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Shanxia
Shanxia (named after the Shanxi Province) is a monospecific genus of ankylosaurid dinosaur from the Shanxi Province that lived during the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Campanian, ~99-71 Ma) in what is now the Huiquanpu Formation. ''Shanxia'' may possibly represent a junior synonym of ''Tianzhenosaurus'', an ankylosaurine also known from the Huiquanpu Formation of China. Discovery and naming In 1993, Messrs. Lu and Li of the Hebei Geological Survey discovered a partial ankylosaurid skeleton at a locality in the Shanxi Province and notified staff of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, who collected the material later that year. The holotype specimen, IVPP V11276, consists of a braincase, occiput, skull roof, ?quadratojugal, axis vertebra, cervical vertebrae, dorsal vertebrae, caudal vertebrae, humerus, fragment of ?ilium, femora and an osteoderm. The holotype skull is partially reconstructed with plaster to stabilise parts of the skull roof and to attach ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tianzhenosaurus
''Tianzhenosaurus'' (meaning “Tianzhen lizard”) is a monospecific genus of ankylosaurid dinosaur from the Shanxi Province that lived during the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Campanian, ~99-71 Ma) in what is now the Huiquanpu Formation. ''Tianzhenosaurus'' may represent a junior synonym of '' Saichania'', an ankylosaurine known from the Barun Goyot and Nemegt Formation. Discovery and naming In 1983, Pang Qiqing and Cheng Zhengwu discovered articulated cervical vertebrae of an ankylosaurid from the Shanxi Province. Numerous excavations at the site yielded more than 2,300 specimens belonging to sauropods, theropods, ornithopods and ankylosaurid specimens. The holotype specimen, HBV-10001, consists of a partial skull. Two paratype specimens were assigned to ''Tianzhenosaurus'': HBV-10002, an incomplete mandible; HBV-10003, cervical vertebrae, dorsal vertebrae, caudal vertebrae, a sacral complex, ilia, pectoral girdles, pelvic girdles, fore and hind limbs with fore and hind fe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minotaurasaurus
''Minotaurasaurus'' (meaning “Minos'-bull reptile”) is a monospecific genus of ankylosaurid dinosaur that lived in Mongolia during the Late Cretaceous (late Campanian stage, ~75-71 Ma) in what is now the Djadochta Formation. The type and only species, ''Minotaurasaurus ramachandrani'', is known from two skulls, a cervical vertebra and a cervical half ring. It was named and described in 2009 by Clifford Miles and Clark Miles. The first fossils of ''Minotaurasaurus'' were illegally exported out of Mongolia. It has been suggested to be a synonym of '' Tarchia'' but more recent publications consider it as a distinct genus. ''Minotaurasaurus'' was a medium-sized ankylosaurid, with an estimated length of 4.2 metres (13.8 feet), although it may have reached larger sizes as the type specimen represents an immature individual. Although not a lot of postcranial material is known, it would have had a tail club that may have been used for protection against predators or interspecific c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ankylosauridae
Ankylosauridae () is a family of armored dinosaurs within Ankylosauria, and is the sister group to Nodosauridae. The oldest known Ankylosaurids date to around 122 million years ago and went extinct 66 million years ago during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. These animals were mainly herbivorous and were obligate quadrupeds, with leaf-shaped teeth and robust, scute-covered bodies. Ankylosaurids possess a distinctly domed and short snout, wedge-shaped osteoderms on their skull, scutes along their torso, and a tail club. Ankylosauridae is exclusively known from the northern hemisphere, with specimens found in western North America, Europe, and East Asia. The first discoveries within this family were of the genus ''Ankylosaurus'', by Peter Kaiser and Barnum Brown in Montana in 1906. Brown went on to name Ankylosauridae and the subfamily Ankylosaurinae in 1908. Anatomy Ankylosaurids are stout, solidly built, armoured dinosaurs. They possess accessory ossifications on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saichania
''Saichania'' (Mongolian meaning "beautiful one") is a genus of herbivorous ankylosaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period of Mongolia and China. The first fossils of ''Saichania'' were found in the early 1970s in Mongolia. In 1977 the type species ''Saichania chulsanensis'' was named. The description of this species has been based on limited fossil material; especially the rear of the animal is not well known. ''Saichania'' was more robustly built than other members of the Ankylosauridae, measuring in length and in body mass. Neck vertebrae, shoulder girdle, ribs and breast bones were fused or firmly connected. Its body was flat and low-slung, standing on four short legs. The forelimbs were very powerful. The head was protected by bulbous armour tiles. It could defend itself against predators like '' Tarbosaurus'' with a tail-club. On the torso keeled osteoderms were present. ''Saichania'' bit off plants in its desert habitat with a horny beak and processed them in i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Euoplocephalus
''Euoplocephalus'' ( ) is a genus of very large, herbivorous ankylosaurid dinosaurs, living during the Late Cretaceous of Canada. It has only one named species, ''Euoplocephalus tutus''. The first fossil of ''Euoplocephalus'' was found in 1897 in Alberta. In 1902, it was named ''Stereocephalus'', but that name had already been given to an insect, so it was changed in 1910. Later, many more ankylosaurid remains were found from the Campanian of North America and often made separate genera. In 1971, Walter Coombs concluded that they all belonged to ''Euoplocephalus'' which then would be one of the best-known dinosaurs. Recently however, experts have come to the opposite conclusion, limiting the authentic finds of ''Euoplocephalus'' to about a dozen specimens. These include a number of almost complete skeletons, so much is nevertheless known about the build of the animal. ''Euoplocephalus'' reached in length and in body mass. Its body was low-slung and very flat and wide, standin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1998 In Paleontology
