Bagaraatan

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Bagaraatan
Temporal range:
Ma
↓
Lower jaw bones
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Clade: †
Pantyrannosauria
Genus: †Bagaraatan
Osmólska, 1996
Type species
†Bagaraatan ostromi
Osmólska, 1996

Bagaraatan (/'ba-ɣa-raa-tan/ meaning 'small' baɣa + 'carnivorous animal, beast of prey' araatan in Mongolian) is a

theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period. Its fossils were found in the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia
. Bagaraatan may have been around 3 to 4 metres (9.8 to 13 ft) in length.

History

1996 skeletal diagram showing holotype and assigned elements that are now known to belong to a different species

The type species, B. ostromi, was described by Halszka Osmólska in 1996. Initially, the post-cranial (ZPAL MgD-I/108) skeleton had been described as "bird-like", while the skull was noted to exhibit features of several different theropod groups.

The material that warranted this conclusion was later found to be a chimaera of two non-avian dinosaurs, with some of the post-crania (hand bones, left femur, tibiotarsus, and rib) being referred to an indeterminate

tyrannosaurid. Similarities between the material and young specimens of Tyrannosaurus and Tarbosaurus indicate that the holotype represents a juvenile tyrannosaurid, one of the smallest currently known.[1]

Classification

Size compared to a human

troodontid, and Rauhut placed it in Maniraptora.[2] Mark Loewen et al. placed it in basal Tyrannosauroidea, agreeing with the placement by Holtz.[3]

Below is the cladogram by Loewen et al. in 2013.[3]

Tyrannosauroidea

In their 2024 reassessment of Bagaraatan, Słowiak,

phylogenetic analysis, Bagaraatan was recovered in a polytomy with derived tyrannosauroids within the Tyrannosauridae. However, they caution that its exact phylogenetic position remains uncertain since juvenile specimens tend to be recovered in more basal positions than adults of the same species. Their results are shown in the cladogram below:[1]

References

  1. ^
    ISSN 0024-4082
    .
  2. ^ O. W. M. Rauhut (2003). The interrelationships and evolution of basal theropod dinosaurs. Special Papers in Palaeontology 69: 1-213.
  3. ^
    PMID 24223179
    .

Sources

External links

Media related to Bagaraatan at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Bagaraatan at Wikispecies

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