Harpymimus Temporal range: Mid-Late Albian | |
---|---|
Holotype specimen | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | Saurischia |
Clade: | Theropoda |
Clade: | † Ornithomimosauria |
Family: | † Harpymimidae Barsbold & Perle, 1984 |
Genus: | † Harpymimus Barsbold & Perle, 1984 |
Species: | †H. okladnikovi |
Binomial name | |
†Harpymimus okladnikovi Barsbold & Perle, 1984 | |
Harpymimus is a basal ornithomimosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period of what is now Mongolia. Unlike later, more derived ornithomimosaurs, Harpymimus still possessed teeth, although they appear to have been restricted to the dentary of the lower jaw.
In 1981, a Soviet-Mongolian expedition uncovered a theropod skeleton in the Gobi Desert. In 1984 this was named and shortly described by Rinchen Barsbold and Altangerel Perle as the type and only species of the new genus Harpymimus: Harpymimus okladnikovi. The generic name Harpymimus is a reference to the fearsome Harpy of Greek mythology and derived from Greek ἅρπυια (harpyia), "Harpy", and μῖμος (mimos), "mimic". The specific name honours the late Soviet archeologist Alexey Pavlovich Okladnikov. [1]
The holotype specimen IGM 100/29 (Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Ulan Bator, Mongolia) consists of an almost complete and articulated but compressed skeleton, lacking only portions of the pectoral girdle, pelvic girdle, and hindlimbs. It was recovered in the Dundgovi Aimag (Eastern Gobi Province), from an exposure of the Shinekhudag Formation now part of the Khuren Dukh Formation which dates to the Mid-Late Albian [1] [2] Other dinosaurs collected from the Shinekhudug Formation in Dundgovi include the ceratopsian Psittacosaurus mongoliensis .
Harpymimus was for the first time extensively described in a dissertation by Yoshitsugu Kobayashi in 2004. [3] In a 2005 article, Kobayashi and Barsbold diagnosed Harpymimus based on a number of anatomical characteristics, including eleven teeth in the front of the lower jaw (dentary), the transition between anterior and posterior tail vertebrae taking place at the eighteenth caudal, a triangular-shaped depression above the dorsal surface of a ridge on the shoulder blade (scapula) above the shoulder joint, a low ridge above a distinctive depression along back edge of the shoulder blade, and a small but deep collateral ligament fossa on the lateral condyle of metacarpal III (a hand bone). [4]
The skull of the type specimen of Harpymimus is virtually complete, but badly crushed, obscuring some anatomical detail. There is evidence of a beak covering the upper jaw which, in concert with the dentary teeth, was likely employed for grasping and holding food. Its general appearance was much like that of later ornithomimosaurs (long-necked, long arms with sharp grasping claws, and long legs). The teeth of Harpymimus differ from those of another basal ornithomimosaur, Pelecanimimus polyodon , in that they are restricted to the dentary, are cylindrical and separated by interdental plates, and number at least ten and perhaps eleven per side. Pelecanimimus possessed per side seventy-five dentary teeth in the lower jaw, as well as an additional thirty-seven teeth in the upper jaw (maxilla and premaxilla). The small teeth of Harpymimus were probably used only for grabbing and holding food items, unlike those of many other theropods, which were adapted to cutting or piercing prey. Of all the known ornithomimosaurs, only Harpymimus and Pelecanimimus retained teeth, a trait which is primitive (plesiomorphic) for the clade Ornithomimosauria. Other basal traits are the very short first metacarpal in the hand and a third metatarsal that, though pinched at the top, is at that point not excluded form the front surface of the metatarsus, so that the foot is not arctometatarsalian. [4]
The length of the skull is approximately 262 mm, more than twice its approximate height and less than half the length of the neck (approximately 600 mm). [4] It is estimated to have weighed over 146.5 kilograms (323 lb). [5]
Harpymimus was originally assigned to the Harpymimidae. [1] In their 2005 paper, Kobayashi and Barsbold also conducted a detailed cladistic analysis of Harpymimus and determined that Harpymimus is basal to the clade of Garudimimus brevipes plus Ornithomimidae, yet is more derived than Pelecanimimus polyodon. According to these researchers, the conclusions of the analysis supported the model that ornithomimosaurs originated in either eastern Asia or in Europe prior to the Barremian stage of the Early Cretaceous (130-125 million years ago), then migrated to North America during or at some time before the Late Cretaceous. [4]
In the description of Paraxenisaurus from Serrano-Brañas et al. (2020), their phylogenetic analysis recovered Harpymimus to be a basal deinocheirid. [6]
Segnosaurus is a genus of therizinosaurid dinosaur that lived in what is now southeastern Mongolia during the Late Cretaceous, about 102–86 million years ago. Multiple incomplete but well-preserved specimens were discovered in the Gobi Desert in the 1970s, and in 1979 the genus and species Segnosaurus galbinensis were named. The generic name Segnosaurus means "slow lizard" and the specific name galbinensis refers to the Galbin region. The known material of this dinosaur includes the lower jaw, neck and tail vertebrae, the pelvis, shoulder girdle, and limb bones. Parts of the specimens have gone missing or become damaged since they were collected.
