by Lee et al., 2024.
  • Fossils found in Mongolia.

What we guess

The reconstruction notes for Harenadraco — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.