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A giant dromaeosaurid theropod from the Upper Cretaceous (Turonian) Bissekty Formation of Uzbekistan and the status of Ulughbegsaurus uzbekistanensis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2022

Hans-Dieter Sues Open the ORCID record for Hans-Dieter Sues [Opens in a new window] ,
Alexander Averianov Open the ORCID record for Alexander Averianov [Opens in a new window]  and
Brooks B. Britt Open the ORCID record for Brooks B. Britt [Opens in a new window]
Hans-Dieter Sues*
Affiliation:
Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, MRC 121, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA
Alexander Averianov
Affiliation:
Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya Emb. 1, 199034 St Petersburg, Russia
Brooks B. Britt
Affiliation:
Museum of Paleontology, Department of Geological Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
*
Author for correspondence: Hans-Dieter Sues, Email: suesh@si.edu
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Abstract

The Upper Cretaceous (Turonian) Bissekty Formation of Uzbekistan has yielded many isolated bones and teeth representing a variety of non-avian theropod dinosaurs. A pedal phalanx II-2 indicates the presence of a dromaeosaurid theropod that attained a larger body size than any previously known member of that clade. The same formation also yielded a large maxillary fragment that has recently been described as a neovenatorid carcharodontosaurian (Ulughbegsaurus uzbekistanensis). However, this specimen lacks unambiguously diagnostic features of that clade, and its purported carcharodontosaurian characters are either taphonomic artefacts or also shared by dromaeosaurids. Thus, the phylogenetic relationships of Uleghbegsaurus uzbekistanensis remain uncertain. A giant dromaeosaurid occurred together with the medium-sized tyrannosauroid Timurlengia euotica in the Bissekty assemblage.

Keywords

DinosauriaTheropodaDromaeosauridaeUpper CretaceousUzbekistan
Type
Original Article
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 160 , Issue 2 , February 2023 , pp. 355 - 360
Creative Commons
To the extent this is a work of the US Government, it is not subject to copyright protection within the United States. Published by Cambridge University Press.
Copyright
© Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, U.S.A., Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, U.S.A., and Russian Academy of Sciences, 2022

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