Browse
Submit Data
Databases
API
Help

Dataset Information

16 Views

0 Connections

0 Citations

0 Reanalyses

0 Downloads

Omics score: 0

A partial oviraptorosaur skeleton suggests low caenagnathid diversity in the Late Cretaceous Nemegt Formation of Mongolia.

ABSTRACT: The Nemegt Formation of the Gobi Desert of Mongolia has produced one of the most abundant and diverse oviraptorosaur records globally. However, the caenagnathid component of this fauna remains poorly known. Two caenagnathid taxa are currently recognized from the Nemegt Formation: Elmisaurus rarus and Nomingia gobiensis. Because these taxa are known from mostly non-overlapping material, there are concerns that they could represent the same animal. A partial, weathered caenagnathid skeleton discovered adjacent to the holotype quarry of Nomingia gobiensis is referable to Elmisaurus rarus, revealing more of the morphology of the cranium, mandible, pectoral girdle, and pubis. Despite metatarsals clearly exhibiting autapomorphies of Elmisaurus rarus, overlapping elements are identical to those of Nomingia gobiensis, and add to a growing body of evidence that these taxa represent a single morphotype. In the absence of any positive evidence for two caenagnathid taxa in the Nemegt Formation, Nomingia gobiensis is best regarded as a junior synonym of Elmisaurus rarus. Low caenagnathid diversity in the Nemegt Formation may reflect broader coexistence patterns with other oviraptorosaur families, particularly oviraptorids. In contrast to North America, competition with the exceptionally diverse oviraptorids may have restricted caenagnathids to marginal roles in Late Cretaceous Asian ecosystems.

SUBMITTER: Funston GF

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8274908 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Json Xml

Similar Datasets

A dinosaur community composition dataset for the Late Cretaceous Nemegt Basin of Mongolia.

Project description:Dinosaur community composition data for eleven fossil localities in the Late Cretaceous Nemegt Basin of Mongolia are compiled from field observations and records in the literature. Counts were generated from skeletons and represent numbers of individuals preserved in each locality. These data were used in the analyses of Funston et al. [1] "Oviraptorosaur anatomy, diversity, and ecology in the Nemegt Basin" in the Nemegt Ecosystems Special Issue of Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, where the results are discussed.

| S-EPMC5847492 | biostudies-literature

New specimens of Nemegtomaia from the Baruungoyot and Nemegt Formations (Late Cretaceous) of Mongolia.

Project description:Two new specimens of the oviraptorid theropod Nemegtomaia barsboldi from the Nemegt Basin of southern Mongolia are described. Specimen MPC-D 107/15 was collected from the upper beds of the Baruungoyot Formation (Campanian-Maastrichtian), and is a nest of eggs with the skeleton of the assumed parent of Nemegtomaia on top in brooding position. Much of the skeleton was damaged by colonies of dermestid coleopterans prior to its complete burial. However, diagnostic characters are recovered from the parts preserved, including the skull, partial forelimbs (including the left hand), legs, and distal portions of both feet. Nemegtomaia represents the fourth known genus of oviraptorid for which individuals have been found on nests of eggs. The second new specimen, MPC-D 107/16, was collected a few kilometers to the east in basal deposits of the Nemegt Formation, and includes both hands and femora of a smaller Nemegtomaia individual. The two formations and their diverse fossil assemblages have been considered to represent sequential time periods and different environments, but data presented here indicate partial overlap across the Baruungoyot-Nemegt transition. All other known oviraptorids from Mongolia and China are known exclusively from xeric or semi-arid environments. However, this study documents that Nemegtomaia is found in both arid/aeolian (Baruungoyot Formation) and more humid/fluvial (Nemegt Formation) facies.

| S-EPMC3275628 | biostudies-literature

A new baby oviraptorid dinosaur (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous Nemegt Formation of Mongolia.

Project description:Recent discoveries of new oviraptorosaurs revealed their high diversity from the Cretaceous Period in Asia and North America. Particularly, at the family level, oviraptorids are among the most diverse theropod dinosaurs in the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia and China. A new oviraptorid dinosaur Gobiraptor minutus gen. et sp. nov. from the Upper Cretaceous Nemegt Formation is described here based on a single holotype specimen that includes incomplete cranial and postcranial elements. The most prominent characters of Gobiraptor are its thickened rostrodorsal end of the mandibular symphysis and a rudimentary lingual shelf on each side of the dentary. Each lingual shelf is lined with small occlusal foramina and demarcated by a weakly developed lingual ridge. This mandibular morphology of Gobiraptor is unique among oviraptorids and likely to be linked to a specialized diet that probably included hard materials, such as seeds or bivalves. The osteohistology of the femur of the holotype specimen indicates that the individual was fairly young at the time of its death. Phylogenetic analysis recovers Gobiraptor as a derived oviraptorid close to three taxa from the Ganzhou region in southern China, but rather distantly related to other Nemegt oviraptorids which, as the results of recent studies, are also not closely related to each other. Gobiraptor increases diversity of oviraptorids in the Nemegt Formation and its presence confirms the successful adaptation of oviraptorids to a mesic environment.

| S-EPMC6364893 | biostudies-literature

A new ankylosaurid from the Upper Cretaceous Nemegt Formation of Mongolia and implications for paleoecology of armoured dinosaurs.

