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Khulsanurus
''Khulsanurus'' (meaning "tail from Khulsan") is an extinct genus of alvarezsaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Barungoyot Formation of the Khulsan Locality in the Gobi Desert region of Mongolia. The type and only species is ''Khulsanurus magnificus''. Description ''Khulsanurus'' is known from a holotype containing partial vertebral series of the neck and tail, scapulocoracoids, a right humerus, a possible left humerus, and a left pubis. Distinguishing autapomorphies of this specimen include pleurocoel-, carotid process-, and epipophysis-less cervical vertebrae, prominent infrapostzygapophyseal fossa of the caudal vertebrae which also bear anteriorly pointing prezygapophyses. Classification Averianov & Lopatin (2021) placed ''Khulsanurus'' in a polytomy with ''Albinykus'', ''Ceratonykus'', ''Linhenykus'', ''Parvicursor'', ''Xixianykus'', ''Qiupanykus'', ''Nemegtonykus'', PIN 5838/1 (=''Ondogurvel'') and a clade containing ''Shuvuuia'' and ''Mononykus'' in a str ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ceratonykus
''Ceratonykus'' (meaning "horned claw") is a monospecific genus of alvarezsaurid dinosaur from Mongolia that lived during the Late Cretaceous (late Campanian stage, 72.1 Ma) in what is now the Barun Goyot Formation. The type and only species, ''Ceratonykus oculatus'', is known from a fragmentary skeleton, including an incomplete skull, of an adult individual. It was named and described in 2009 by Vladimir Alifanov and Rinchen Barsbold. Its describers questioned the traditional placement of alvarezsaurs in Theropoda, instead suggesting they were ornithischians, but this has not been accepted since. ''Ceratonykus'' has an estimated length of 75 centimetres (2.5 feet) and weight of 760 grams (1.68 lbs). It has been considered as a possible junior synonym of ''Parvicursor''. Discovery and naming In 2003, a partial skeleton of an alvarezsaurid was discovered in the Barun Goyot Formation of the Khermiin Tsav locality, Mongolia by the Paleontological Center of the Mongolian Academy of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alvarezsauridae
Alvarezsauridae is a family of small, long-legged dinosaurs. Although originally thought to represent the earliest known flightless birds, they are now thought to be an early diverging branch of maniraptoran theropods. Alvarezsaurids were highly specialized. They had tiny but stout forelimbs, with compact, bird-like hands. Their skeletons suggest that they had massive breast and arm muscles, possibly adapted for digging or tearing. They had long, tube-shaped snouts filled with tiny teeth. They have been interpreted as myrmecophagous, adapted to prey on colonial insects such as termites, with the short arms acting as effective digging instruments to break into nests. ''Alvarezsaurus'', the type genus of the family, was named for the historian Gregorio Álvarez. History of study Bonaparte (1991) described the first alvarezsaurid, ''Alvarezsaurus calvoi'', from an incomplete skeleton found in Patagonia, Argentina. Bonaparte also named a family, Alvarezsauridae, to contain it. He a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alvarezsaurid
Alvarezsauridae is a family of small, long-legged dinosaurs. Although originally thought to represent the earliest known flightless birds, they are now thought to be an early diverging branch of maniraptoran theropods. Alvarezsaurids were highly specialized. They had tiny but stout forelimbs, with compact, bird-like hands. Their skeletons suggest that they had massive breast and arm muscles, possibly adapted for digging or tearing. They had long, tube-shaped snouts filled with tiny teeth. They have been interpreted as myrmecophagous, adapted to prey on colonial insects such as termites, with the short arms acting as effective digging instruments to break into nests. ''Alvarezsaurus'', the type genus of the family, was named for the historian Gregorio Álvarez. History of study Bonaparte (1991) described the first alvarezsaurid, ''Alvarezsaurus calvoi'', from an incomplete skeleton found in Patagonia, Argentina. Bonaparte also named a family, Alvarezsauridae, to contain it. He a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barun Goyot Formation
