''Barsboldia'' (meaning "of
Barsbold", a well-known
Mongolian paleontologist
Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...
) is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
of large
hadrosaurid dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
from the
early Maastrichtian
The Maastrichtian () is, in the ICS geologic timescale, the latest age (uppermost stage) of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series, the Cretaceous Period or System, and of the Mesozoic Era or Erathem. It spanned the interval fro ...
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, ...
of
Ömnogöv',
Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
. It is known from a partial
vertebra
The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates, Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristi ...
l column, partial
pelvis, and some
ribs
The rib cage, as an enclosure that comprises the ribs, vertebral column and sternum in the thorax of most vertebrates, protects vital organs such as the heart, lungs and great vessels.
The sternum, together known as the thoracic cage, is a semi- ...
.
Discovery
In 1970, a Polish-Mongolian expedition near the Nemegt found the skeleton of an ornithopod and first assigned it to ''
Saurolophus angustirostris''. However, two Polish paleontologists,
Teresa Maryańska
Teresa Maryańska (1937 – 3 October 2019) was a Polish paleontologist who specialized in Mongolian dinosaurs, particularly pachycephalosaurians and ankylosaurians. Peter Dodson (1998 p. 9) states that in 1974 Maryanska together with Hals ...
and
Halszka Osmólska
Halszka Osmólska (September 15, 1930 – March 31, 2008) was a Polish paleontologist who had specialized in Mongolian dinosaurs.
Biography
She was born in 1930 in Poznań. In 1949, she began to study biology at Faculty of Biology and Earth Scie ...
, came to the conclusion that it was a
lambeosaurine that had to represent a separate species. They named and described ''Barsboldia sicinskii'' based on the holotype specimen ZPAL MgD-1/110. The genus name honors the Mongolian paleontologist Rinchen Barsbold, while the species name honors Wojciech Siciński, the technician at the Warsaw Paleobiological Institute who prepared the skeleton. The holotype specimen, found in a layer of the
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, ...
dating to the early Maastrichtian, consisted of a partial skeleton consisting of nine back
vertebra
The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates, Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristi ...
e, nine
hip vertebrae, fifteen tail vertebrae, a left
ilium, parts of the left and right
pubis, several ribs, and a few fragments of the hind limbs, with the backbone largely articulated. The anterior and posteriormost portions of the skeleton were lost due to erosion.
Description
Barsboldia was a large hadrosaur, previously measured in length and in body mass. In 2011, the tibial length was measured at , rivalling that of ''
Shantungosaurus'' measured at and that of ''
Magnapaulia'' measured at ; this indicates that ''Barsboldia'' could have possibly reached within the range of in total body length.
The most distinctive features of ''Barsboldia'' are found in the
neural spines
The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates,Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristic ...
. These are very tall, particularly over the hips, and were described as second only to those of ''
Hypacrosaurus altispinus'' and the tips of those found in the first few vertebrae of the tail are club-shaped,
[ possibly a sign of old age.]
Phylogeny
Maryańska and Osmólska described their new genus as a lambeosaurine (or hollow-crested duckbill), the first from the Nemegt Formation, although it lacked a skull. However, the sacrum has a keel along the bottom, a possible lambeosaurine feature, and the bones closely resemble those of ''Hypacrosaurus''. With only one partial skeleton known, and no skull, the genus has been considered dubious
Doubt is a mental state in which the mind remains suspended between two or more contradictory propositions, unable to be certain of any of them.
Doubt on an emotional level is indecision between belief and disbelief. It may involve uncertainty ...
[ or a possible lambeosaurine of uncertain placement.] A newer study published in 2011 suggests that ''Barsboldia'' is actually a valid saurolophine.
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 ...
was recovered in the 2011 phylogenetic analysis of Hadrosauroidea
Hadrosauroidea is a clade or superfamily of ornithischian dinosaurs that includes the "duck-billed" dinosaurs, or hadrosaurids, and all dinosaurs more closely related to them than to ''Iguanodon''. Their remains have been recovered in Asia, Europ ...
by Prieto-Márquez (the relationships within Lambeosaurinae and between basal hadrosauroids aren't shown).[
]
Paleobiology
As a hadrosaurid, ''Barsboldia'' would have been a bipedal
Bipedalism is a form of terrestrial locomotion where an organism moves by means of its two rear limbs or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a bipedal manner is known as a biped , meaning 'two feet' (from Latin ''bis'' 'double' ...
/quadruped
Quadrupedalism is a form of locomotion where four limbs are used to bear weight and move around. An animal or machine that usually maintains a four-legged posture and moves using all four limbs is said to be a quadruped (from Latin ''quattuor' ...
al herbivore, eating plant
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclu ...
s with a sophisticated skull that permitted a grinding motion analogous to chewing
Chewing or mastication is the process by which food is crushed and ground by teeth. It is the first step of digestion, and it increases the surface area of foods to allow a more efficient break down by enzymes. During the mastication process, th ...
, and was furnished with hundreds of continually-replaced teeth
A tooth ( : teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, t ...
. If it was a lambeosaurine, it would have had a hollow crest formed out of expanded skull bones containing the nasal passages, with a function relating to identification by sight and sound.[
]
See also
* Timeline of hadrosaur research
A timeline is a display of a list of events in chronological order. It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labelled with dates paralleling it, and usually contemporaneous events.
Timelines can use any suitable scale represent ...
References
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q18606529, from2=Q264109
Saurolophines
Late Cretaceous dinosaurs of Asia
Maastrichtian life
Nemegt fauna
Fossil taxa described in 1981
Taxa named by Teresa Maryańska
Taxa named by Halszka Osmólska
Ornithischian genera