Protoceratopsian embryos from Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China

1993 ◽  
Vol 30 (10) ◽  
pp. 2248-2254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhi-Ming Dong ◽  
Philip J. Currie

New protoceratopsid fossils from Bayan Mandahu include the smallest specimens of Protoceratops and Bagaceratops recovered to date. None of these specimens were found associated with dinosaur eggshells, but all are small enough to fit within any of the eggs that have been attributed to protoceratopsians. It is concluded that they represent embryonic dinosaurs. No specimens are complete, but together they allow a better understanding of the cranial anatomy of the embryos.The absence of embryos in the thousands of eggs collected from Cretaceous sediments of China and Mongolia may represent a taphonomic condition whereby embryos were destroyed by the decomposing contents of the eggs. If this is correct, embryonic dinosaurs from central Asia may only have been preserved when the eggs were broken so that the liquid contents drained.

1996 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 541-577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-Chun Wu ◽  
Donald B. Brinkman ◽  
Anthony P. Russell

Sineoamphisbaena hexatabularis Wu et al., 1993 is the earliest known amphisbaenian represented by well-preserved cranial and postcranial material. It reveals a mosaic of generalized lizard-like features and amphisbaenian characters. Most distinctive of the latter are features of cranial consolidation adaptive for a fossorial way of life. Phylogenetic analyses strongly confirm the monophyly of the Amphisbaenia inclusive of S. hexatabularis. The Amphisbaenia is diagnosed by a suite of apomorphic characters. The available evidence suggests a probable Amphisbaenia–Macrocephalosauridae relationship within the Scincomorpha. This is supported primarily by the unique modifications of the palate and temporal region of the skull. It is argued here that the Amphisbaenia evolved in Central Asia during the Cretaceous, in response to the transition from a perennial lacustrine environment to a dry, semiarid eolian environment. The relatively primitive morphology indicates that S. hexatabularis was not permanently subterranean. The further derived modifications of later forms are associated with tunneling in an environment of more compact soils.


1993 ◽  
Vol 30 (10) ◽  
pp. 2107-2127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dale A. Russell ◽  
Zhi-Ming Dong

Remains of bipedal saurischians from lacustrine strata of Albian age in the Alxa ("Alashan") Desert of Inner Mongolia represent a new taxon and the most complete remains of an Early Cretaceous theropod so far discovered in Asia. A skeletal reconstruction generally resembles that of a moderately large prosauropod with long arms and a short tail. However, in its detailed morphology the reptile appears to be close to the ancestry of the Therizinosauridae Maleev, 1954 (for which Segno-sauridae Perle, 1979 is probably a junior synonym). These theropods are best referred to the Tetanurae of Gauthier, 1986. However, a provisional analysis of the distribution of therizinosauroid characters within tetanurans suggests the existence of two subordinate groups: the Carnosauria (Allosaurus, dromaeosaurids, and tyrannosaurids) and the Oviraptorosauria (including therizinosauroids, ornithomimids, troodontids, and oviraptorids).


1993 ◽  
Vol 30 (10) ◽  
pp. 2174-2176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhi-Ming Dong

In 1988, an incomplete skeleton of a stegosaurian dinosaur was found in Lower Cretaceous strata of the Ordos Basin of China by the Dinosaur Project (China – Canada – Alberta – Ex Terra). The material includes an articulated series of vertebrae from the last three cervicals to the first five caudals, and the right ilium. The specimen is identified as a new species called Wuerhosaurus ordosensis. It is the only Lower Cretaceous stegosaur known with an articulated series of dorsal vertebrae, which have been reduced to eleven in number.


1996 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 631-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhi-Ming Dong ◽  
Philip J. Currie

A partial skeleton of Oviraptor (which means egg thief), collected at Bayan Mandahu (Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China) in 1990 was lying on top of a nest of eggs. Of the six known skeletons of this genus from Upper Cretaceous Djadokhtan sediments, this is the second occurrence in which the theropods were interacting with the eggs when they were buried by sand and dust during sandstorms. Two explanations for the association of Oviraptor with eggs are that the theropod may have been eating the eggs, or it may have been incubating and protecting them. Evidence presented suggests that the latter hypothesis is more likely. It is also conceivable that the female oviraptorid was in the process of laying eggs when she died.


1993 ◽  
Vol 30 (10) ◽  
pp. 2177-2179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhi-Ming Dong

The discovery of an Early Cretaceous bird from the Ordos Basin of Inner Mongolia (People's Republic of China) is reported. The specimen, collected by the Dinosaur Project (China – Canada – Alberta – Ex Terra) Expedition of 1990, includes scapulocoracoids, humeri, radii, ulnae and metacarpals. It is referred to the Enantiornithes.


Acta Tropica ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 141 ◽  
pp. 235-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenbao Zhang ◽  
Zhuangzhi Zhang ◽  
Weiping Wu ◽  
Baoxin Shi ◽  
Jun Li ◽  
...  

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