Beg tse

Last updated

Beg tse
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous
~113–94  Ma
Beg tse - skull and drawing.png
Holotype skull
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Ornithischia
Suborder: Ceratopsia
Infraorder: Neoceratopsia
Genus: Beg
Yu et al., 2020
Species:
B. tse
Binomial name
Beg tse
Yu et al., 2020

Beg (after the Himalayan war deity Beg-tse) is a genus of neoceratopsian dinosaur from the early Cretaceous period of Mongolia. The genus contains a single species, Beg tse, known from a partial skull and very fragmentary postcrania. Beg represents the most basal neoceratopsian currently known. [1]

Contents

Discovery and naming

The holotype, IGM 100/3652, was discovered in 2015 near the town of Tsogt-Ovoo in the Ömnögovi Province of Mongolia. Described from the Ulaanoosh Formation, the specimen is dated to 113 to 94 million years ago, at the boundary of the Lower and Upper Cretaceous.

Beg is named after Beg-tse, a Himalayan deity who is the god of war in Mongolian culture. The deity is often depicted with a rugose face and/or body, similar to the appearance of the preserved skull of the dinosaur. [1]

Description

Skull from behind Beg tse skull from behind.jpg
Skull from behind

Based on the size of the skull, about 140 millimetres (5.5 in) long, Beg was most likely a medium-sized basal ceratopsian, similar in size to Yinlong and Liaoceratops. It shows transitional features between basal ceratopsians and other neoceratopsians because it is phylogenetically intermediate between them. Other fossil material, though fragmentary, includes a rib, partial left scapula, partial right ischium, and many bone fragments that cannot be identified. [1]

Paleoecology

Beg is known from the Ulaanoosh Formation of southern Mongolia. Sauropods, turtles and dinosaur eggs assigned to Parafaveoloolithus sp. are also known from the formation. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Chasmosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Chasmosaurus is a genus of ceratopsid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period in North America. Its given name means 'opening lizard', referring to the large openings (fenestrae) in its frill. With a length of 4.3–4.8 metres (14.1–15.7 ft) and a weight of 1.5–2 tonnes —or anywhere from 2,200 to nearly 5,000 lbs., give or take—Chasmosaurus was of a slightly smaller to ‘average’ size, especially when compared to other ceratopsians. The Chasmosaurs were similar, in overall build and weight, to a white rhinoceros or an Indian rhinoceros; just like rhinos, and all other ceratopsians, they were purely herbivorous, needing to consume around 54 kilograms, or 120 lbs., of plant matter each day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ceratopsia</span> Extinct suborder of Dinosaurs

Ceratopsia or Ceratopia is a group of herbivorous, beaked dinosaurs that thrived in what are now North America, Europe, and Asia, during the Cretaceous Period, although ancestral forms lived earlier, in the Jurassic. The earliest known ceratopsian, Yinlong downsi, lived between 161.2 and 155.7 million years ago. The last ceratopsian species, Triceratops prorsus, became extinct during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, 66 million years ago.

<i>Psittacosaurus</i> Early Cretaceous dinosaur genus

Psittacosaurus is a genus of extinct ceratopsian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of what is now Asia, existing between 126 and 101 million years ago. It is notable for being the most species-rich non-avian dinosaur genus. Up to 12 species are known, from across China, Mongolia, Russia, and Thailand. The species of Psittacosaurus were obligate bipeds at adulthood, with a high skull and a robust beak. One individual was found preserved with long filaments on the tail, similar to those of Tianyulong. Psittacosaurus probably had complex behaviours, based on the proportions and relative size of the brain. It may have been active for short periods of time during the day and night, and had well-developed senses of smell and vision.

<i>Claosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Claosaurus is a genus of hadrosauroid dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous Period (Santonian-Campanian).

<i>Zuniceratops</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Zuniceratops is a genus of ceratopsian dinosaurs from the mid Turonian of the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now New Mexico, United States. The genus itself is composed of one known species, Zuniceratops christopheri. It lived about 10 million years earlier than the more familiar horned Ceratopsidae and provides an important window on their ancestry.

<i>Auroraceratops</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Auroraceratops, meaning "dawn horned face", is a genus of bipedal basal neoceratopsian dinosaur, from the Early Cretaceous of north central China. The etymology of the generic name refers to its status as an early ceratopsian and also to Dawn Dodson, wife of Peter Dodson, one of the palaeontologists who described it.

<i>Bagaceratops</i> Protoceratopsid dinosaur genus from the Late Cretaceous

Bagaceratops is a genus of small protoceratopsid dinosaurs that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous, around 72 to 71 million years ago. Bagaceratops remains have been reported from the Barun Goyot Formation and Bayan Mandahu Formation. One specimen may argue the possible presence of Bagaceratops in the Djadochta Formation.

<i>Breviceratops</i> Protoceratopsid dinosaur genus from the Late Cretaceous

Breviceratops is a genus of protoceratopsid dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous in what is now the Barun Goyot Formation, Mongolia.