Project description:A new ankylosaurid dinosaur, Tarchia tumanovae sp. nov., has been recovered from the Upper Cretaceous Nemegt Formation of Mongolia. It includes a well-preserved skull, dorsal, sacral, caudal vertebrae, sixteen dorsal ribs, ilia, a partial ischium, free osteoderms, and a tail club. The squamosal horns of T. tumanovae are divided into two layers, the external dermal layer and the underlying squamosal horn proper. The irregular ventral margin of the base of the upper dermal layer may represent a resorption surface, suggesting that the squamosal horns of some ankylosaurids underwent extreme ontogenetic remodeling. Localized pathologies on the dorsosacral ribs and the tail provide evidence of agonistic behaviour. The tail club knob asymmetry of T. tumanovae resulted from restricted bone growth due to tail club strikes. Furthermore, T. tumanovae had an anteriorly protruded shovel-shaped beak, which is a morphological character of selective feeders. Ankylosaurid diets shifted from low-level bulk feeding to selective feeding during the Baruungoyot and the Nemegt "age" (middle Campanian-lower Maastrichtian). This ankylosaurid niche shifting might have been a response to habitat change and competition with other bulk-feeding herbivores.

| S-EPMC8616956 | biostudies-literature

A new alvarezsaurid dinosaur from the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia.

Project description:Alvarezsaurid diversity has been markedly increased by recent discoveries from China. However, the number of alvarezsaurid specimens in the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia remained low since the initial report on Mononykus olecranus in 1993. Here we report three new alvarezsaurid specimens from this formation, which were associated with each other and also with multiple oviraptorid skeletons in a small multi-species assemblage. Two of the alvarezsaurid specimens represent a new taxon, Nemegtonykus citus gen. et sp. nov., which is mainly distinguished from other alvarezsaurids by the first sacral vertebra with a subtrapezoidal lamina, the second sacral centrum which is directly co-ossified with ilium, the posterodorsally oriented postacetabular process of ilium, and partial co-ossification between metatarsals II and IV. The other specimen is very similar to M. olecranus in morphology and referred to cf. Mononykus sp. Our phylogenetic analysis recovered Nemegtonykus as a parvicursorine forming a polytomy with several other taxa from the Gobi Desert. The presence of three alvarezsaurid individuals in the same locality indicates that the abundance of alvarezsaurids have been greatly underestimated in the Nemegt dinosaur faunas.

| S-EPMC6820876 | biostudies-literature

A new hadrosauroid (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from the Late Cretaceous Baynshire Formation of the Gobi Desert (Mongolia).

Project description:A new genus and species of non-hadrosaurid hadrosauroid, Gobihadros mongoliensis, is described from a virtually complete and undeformed skull and postcranial skeleton, as well as extensive referred material, collected from the Baynshire Formation (Cenomanian-Santonian) of the central and eastern Gobi Desert, Mongolia. Gobihadros mongoliensis is the first non-hadrosaurid hadrosauroid from the Late Cretaceous of central Asia known from a complete, articulated skull and skeleton. The material reveals the skeletal anatomy of a proximate sister taxon to Hadrosauridae in remarkable detail. Gobihadros is similar to Bactrosaurus johnsoni and Gilmoreosaurus mongoliensis, but can be distinguished from them in several autapomorphic traits, including the maximum number (three) of functional dentary teeth per tooth position, a premaxillary oral margin with a 'double-layer morphology', and a sigmoidal dorsal outline of the ilium with a well-developed, fan-shaped posterior process. All of these characters in Gobihadros are inferred to be convergent in Hadrosauridae. Phylogenetic analysis positions Gobihadros mongoliensis as a Bactrosaurus-grade hadrosauromorph hadrosauroid. Its relationship with Maastrichtian hadrosaurids from Asia (e.g., Saurolophus angustirostris, Kerberosaurus manakini, Wulagasaurus dongi, Kundurosaurus nagornyi) are sufficiently distant to indicate that these latter taxa owe their distribution to migration from North America across Beringia, rather than having a common Asian origin with Go. mongoliensis.

| S-EPMC6469754 | biostudies-literature

A new oviraptorosaur (Dinosauria: Oviraptorosauria) from the late cretaceous of southern China and its paleoecological implications.

Project description:A new oviraptorosaur Nankangia jiangxiensis gen. et sp. nov. is described on the basis of a partial postcranial skeleton with a partial lower jaw collected from the Upper Cretaceous Nanxiong Formation of Ganzhou, in Jiangxi Province of southern China. The new taxon is diagnosed by: (1) a mandibular symphysis that is not turned down; (2) neural spines of the cranial caudal vertebrae that are wider transversely than anteroposteriorly, forming a large posterior fossa with rugose central areas; (3) a femoral neck extending at an angle of about 90 to the shaft; and (4) a ratio of femur to tibia length of 0.95. Phylogenetic analysis recovers Nankangia as basal to the oviraptorid Yulong, but more derived than Caenagnathus, which also has a mandibular symphysis that is not turned down. The coexistence of Nankangia jiangxiensis, Ganzhousaurus nankangensis, Jiangxisaurus ganzhouensis, an unnamed oviraptorid from Nanxiong Basin and Banji long suggests that they occupied distinct ecological niches. Nankangia may have been more herbivorous than carnivorous.

| S-EPMC3842309 | biostudies-literature

A long-snouted, multihorned tyrannosaurid from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia.

