A small derived theropod from Öösh, early Cretaceous, Baykhangor Mongolia

Title Variants

Alternative: Öösh theropod

Related Titles

Series: American Museum novitates, no. 3557

By

Turner, Alan H. (Alan Hamilton)

Hwang, Sunny H.
Norell, Mark A.
Mongolian-American Museum Paleontological Project.
Mongolyn Shinzhlėkh Ukhaany Akademi.

Type

Book

Material

Published material

Publication info

New York, NY American Museum of Natural History c2007

Notes

Caption title.

"March 8, 2007."

Specimen collected in 1999 during the Mongolian Academy of Sciences-American Museum of Natural History Paleontological Project.

A new theropod dinosaur, Shanag ashile, from the early Cretaceous Öösh deposits of Mongolia is described here. The new specimen (IGM 100/1119) comprises a well-preserved right maxilla, dentary, and partial splenial. This specimen exhibits a number of derived theropod features, including a triangular anteriorly tapering maxilla, a large antorbital fossa, and maxillary participation in the caudally elongate external nares. These features resemble the early Cretaceous dromaeosaurids Sinornithosaurus millenii and Microraptor zhaoianus, as well as the basal avialan Archaeopteryx lithographica. A comprehensive phylogenetic analysis including 58 theropod taxa unambiguously depicts the new Öösh theropod as a member of Dromaeosauridae. Relative to other dromaeosaurids, Shanag ashile is autapomorphic in its lack of a promaxillary fenestra and in the presence of interalveolar pneumatic cavities. The discovery of IGM 100/1119 expands our knowledge of early Cretaceous dromaeosaurids and the faunal similarity between the Öösh and the Jehol biotas.

Subjects

Anatomy , Bai︠a︡nkhongor Aĭmag , Cretaceous , Dinosaurs , Dromaeosauridae , Mongolia , Paleontology , Reptiles, Fossil , Shanag ashile , Skull

Call Number

QL1 .A436 no.3557 2007

Language

English

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1206/0003-0082(2007)3557[1:ASDTFS]2.0.CO;2
OCLC: 85855972