The Barun Goyot Formation (also known as Baruungoyot Formation or West Goyot Formation) is a geological formation dating to the Late Cretaceous Period. It is located within and is widely represented in the Gobi Desert Basin, in the Ömnögovi Province of Mongolia. Description It was previously known as the Lower Nemegt Beds occurring beneath the Nemegt Formation and above the Djadokhta Formation. It has been suggested that the Djadokhta and Barun Goyot Formations are lower and upper parts, respectively, of the same lithological unit and the boundary between the two does not exist. The stratotype of the Barun Goyot Formation is the Khulsan locality, east of Nemegt. At Nemegt, only the uppermost barungoyotian beds are visible. The ''Red Beds of Khermeen Tsav'' are also considered part of the Barun Goyot Formation. It is approximately in thickness,Gradzinski, R.; & Jerzykiewicz, T. (1974). Sedimentation of the Barun Goyot formation. Palaeontologica Polonica, 30, 111-146. and was l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dzharaonyx
''Dzharaonyx'' (meaning "Dzharakuduk claw", named after the type locality) is a genus of alvarezsaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Bissekty Formation of Uzbekistan. The type species is ''Dzharaonyx eski''; ''eski'' being an Uzbek word for "old". Description ''Dzharaonyx'' is known from a series of disassociated but well-preserved postcranial material. The form of the humerus is intermediate between that of ''Patagonykus'' and ''Mononykus''. Classification Phylogenetic analysis places ''Dzharaonyx'' in a polytomy including other Asian members of Parvicursorinae. This makes it the oldest parvicursorine known to date. Paleoenvironment ''Dzharaonyx'' lived in the Bissekty Formation, which has been intensively studied in recent years. It represents a brackish environment. It coexisted with larger theropods including the dromaeosaurid ''Itemirus'', the tyrannosauroid ''Timurlengia'', and the troodontid ''Urbacodon''. The hadrosaur ''Levnesovia'', ankylosaurs, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ondogurvel
''Ondogurvel'' () (meaning "egg lizard") is a genus of alvarezsaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) Barun Goyot Formation in southern Mongolia. The type and only species is ''O. alifanovi'', known from a partial skeleton consisting of fragments of two last dorsal vertebrae, three anterior sacral vertebrae, right ilium, left and right pubis and ischium, articulated right tibia, fibula, metatarsals II and IV, and phalanges IV-1 and IV-2, right carpometacarpus, left and right manual phalanx II-1, right femur, left pedal phalanx II-1, and fragments of unidentified phalanges. Discovery and naming In 2022, the type species ''Ondogurvel alifanovi'' was named and described by Alexander O. Averianov and Alexey V. Lopatin. The generic name, "''Ondogurvel''" combines the Mongolian words өндөг “ondo” (), meaning egg, and гүрвэл “gurvel” (), meaning lizard. The specific name, "''alifanovi''" () honors the late Russian paleontologist Vladimir Alifanov who fou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the Latin word for the white limestone known as chalk. The chalk of northern France and the white cliffs of south-eastern England date from the Cretaceous Period. Climate During the Late Cretaceous, the climate was warmer than present, although throughout the period a cooling trend is evident. The tropics became restricted to equatorial regions and northern latitudes experienced markedly more seasonal climatic conditions. Geography Due to plate tectonics, the Americas were gradually moving westward, causing the Atlantic Ocean to expand. The Western Interior Seaway divided North America into eastern and western halves; Appalachia and Laramidia. India maintained a northward course towards Asia. In the Southern Hemisphere, Australia and Ant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alvarezsaurus
''Alvarezsaurus'' (; "Alvarez's lizard") is a genus of alvarezsaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous, living in Argentina approximately 86 - 83 million years ago. It was a small dinosaur, measuring long and weighing approximately . It was found in the Bajo de la Carpa Formation and was named by paleontologist José Bonaparte in 1991 after the historian Don Gregorio Alvarez. The type species is ''A. calvoi''. Description ''Alvarezsaurus'' was a bipedal theropod. Like other lightweight theropods, it had a long tail, and its leg structure suggests that it was a fast runner. The most proximal elements of ''Alvarezsaurus'' caudal vertebrae exhibited ventrally sharp centra and the transerve processes of these vertebrae were sub-triangular and laterodistally directed, features seen in other alvarezsaurids like ''Shuvuuia''. Spinal processes were entirely absent or poorly developed, and each caudal vertebra supported short prezygapophyses. The scapula was visibly curved and proporti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Achillesaurus
