A new basal ornithopod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China

PeerJ
Yuqing YangPascal Godefroit

Abstract

A new basal ornithopod dinosaur, based on two nearly complete articulated skeletons, is reported from the Lujiatun Beds (Yixian Fm, Lower Cretaceous) of western Liaoning Province (China). Some of the diagnostic features of Changmiania liaoningensis nov. gen., nov. sp. are tentatively interpreted as adaptations to a fossorial behavior, including: fused premaxillae; nasal laterally expanded, overhanging the maxilla; shortened neck formed by only six cervical vertebrae; neural spines of the sacral vertebrae completely fused together, forming a craniocaudally-elongated continuous bar; fused scapulocoracoid with prominent scapular spine; and paired ilia symmetrically inclined dorsomedially, partially covering the sacrum in dorsal view. A phylogenetic analysis places Changmiania liaoningensis as the most basal ornithopod dinosaur described so far. It is tentatively hypothesized that both Changmiania liaoningensis specimens were suddenly entrapped in a collapsed underground burrow while they were resting, which would explain their perfect lifelike postures and the complete absence of weathering and scavenging traces. However, further behavioural inference remains problematic, because those specimens lack extensive sedimentological and...Continue Reading

References

Feb 15, 2002·Nature·Xing XuXiao-chun Wu
Sep 10, 2004·Nature·Qingjin MengChunling Gao
Jan 15, 2005·Nature·Yaoming HuChuankui Li
Aug 20, 2005·Systematic Biology·Paul C Sereno
Aug 12, 2006·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Xing XuJinyou Mo
Mar 22, 2007·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·David J VarricchioYoshihiro Katsura
Jun 19, 2010·PloS One·Giuseppe MastrolorenzoFabio M Guarino

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