Citipati (lat.) - a genus of dinosaurs - theropods from the family oviraptorids (Oviraptoridae). They lived during the Upper Cretaceous era on the territory of the modern Gobi desert. Fossil remains are found in the Uhaa-Tolgod formation along with hatched eggs.
| † Citipati |
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| Scientific classification |
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| No rank : | Bilateral symmetrical |
| Infraclass : | Archosauromorphs |
| No rank : | Archosauriformes |
| Infrastructure : | † Oviraptorosaurs |
| Superfamily : | † Caenagnathoidea |
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| International scientific name |
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Citipati Clark, Norell & Barsbold, 2001 |
| Single view |
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† Citipati osmolskae
Clark, Norell & Barsbold, 2001 |
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The only type species Citipati osmolskae was described by James M. Clark, Mark Norell and Rinchen Barsbold in 2001. Perhaps there is a second species, not yet named. Citipati is often confused with oviraptor.
Citipati was up to 3 meters long. Before the discovery of the gigantoraptor, it was considered the largest oviraptorosaurus . A distinctive feature was the crest on the head, resembling the crest of a cassowary . A short skull sat on a long neck.
Buddhist deities of Chitipati
The name " Citipati " comes from the Sanskrit words Citi - funeral pyre and Pati - owner. In Tibetan mythology, Citipati were two ascetics, a husband and a wife. Once they went into deep meditation in one of the cemeteries. When they returned, they realized that their bodies were eaten by wild animals, and only skeletons remained. And they vowed to protect meditating yogis from robbers and animals. They are depicted as two dancing skeletons. The well-preserved skeleton Citipati paleontologists named after the skeletons of these deities.