Details - Psittacosaurus amitabha, a new species of ceratopsian dinosaur from the Ondai Sayr locality, central Mongolia

Psittacosaurus amitabha, a new species of ceratopsian dinosaur from the Ondai Sayr locality, central Mongolia

Title

Psittacosaurus amitabha, a new species of ceratopsian dinosaur from the Ondai Sayr locality, central Mongolia

By

Napoli, James G., , author

Hunt, Tyler, , author
Erickson, Gregory M. , author
Norell, Mark A. , author

Type

Book

Material

Published material

Publication info

New York, NY, American Museum of Natural History, [2019]

Notes

Caption title.

"July 25, 2019."

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Psittacosaurus is the most speciose nonavian dinosaur genus, represented by at least 10 (and possibly as many as 19) species uncovered over a wide geographic range. Here, we report a new species of large-bodied Psittacosaurus from the Ondai Sayr locality in central Mongolia, which has hitherto produced only one other Psittacosaurus specimen. This new species is characterized by: (1) an elongate snout, with a gently inclined rostronasal margin, (2) a cranium dorsally convex rather than flat, (3) a subtemporal length less than 40% of total skull length, (4) a maxillary lamina that cups the posterior toothrow, (5) five premaxillary foramina arrayed in an arc, (6) an antorbital fossa as long as it is wide, and (7) a palpebral with a well-developed posterior tonguelike process. Psittacosaurus amitabha is resolved as the most basal member of the genus Psittacosaurus in our phylogenetic analysis. This taxon expands our knowledge of the already-speciose genus Psittacosaurus as well as our understanding of the Ondai Sayr fauna, which is poorly known in comparison to other Mongolian Early Cretaceous localities.