- Arstanosaurus
Taxobox
name = "Arstanosaurus"
image_width = 201px
image_caption = Skull of "Arstanosaurus".
fossil_range =Late Cretaceous
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis =Sauropsid a
superordo =Dinosaur ia
ordo =Ornithischia
familia =Hadrosauridae
genus = "Arstanosaurus"
genus_authority = Suslov and Shilin, 1982
binomial = "Arstanosaurus akkurganensis"
binomial_authority = Suslov and Shilin, 1982"Arstanosaurus" (meaning "Arstan lizard") was a
genus ofhadrosaurid dinosaur from theSantonian -Campanian -ageUpper Cretaceous Bostobinskaya Formation,Kazakhstan . It has had a confusing history, being considered both a hadrosaurid and aceratopsid , or both at the same time (chimeric).History
The genus was based on a
maxilla (AAIZ 1/1), with afemur possibly referable.Shilin, F.V., and Suslov, Y.V. (1982). A hadrosaur from the northeastern Aral Region. "Paleontological Journal" 1982(1):132-136 [translated version] .] This is not much material for naming a new genus, and it was largely ignored until the mid 1990s, when the hypothesis that it was really a ceratopsid appeared.Nessov, L.A. (1995). "Dinozavri severnoi Yevrasii: Novye dannye o sostave kompleksov, ekologii i paleobiogeografii" ["Dinosaurs of Northern Eurasia: new data about assemblages, ecology and paleobiogeography"] . "Scientific Research Institute of the Earth's Crust". St. Petersburg State University:St. Petersburg, Russia, 156 pp. + 14 pl. [Russian] .] Shortly thereafter, a new revision appeared that showed that the characteristics listed as unusual for "Arstanosaurus" were really based on perspective, and that the maxilla was from an animal like "Bactrosaurus ", albeit indeterminate (a dubious name). The femur was uninformative.Norman, D.B., and Kurzanov, S.M. (1982). On Asian ornithopods (Dinosauria: Ornithischia). 2. "Arstanaosaurus akkurganensis" Shilin and Suslov, 1982. "Proceedings of Geologists' Association" 108(3):191-199.] It was regarded as an indeterminate hadrosaurid in the most recent review.Horner, J.R., Weishampel, D.B., and Forster, C.A. (2004). Hadrosauridae. In: Weishampel, D.B., Dodson, P., and Osmólska, H. (eds.). "The Dinosauria" (second edition). University of California Press:Berkeley, 438-463. ISBN 0-520-06727-4.]A juvenile skull from
Mongolia has been attributed to "Arstanosaurus", but on what grounds is unknown. It is under study.Norman, D.B., and Sues, H.-D. (2000). Ornithopods from Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Siberia. In: Benton, M.J., Shishkin, M.A., Unwin, D.M., and Kurochkin, E.N. (Eds.). "The Age of Dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia." Cambridge University Press:Cambridge, 462-479. ISBN 0-521-55476-4.]Paleobiology
As a hadrosaurid, "Arstanosaurus" would have been a
biped al/quadrupedal herbivore , eating plants with sets of ever-replacing teeth stacked on each other.References
External links
* [http://www.dinoruss.com/de_4/5a7f0aa.htm "Arstanosaurus" in The Dinosaur Encyclopaedia] at Dino Russ's Lair
* [http://www.gondwanastudios.com/info/arst.htm Arstanosaurus, Gondwana Studios]
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