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A partial oviraptorosaur skeleton suggests low caenagnathid diversity in the Late Cretaceous Nemegt Formation of Mongolia

The Nemegt Formation of the Gobi Desert of Mongolia has produced one of the most abundant and diverse oviraptorosaur records globally. However, the caenagnathid component of this fauna remains poorly known. Two caenagnathid taxa are currently recognized from the Nemegt Formation: Elmisaurus rarus an...

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Autores principales: Funston, Gregory F., Currie, Philip J., Tsogtbaatar, Chinzorig, Khishigjav, Tsogtbaatar
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8274908/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34252154
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254564
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author Funston, Gregory F.
Currie, Philip J.
Tsogtbaatar, Chinzorig
Khishigjav, Tsogtbaatar
author_facet Funston, Gregory F.
Currie, Philip J.
Tsogtbaatar, Chinzorig
Khishigjav, Tsogtbaatar
author_sort Funston, Gregory F.
collection PubMed
description The Nemegt Formation of the Gobi Desert of Mongolia has produced one of the most abundant and diverse oviraptorosaur records globally. However, the caenagnathid component of this fauna remains poorly known. Two caenagnathid taxa are currently recognized from the Nemegt Formation: Elmisaurus rarus and Nomingia gobiensis. Because these taxa are known from mostly non-overlapping material, there are concerns that they could represent the same animal. A partial, weathered caenagnathid skeleton discovered adjacent to the holotype quarry of Nomingia gobiensis is referable to Elmisaurus rarus, revealing more of the morphology of the cranium, mandible, pectoral girdle, and pubis. Despite metatarsals clearly exhibiting autapomorphies of Elmisaurus rarus, overlapping elements are identical to those of Nomingia gobiensis, and add to a growing body of evidence that these taxa represent a single morphotype. In the absence of any positive evidence for two caenagnathid taxa in the Nemegt Formation, Nomingia gobiensis is best regarded as a junior synonym of Elmisaurus rarus. Low caenagnathid diversity in the Nemegt Formation may reflect broader coexistence patterns with other oviraptorosaur families, particularly oviraptorids. In contrast to North America, competition with the exceptionally diverse oviraptorids may have restricted caenagnathids to marginal roles in Late Cretaceous Asian ecosystems.
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spelling pubmed-82749082021-07-27 A partial oviraptorosaur skeleton suggests low caenagnathid diversity in the Late Cretaceous Nemegt Formation of Mongolia Funston, Gregory F. Currie, Philip J. Tsogtbaatar, Chinzorig Khishigjav, Tsogtbaatar PLoS One Research Article The Nemegt Formation of the Gobi Desert of Mongolia has produced one of the most abundant and diverse oviraptorosaur records globally. However, the caenagnathid component of this fauna remains poorly known. Two caenagnathid taxa are currently recognized from the Nemegt Formation: Elmisaurus rarus and Nomingia gobiensis. Because these taxa are known from mostly non-overlapping material, there are concerns that they could represent the same animal. A partial, weathered caenagnathid skeleton discovered adjacent to the holotype quarry of Nomingia gobiensis is referable to Elmisaurus rarus, revealing more of the morphology of the cranium, mandible, pectoral girdle, and pubis. Despite metatarsals clearly exhibiting autapomorphies of Elmisaurus rarus, overlapping elements are identical to those of Nomingia gobiensis, and add to a growing body of evidence that these taxa represent a single morphotype. In the absence of any positive evidence for two caenagnathid taxa in the Nemegt Formation, Nomingia gobiensis is best regarded as a junior synonym of Elmisaurus rarus. Low caenagnathid diversity in the Nemegt Formation may reflect broader coexistence patterns with other oviraptorosaur families, particularly oviraptorids. In contrast to North America, competition with the exceptionally diverse oviraptorids may have restricted caenagnathids to marginal roles in Late Cretaceous Asian ecosystems. Public Library of Science 2021-07-12 /pmc/articles/PMC8274908/ /pubmed/34252154 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254564 Text en © 2021 Funston et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Funston, Gregory F.
Currie, Philip J.
Tsogtbaatar, Chinzorig
Khishigjav, Tsogtbaatar
A partial oviraptorosaur skeleton suggests low caenagnathid diversity in the Late Cretaceous Nemegt Formation of Mongolia
title A partial oviraptorosaur skeleton suggests low caenagnathid diversity in the Late Cretaceous Nemegt Formation of Mongolia
title_full A partial oviraptorosaur skeleton suggests low caenagnathid diversity in the Late Cretaceous Nemegt Formation of Mongolia
title_fullStr A partial oviraptorosaur skeleton suggests low caenagnathid diversity in the Late Cretaceous Nemegt Formation of Mongolia
title_full_unstemmed A partial oviraptorosaur skeleton suggests low caenagnathid diversity in the Late Cretaceous Nemegt Formation of Mongolia
title_short A partial oviraptorosaur skeleton suggests low caenagnathid diversity in the Late Cretaceous Nemegt Formation of Mongolia
title_sort partial oviraptorosaur skeleton suggests low caenagnathid diversity in the late cretaceous nemegt formation of mongolia
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8274908/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34252154
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254564
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