Flora Lycophytes Lycophyte research * Wehr (1998) reports, without description, ''Selaginella'' species spikemoss fossils occurring in the Eocene Okanagan highlands Klondike Mountain Formation. Fungi Fungal research *Currah, Stockey, & LePage (1998) describe the a phyllachoralean " tar spot" parasitizing ''Uhlia'' palm leaves, and host for a hyperparasitic pleosporalean fungus. They note them to be one of the first occurrences of hyperparasitic relationships in the fossil record. Arthropods Insects Molluscs Bivalves Amphibians newly named anurans Archosauromorpha Dinosaurs * A paper in the journal ''Nature'' is published by Karen Chin and others announcing the earlier discovery of a "king-sized coprolite" attributed to ''Tyrannosaurus rex''. * ''Lourinhasaurus'' gastroliths documented.Dantas et al. (1998). Sanders, Manley, and Carpenter (2001), "Table 12.1" page 167. * ''Cedarosaurus'' gastroliths documented.Sanders and Carpenter (1998). Sanders, Manley, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Huiquanpu Formation
The Huiquanpu Formation () is a geological formation in Shanxi and Hebei provinces, China, whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous period. It predominantly consists of purple-red mudstone, with subordinate grey-white sandy conglomerates. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Late Cretaceous, Asia)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 593-600. . Vertebrate paleofauna * ''Huabeisaurus allocotus'' — Teeth ndpostcranial skeleton; Cenomanian to Campanian stages."Table 13.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 268. * '' Tianzhenosaurus youngi'' — "Skull ndpostcranial skeleton.""Table 17.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 364. * '' Datonglong tianzhenensis'' — Tianzhen.Shi-Chao Xu, Hai-Lu You, Jia-Wei Wang, Suo-Zhu Wang, Jian Yi and Lei Yia (2016). "A new hadro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ankylosaurinae
Ankylosaurinae is a subfamily of ankylosaurid dinosaurs, existing from the Early Cretaceous about 105 million years ago until the end of the Late Cretaceous, about 66 mya. Many genera are included in the clade, such as ''Ankylosaurus'', ''Pinacosaurus'', '' Euoplocephalus'', and ''Saichania''. Features Ankylosaurines are defined as being closer relatives to ''Ankylosaurus'' than to ''Shamosaurus''. Diagnostic features of ankylosaurines include the nuchal shelf that obscures the occiput in dorsal view, and the quadrate condyle which is obscured lightly by the quadratojugal boss. Phylogeny The following cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to ... is based on the 50% majority rule phylogenetic analysis of Arbour & Currie (2015): References Ankyl ... [...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 an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nodosauridae
Nodosauridae is a family of ankylosaurian dinosaurs, from the Late Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous period in what is now North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. Description Nodosaurids, like their close relatives the ankylosaurids, were heavily armored dinosaurs adorned with rows of bony armor nodules and spines (osteoderms), which were covered in keratin sheaths. All nodosaurids, like other ankylosaurians, were medium-sized to large, heavily built, quadrupedal, herbivorous dinosaurs, possessing small, leaf-shaped teeth. Unlike ankylosaurids, nodosaurids lacked mace-like tail clubs, instead having flexible tail tips. Many nodosaurids had spikes projecting outward from their shoulders. One particularly well-preserved nodosaurid "mummy", known as the Suncor nodosaur (''Borealopelta markmitchelli''), preserved a nearly complete set of armor in life position, as well as the keratin covering and mineralized remains of the underlying skin, which indicate reddish dorsal pigme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nemegt Formation
The Nemegt Formation (also known as Nemegtskaya Svita) is a geological formation in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia, dating to the Late Cretaceous. The formation consists of river channel sediments and contains fossils of fish, turtles, crocodilians, and a diverse fauna of dinosaurs, including birds. Description The Nemegt Formation is composed of mudstones and sandstones that were deposited by ancient lakes, streams, and flood plains. The Altan Uul locality was described by Michael Novacek as "a canyon carved out of a very rich series of sedimentary rocks" with "steep cliffs and narrow washes". The climate associated with it was wetter than when preceding formations were deposited; there seems to have existed at least some degree of forest cover. Fossilized trunks have been also found. These petrified wood, and the remains of Araucariaceae conifers indicate that the forests of the Nemegt were thickly wooded, with a high canopy formed by tall conifer trees. When examined, the rock ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Synapomorphy
In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to have evolved in their most recent common ancestor. ) In cladistics, synapomorphy implies homology. Examples of apomorphy are the presence of erect gait, fur, the evolution of three middle ear bones, and mammary glands in mammals but not in other vertebrate animals such as amphibians or reptiles, which have retained their ancestral traits of a sprawling gait and lack of fur. Thus, these derived traits are also synapomorphies of mammals in general as they are not shared by other vertebrate animals. Etymology The word —coined by German entomologist Willi Hennig—is derived from the Ancient Greek words (''sún''), meaning "with, together"; (''apó''), meaning "away from"; and (''morphḗ''), meaning "shape, form". Clade analysis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.JPG "Click for more on -> Saichania")