''Achillesaurus'' is a genus of alvarezsaurid theropod dinosaur from the Santonian-age Upper Cretaceous Bajo de la Carpa Formation of Rio Negro, Argentina. It was named in reference to Achilles' heel, because diagnostic features are found there for these animals. The genus was a relatively large, basal alvarezsaurid, and a contemporary of ''Alvarezsaurus''. ''Achillesaurus'' is based on MACN-PV-RN 1116, a partial skeleton including a sacral vertebra, four tail vertebrae, part of the left thighbone, shin and foot, and the left ilium. Agustín Martinelli and Ezequiel Vera, who described the specimen, performed a phylogenetic analysis and found their new genus to be an alvarezsaurid with an unresolved relationship to ''Alvarezsaurus'' and more derived alvarezsaurids. Makovicky, Apesteguía & Gianechini (2012) argued that ''Achillesaurus'' might actually be a junior synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albertonykus
''Albertonykus'' (meaning "Alberta claw") is an alvarezsaurid dinosaur from the Maastrichtian-age (Upper Cretaceous) rocks of the Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Alberta, Canada. It is known from forelimb and hindlimb remains from multiple individuals. All but two of the specimens come from a bonebed dominated by ''Albertosaurus'', located at the top of Unit 4 of the Horseshoe Canyon Formation,Larson, D. W., Brinkman, D. B., & Bell, P. R. (2010). Faunal assemblages from the upper Horseshoe Canyon Formation, an early Maastrichtian cool-climate assemblage from Alberta, with special reference to the Albertosaurus sarcophagus bonebed This article is one of a series of papers published in this Special Issue on the theme Albertosaurus. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 47(9), 1159-1181. dating to ~68.5 million years ago. ''Albertonykus'' is interpreted as having fed on wood-nesting termites because the forelimbs appear specialized for digging, but are too short for burrowing. ''Alber ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nemegtbaatar
''Nemegtbaatar'' is a genus of mammal from the Upper Cretaceous Period of what is now Mongolia. It existed in the company of much larger dinosaurs, found together in the Nemegt Basin. This creature was a member of the extinct order Multituberculata. It is within the suborder Cimolodonta and is a member of the superfamily Djadochtatherioidea. It was a hopping, gerboa-like species.Meng Chen, Gregory Philip Wilson, A multivariate approach to infer locomotor modes in Mesozoic mammals, Article in Paleobiology 41(02) · February 2015 DOI: 10.1017/pab.2014.14 The genus ''Nemegtbaatar'' (Kielan-Jaworowska Z., 1974) is known by the species ''Nemegtbaatar gobiensis'' found in the Santonian to Campanian (Upper Cretaceous) Barun Goyot Formation of Mongolia. "Compared to all extant mammals, the braincase in ''Nemegtbaatar'' and ''Chulsanbaatar'' is primitive." (Hurum, 1998). "All extant mammals" includes monotremes, such as the duck-billed platypus, despite its residual egg-laying habi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catopsbaatar
''Catopsbaatar'' is a genus of multituberculate, an extinct order of rodent-like mammals. It lived in what is now Mongolia during the late Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous epoch, about 72 million years ago. The first fossils were collected in the early 1970s, and the animal was named as a new species of the genus ''Djadochtatherium'' in 1974, ''D. catopsaloides''. The specific name refers to the animal's similarity to the genus ''Catopsalis''. The species was moved to the genus ''Catopsalis'' in 1979, and received its own genus (''Catopsbaatar'', Greek and Mongolian for 'visible hero') in 1994. Five skulls, one molar, and one skeleton with a skull are known; the last is the genus' most complete specimen. ''Catopsbaatar'' was a member of the family Djadochtatheriidae. The skull of ''Catopsbaatar'' was up to long and, as in other multituberculates, proportionally large. The external appearance of these animals' heads may have been similar to those of rodents. The skull ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