Therizinosaurus is a genus of very large therizinosaurid that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous period in what is now the Nemegt Formation around 72.1 million years ago to 66 million years ago. It contains a single species, Therizinosaurus cheloniformis. The first remains of Therizinosaurus were found in 1948 by a Mongolian field expedition at the Gobi Desert and later described by Evgeny Maleev in 1954. The genus is only known from a few bones, including gigantic manual unguals, from which it gets its name, and additional findings comprising fore and hindlimb elements that were discovered from the 1960s through the 1980s.
Anserimimus is a genus of ornithomimid theropod dinosaur, from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now Mongolia. It was a lanky, fast-running animal, possibly an omnivore. From what fossils are known, it probably closely resembled other ornithomimids, except for its more powerful forelimbs.
Ornithomimosauria are theropod dinosaurs which bore a superficial resemblance to the modern-day ostrich. They were fast, omnivorous or herbivorous dinosaurs from the Cretaceous Period of Laurasia, as well as Africa and possibly Australia. The group first appeared in the Early Cretaceous and persisted until the Late Cretaceous. Primitive members of the group include Nqwebasaurus, Pelecanimimus, Shenzhousaurus, Hexing and Deinocheirus, the arms of which reached 2.4 m (8 feet) in length. More advanced species, members of the family Ornithomimidae, include Gallimimus, Struthiomimus, and Ornithomimus. Some paleontologists, like Paul Sereno, consider the enigmatic alvarezsaurids to be close relatives of the ornithomimosaurs and place them together in the superfamily Ornithomimoidea.
Deinocheirus is a genus of large ornithomimosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous around 70 million years ago. In 1965, a pair of large arms, shoulder girdles, and a few other bones of a new dinosaur were first discovered in the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia. In 1970, this specimen became the holotype of the only species within the genus, Deinocheirus mirificus; the genus name is Greek for "horrible hand". No further remains were discovered for almost fifty years, and its nature remained a mystery. Two more complete specimens were described in 2014, which shed light on many aspects of the animal. Parts of these new specimens had been looted from Mongolia some years before, but were repatriated in 2014.
Garudimimus is a genus of ornithomimosaur that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous. The genus is known from a single specimen found in 1981 by a Soviet-Mongolian paleontological expedition in the Bayan Shireh Formation and formally described in the same year by Rinchen Barsbold; the only species is Garudimimus brevipes. Several interpretations about the anatomical traits of Garudimimus were made in posterior examinations of the specimen, but most of them were criticized during its comprehensive redescription in 2005. Extensive undescribed ornithomimosaur remains at the type locality of Garudimimus may represent additional specimens of the genus.
Pelecanimimus is an extinct genus of basal ("primitive") ornithomimosaurian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Spain. It is notable for possessing more teeth than any other member of the Ornithomimosauria, most of which were toothless.
Shenzhousaurus is a genus of basal ornithomimosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China.
Erlikosaurus is a genus of therizinosaurid that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous period. The fossils, a skull and some post-cranial fragments, were found in the Bayan Shireh Formation of Mongolia in 1972, dating to around 96 million and 89 million years ago. These remains were later described by Altangerel Perle and Rinchen Barsbold in 1980, naming the new genus and species Erlikosaurus andrewsi. It represents the second therizinosaur taxon from this formation with the most complete skull among members of this peculiar family of dinosaurs.
Kinnareemimus is an extinct genus of ornithomimosaurian theropod dinosaur that was discovered in the Early Cretaceous Sao Khua Formation in what is now Thailand. The genus contains only the type species, K. khonkaenensis. The specific epithet is after Khon Kaen Province, which is in northeastern Thailand, where the remains of the animal were dicovered.
