Beishanlong

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Beishanlong
Temporal range: Late Aptian, 123–113 
Ma
Restored skeleton of Beishanlong and Xiongguanlong
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Clade: †Ornithomimosauria
Family: †Deinocheiridae
Genus: †Beishanlong
Makovicky et al., 2010
Species:
†B. grandis
Binomial name
†Beishanlong grandis
Makovicky et al., 2010

Beishanlong is a

theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of China. It is the second-largest ornithomimosaur discovered, only surpassed by Deinocheirus
.

Discovery and naming

Restoration

Three fossils of Beishanlong were in the early twenty-first century found in northwestern China at the White Ghost Castle site, in the province of

Gregory Erickson and Mark Norrell. The generic name combines a references to the Bei Shan, the "North Mountains", with a Chinese long, "dragon". The specific name means "large" in Latin, in reference to the body size.[1]

Beishanlong lived in the late Aptian

Xinminpu Group, in the Xiagou Formation. The holotype is FRDC-GS GJ (06) 01-18, found in 2006, consisting of a partial skeleton lacking the skull.[1] The paratypes consist of two specimens found in 2007: one consisting of remains of hindlimbs, the other, FRDC-GS JB(07)01-01, being a pair of pubes. A fourth fossil found in 1999, IVPP V12756 consisting of foot bones, was tentatively referred to the species.[1]

Description

Size comparison

Beishanlong is of a considerable size, approximating the largest-known individuals of Gallimimus, which have been estimated to reach eight metres. According to the description, Beishanlong "is one of the largest definitive ornithomimosaurs yet described, though histological analysis shows that the holotype individual was still growing at its death." A histological study of the bone structure of the fibula found thirteen or fourteen growth lines, indicating the individual was subadult, though growth had already slowed.[1] The size of this subadult individual is estimated at 5.9–7 m (19–23 ft) in length and 375–626 kilograms (827–1,380 lb) in body mass.[3][1][4][5]

The build of Beishanlong was rather robust. The arms and legs were long, though lacking the extremely elongated hands, feet and claws of later forms.[1]

Classification

Beishanlong was by the describers assigned to the Ornithomimosauria, in a more basal position. Beishanlong was closely related to fellow ornithomimosaurian Harpymimus. Together they formed a polytomy with the main ornithomimosaurian branch just below Garudimimus.[1] In 2014 Yuong-Nam Lee et al. recovered Beishanlong as a member of Deinocheiridae basal to a clade containing Garudimimus and Deinocheirus.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^
    PMID 19386658
    .
  2. S2CID 202865132
    .
  3. ^ Paul, G.S., 2010, The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs, Princeton University Press p. 112
  4. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2020.102610
    .
  5. PMC 9581415
    .
  6. doi:10.1038/nature13874
    .

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Beishanlong&oldid=1205901371"