” Oviraptorosauria is a group of specialized pennaraptoran theropods understood mostly from a plentiful Asian and North American Cretaceous fossil record,”stated Dr. Xing Xu, a paleontologist from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology at Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Centre for Vertebrate Evolutionary Biology at Yunnan University, and associates.

“In current years, a series of brand-new discoveries have actually enhanced our understanding of their variety, habits, ontogeny and reproductive biology.”

“With over 40 genera called, undeniable oviraptorosaurs consist of the earliest-diverging types such as Incisivosaurus and Caudipterygidae from northeastern China, and extremely specialized edentulous types such as Avimimus from the Gobi Desert, Oviraptoridae from eastern Asia and Caenagnathidae from Asia and North America, with a lot of understood types being from the Late Cretaceous.”

The brand-new oviraptorosaur types resided in what is now China throughout the Early Cretaceous, some 110 million years earlier.

Called Yuanyanglong bainianit shows a distinct mix of morphological functions identifying it from all formerly understood oviraptorosaurs.

Yuanyanglong bainian can be recognized as an oviraptorosaur based upon the brief and deep skull in addition to numerous pelvic characters (i.e. a midway-placed triangular obturator procedure on the ischium and an almost ventrally-directed long pubis),” the paleontologists stated.

“Among oviraptorosaurs, nevertheless, Yuanyanglong bainian programs distinct mix of functions not shared by formerly understood clades, such as the connected posterior procedure of the pubic boot which is longer than the rounded anterior procedure.”

2 articulated skeletons of Yuanyanglong bainianconsisting of a partial skull and some postcranial bones, were gathered in the summer season of 2021 from the Maortu area of the Miaogou Formation in Chilantai, western Inner Mongolia, China.

The discovery provides the very first Early Cretaceous oviraptorosaur record near the Gobi Desert, and offers extra insights into the biology and ecology of early-diverging oviraptorosaurs.

“This brand-new types is intermediate in morphology in between the earliest-diverging and late-diverging oviraptorosaurs, and our phylogenetic analysis supports it as a sibling taxon to the clade formed by Avimimidae and Caenagathoidea,” the scientists stated.

“Notably, this brand-new early-diverging oviraptorosaur has an ilium with an incredibly brief postacetabular procedure and hindlimbs with proportionally lengthen and merged lower sections, a character mix unidentified to name a few oviraptorosaurs however typical in wading birds, recommending a prospective ecology including wading.”

“Preserved gastroliths comparable to Caudipteryx recommend a stomach mill function in our brand-new types, and our initial observations suggest possible disparities in the food digestion mode of early- and late-diverging oviraptorosaurs.”

The group’s findings were released in the journal Cretaceous Research

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Mingze Hao et alA brand-new oviraptorosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Miaogou Formation of western Inner Mongolia, China. Cretaceous Researchreleased online October 24, 2024; doi: 10.1016/ j.cretres.2024.106023