<i>Stenopelix</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Stenopelix is a genus of small marginocephalian dinosaur, possibly a basal ceratopsian, from the Early Cretaceous of Germany. It lived in the late Berriasian Stage of the Cretaceous period, approximately 140 myr ago. The genus is based on a partial skeleton lacking the skull, and its classification is based on characteristics of the hips.

Bainoceratops is a genus of ceratopsian dinosaur from the late Campanian in the Late Cretaceous. The type species is B. efremovi. Its fossils were found in southern Mongolia in the Djadochta Formation.

<i>Xuanhuaceratops</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Xuanhuaceratops is a genus of dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Period. The genus was in 2006 dated to the Tithonian, 150.8-145.5 million years ago. A member of the family Chaoyangsauridae, it was one of the earliest ceratopsians. The fossils were found in the Houcheng Formation of Hebei Province, northeastern China.

<i>Talarurus</i> Ankylosaurid dinosaur genus from the Late Cretaceous

Talarurus is a genus of ankylosaurid dinosaur that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous period, about 96 million to 89 million years ago. The first remains of Talarurus were discovered in 1948 and later described by the Russian paleontologist Evgeny Maleev with the type species T. plicatospineus. It is known from multiple yet sparse specimens, making it one of the most well known ankylosaurines, along with Pinacosaurus. Elements from the specimens consists of various bones from the body; five skulls have been discovered and assigned to the genus, although the first two were very fragmented.

<i>Graciliceratops</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Graciliceratops is a genus of neoceratopsian dinosaurs that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous period.

<i>Yamaceratops</i> Extinct genus of ceratopsian dinosaur

Yamaceratops is a genus of primitive ceratopsian that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous period in what is now the Javkhlant Formation. Initially, the rocks where it was found in were thought to be from the Early Cretaceous, but the age was reevaluated in 2009. It was a relatively small dinosaur, reaching 50 cm (1.6 ft) in length and 2 kg (4.4 lb) in body mass.

<i>Zhuchengceratops</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

Zhuchengceratops is a genus of extinct leptoceratopsid ceratopsian that lived during the Upper Cretaceous of modern-day China. It was first described in 2010, by Xu et al., who created the binomial Zhuchengceratops inexpectus. The name is derived from the location of Zhucheng, the Latinized-Greek ceratops, or "horned face", and the unexpected articulated nature of the holotype. The skeleton was found in the Wangshi Group, which is of Late Cretaceous age, and most fossils are only disarticulated bones of Shantungosaurus.

<i>Xenoceratops</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Xenoceratops is a genus of centrosaurine ceratopsid dinosaur known from the Late Cretaceous, and is known to have lived in what is currently Alberta, Canada. The genus has one known species, Xenoceratops foremostensis. Its remains were discovered in the Foremost Formation.

<i>Aquilops</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Aquilops is an early herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaur dating from the Early Cretaceous of North America, approximately 109 million to 104 million years ago. The type species is A. americanus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of ceratopsian research</span>

This timeline of ceratopsian research is a chronological listing of events in the history of paleontology focused on the ceratopsians, a group of herbivorous marginocephalian dinosaurs that evolved parrot-like beaks, bony frills, and, later, spectacular horns. The first scientifically documented ceratopsian fossils were described by Edward Drinker Cope starting in the 1870s; however, the remains were poorly preserved and their true nature was not recognized. Over the next several decades, Cope named several such genera and species. Cope's hated rival, Othniel Charles Marsh, also described ceratopsian remains. In 1887, Marsh mistook a Triceratops horn for one belonging to a new species of prehistoric Bison. Marsh also named the eponymous genus Ceratops in 1888. The next year, he named the most famous ceratopsian, Triceratops horridus. It was the discovery of Triceratops that illuminated the ceratopsian body plan, and he formally named the Ceratopsia in 1890.

<i>Mosaiceratops</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

Mosaiceratops is a genus of ceratopsian, described by Zheng, Jin & Xu in 2015 and found in the Xiaguan Formation of Neixiang County. Mosaiceratops lived in the upper Cretaceous in what is now the Henan Province of China.

The Ulaanoosh Formation, formerly Baruunbayan Formation, is a geologic formation in the Ömnögovi Province of southern Mongolia. The formation dates to the Albian to Cenomanian stages of the Cretaceous. The Ulaanoosh Formation has provided fossils of dinosaurs, turtles and dinosaur eggs assigned to Parafaveoloolithus sp.. In 2020, the neoceratopsian Beg tse was described from the alluvial sandstones, mudstones and conglomerates of the formation.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Yu, Congyu; Prieto-Marquez, Albert; Chinzorig, Tsogtbaatar; Badamkhatan, Zorigt; Norell, Mark (2020-09-10). "A neoceratopsian dinosaur from the early Cretaceous of Mongolia and the early evolution of ceratopsia". Communications Biology. 3 (1): 499. doi: 10.1038/s42003-020-01222-7 . ISSN   2399-3642. PMC   7484756 . PMID   32913206.