Project description:Tyrannosaurid theropods are characterized by a generalized body plan, and all well-known taxa possess deep and robust skulls that are optimized for exerting powerful bite forces. The fragmentary Late Cretaceous Alioramus appears to deviate from this trend, but its holotype and only known specimen is incomplete and poorly described. A remarkable new tyrannosaurid specimen from the Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) of Mongolia, including a nearly complete and well-preserved skull and an extensive postcranium, represents a new species of Alioramus, Alioramus altai. This specimen conclusively demonstrates that Alioramus is a small, gracile, long-snouted carnivore that deviates from other tyrannosaurids in its body plan and presumably its ecological habits. As such, it increases the range of morphological diversity in one of the most familiar extinct clades. Phylogenetic analysis places Alioramus deep within the megapredatory Tyrannosauridae, and within the tyrannosaurine subclade that also includes Tarbosaurus and Tyrannosaurus. Both pneumatization and ornamentation are extreme compared with other tyrannosaurids, and the skull contains eight discrete horns. The new specimen is histologically aged at nine years old but is smaller than other tyrannosaurids of similar age. Despite its divergent cranial form, Alioramus is characterized by a similar sequence of ontogenetic changes as the megapredatory Tyrannosaurus and Albertosaurus, indicating that ontogenetic change is conservative in tyrannosaurids.

| S-EPMC2765207 | biostudies-literature

A Problematic Tyrannosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) Skeleton and Its Implications for Tyrannosaurid Diversity in the Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of Alberta.

Project description:Several published censuses have noted the presence of two tyrannosaurids, Daspletosaurus sp. and Albertosaurus sarcophagus, within the Upper Cretaceous Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Alberta. Although A. sarcophagus is known from more than a dozen major discoveries in these strata, Daspletosaurus sp. is known from just a single problematic skeleton (lacking most of the skull) of a young individual. Here we describe and figure this skeleton, and marshal a variety of osteohistologic, morphometric, and phylogenetic methods to accurately determine its taxonomic status. Although none of these methods individually provides convincing evidence regarding the affinities of the specimen, together (and including other historical and biostratigraphic considerations) they strongly imply that the skeleton instead pertains to a young A. sarcophagus. In this way, we show that only a single species of tyrannosaurid is definitively present in the Horseshoe Canyon Formation, greatly simplifying interpretations of tyrannosaurid evolution and ecology in this setting. Anat Rec, 303:673-690, 2020. © 2019 The Authors. The Anatomical Record published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Association of Anatomists.

| S-EPMC7079176 | biostudies-literature

First Ornithomimid (Theropoda, Ornithomimosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous Djadokhta Formation of Togrogiin Shiree, Mongolia.

Project description:The Upper Cretaceous Djadokhta Formation has been intensively surveyed for its fossil vertebrate fauna for nearly a century. Amongst other theropods, dromaeosaurids and parvicursorines are common in the formation, but ornithomimosaurs are extremely rare. A new ornithomimosaur material was discovered from the Djadokhta Formation, represented by eolian deposits, of the Tögrögiin Shiree locality, Mongolia. This is only the third ornithomimosaur specimen reported from this formation, and includes the astragalus, the calcaneum, the third distal tarsal, and a complete pes. The new material is clearly belonged to Ornithomimidae by its arctometatarsalian foot condition and has the following unique characters; unevenly developed pair of concavities of the third distal tarsal, curved contacts between the proximal ends of second and fourth metatarsals, the elongate fourth digit, and a laterally inclined medial condyle on phalanx IV-1. These diagnostic characters of the Djadokhtan ornithomimosaur indicate that this is a new taxon. Our phylogenetic analysis supports three clades within derived ornithomimosaurs, and the new taxon is placed a member of the derived ornithomimosaurs. The present specimen is the first ornithomimid record from eolian Tögrögiin Shiree locality, and is indicative of their capability to adapt to arid environments.

| S-EPMC5517598 | biostudies-literature

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

OmicsDI is an Elixir interoperability service. Learn more ›

Tweets

OmicsDI Databases

PRIDE
PeptideAtlas
MassIVE
JPOST Repository
Physiome Model Repository

EGA
EVA
ENA
LINCS
PAXDB
Cell Collective

MetaboLights
Metabolomics Workbench
MetabolomeExpress
GNPS
BioModels
FAIRDOMHub

ArrayExpress
dbGaP
ExpressionAtlas
GEO
NODE

Information

Databases
Help
API
Contact us
Code on GitHub
Terms of use
Submit Data