Deinocheiridae is an extinct family of ornithomimosaurian dinosaurs, living in Asia and the Americas from the Albian until the Maastrichtian. The family was originally named by Halszka Osmólska and Roniewicz in 1970, including only the type genus Deinocheirus. In a 2014 study by Yuong-Nam Lee and colleagues and published in the journal Nature, it was found that Deinocheiridae was a valid family. Lee et al. found that based on a new phylogenetic analysis including the recently discovered complete skeletons of Deinocheirus, the type genus, as well as Garudimimus and Beishanlong, could be placed as a successive group, with Beishanlong as the most primitive and Deinocheirus as most derived. The family Garudimimidae, named in 1981 by Rinchen Barsbold, is now a junior synonym of Deinocheiridae as the latter family includes the type genus of the former. The group existed from 115 to 69 million years ago, with Beishanlong living from 115 to 100 mya, Garudimimus living from 98 to 83 mya, and Deinocheirus living from 71 to 69 mya. Other genera included are Paraxenisaurus, and possibly Harpymimus and Hexing.
Minotaurasaurus is a monospecific genus of ankylosaurid dinosaur that lived in Mongolia during the Late Cretaceous in what is now the Djadochta Formation. The type and only species, Minotaurasaurus ramachandrani, is known from two skulls, a cervical vertebra and a cervical half ring. It was named and described in 2009 by Clifford Miles and Clark Miles. The first fossils of Minotaurasaurus were illegally exported out of Mongolia.It has been suggested to be a synonym of Tarchia but more recent publications consider it as a distinct genus.
Beishanlong is a genus of giant ornithomimosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of China. It is the second-largest ornithomimosaur discovered, only surpassed by Deinocheirus.
Tchoiria () is a genus of neochoristoderan reptile from the Early Cretaceous of Mongolia. The name Tchoiria comes from the city of Choir which is nearby to where the holotype was found. Tchoiria is thought to have a similar diet to another neochoristoderan reptile, Champsosaurus, due to morphology of the skull. It would hunt in freshwater environments, like the living gharials, where it would prey on many different types of fish and turtles.
Hexing is an extinct genus of basal ornithomimosaur dinosaur known from the Early Cretaceous of northeastern China. It contains a single species, Hexing qingyi.
This timeline of ornithomimosaur research is a chronological listing of events in the history of paleontology focused on the ornithomimosaurs, a group of bird-like theropods popularly known as the ostrich dinosaurs. Although fragmentary, probable, ornithomimosaur fossils had been described as far back as the 1860s, the first ornithomimosaur to be recognized as belonging to a new family distinct from other theropods was Ornithomimus velox, described by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1890. Thus the ornithomimid ornithomimosaurs were one of the first major Mesozoic theropod groups to be recognized in the fossil record. The description of a second ornithomimosaur genus did not happen until nearly 30 years later, when Henry Fairfield Osborn described Struthiomimus in 1917. Later in the 20th century, significant ornithomimosaur discoveries began occurring in Asia. The first was a bonebed of "Ornithomimus" asiaticus found at Iren Debasu. More Asian discoveries took place even later in the 20th century, including the disembodied arms of Deinocheirus mirificus and the new genus Gallimimus bullatus. The formal naming of the Ornithomimosauria itself was performed by Rinchen Barsbold in 1976.
Tsagandelta is a genus of deltatheroidean therian mammal that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous. Distantly related to modern marsupials, it is part of Deltatheroida, a lineage of carnivorous metatherians common in the Cretaceous of Asia and among the most successful non-theropod carnivores of the region. It represents the first known mammal from the Bayan Shireh Formation.
Aepyornithomimus is a genus of ornithomimid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Djadokhta Formation in Mongolia. It lived in the Campanian, around 75 million years ago, when the area is thought to have been a desert. The type and only species is A. tugrikinensis.
Paraxenisaurus is an extinct genus of ornithomimosaurian theropod from the Late Cretaceous Cerro del Pueblo Formation of Coahuila in Mexico. The genus contains a single species, P. normalensis, which is known from a few bones of tail, hips, hands, and feet. The specific epithet was given in honor of the Benemérita Normal School of Coahuila, a teacher training institution, where the fossils were reposited. It is a member of the family Deinocheiridae and is the only member of that clade known from Laramidia.
Natovenator is a genus of halszkaraptorine dromaeosaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Barun Goyot Formation of Mongolia. The genus is known from a single species, N. polydontus. Natovenator is crucial to the understanding of halszkaraptorines due to it providing more support for the semi-aquatic lifestyle that has been proposed for this clade. This discovery is important as the semi-aquatic lifestyles of halszkaraptorines was contested in early 2022.