Lü Junchang, Chen Rongjun, Brusatte Stephen L, Zhu Yangxiao, Shen Caizhi
Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037, China.
Dongyang Museum, Dongyang City 322100, Zhejiang Province, China.
Sci Rep. 2016 Nov 10;6:35780. doi: 10.1038/srep35780.
Oviraptorosaurs are a bizarre group of bird-like theropod dinosaurs, the derived forms of which have shortened, toothless skulls, and which diverged from close relatives by developing peculiar feeding adaptations. Although once among the most mysterious of dinosaurs, oviraptorosaurs are becoming better understood with the discovery of many new fossils in Asia and North America. The Ganzhou area of southern China is emerging as a hotspot of oviraptorosaur discoveries, as over the past half decade five new monotypic genera have been found in the latest Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) deposits of this region. We here report a sixth diagnostic oviraptorosaur from Ganzhou, Tongtianlong limosus gen. et sp. nov., represented by a remarkably well-preserved specimen in an unusual splayed-limb and raised-head posture. Tongtianlong is a derived oviraptorid oviraptorosaur, differentiated from other species by its unique dome-like skull roof, highly convex premaxilla, and other features of the skull. The large number of oviraptorosaurs from Ganzhou, which often differ in cranial morphologies related to feeding, document an evolutionary radiation of these dinosaurs during the very latest Cretaceous of Asia, which helped establish one of the last diverse dinosaur faunas before the end-Cretaceous extinction.
窃蛋龙类是一类奇特的似鸟兽脚亚目恐龙,其衍生形态具有短而无齿的头骨,并且通过发展出独特的进食适应性特征与近亲分道扬镳。尽管窃蛋龙类曾经是最神秘的恐龙之一,但随着亚洲和北美的许多新化石被发现,人们对它们的了解越来越多。中国南方的赣州地区正成为窃蛋龙类化石发现的热点地区,在过去的五年里,该地区最新白垩纪(马斯特里赫特阶)地层中发现了五个新的单型属。我们在此报告来自赣州地区的第六种可鉴别窃蛋龙类——泥潭通天龙(Tongtianlong limosus),属名及种名均为新拟,其标本保存异常完好,呈四肢张开、头部抬起的独特姿势。通天龙是一种衍生的窃蛋龙科窃蛋龙类,因其独特的圆顶状颅顶、高度凸起的前上颌骨以及头骨的其他特征而与其他物种相区分。赣州地区发现的大量窃蛋龙类,其头骨形态往往因进食方式不同而存在差异,这记录了这些恐龙在亚洲白垩纪最晚期的一次进化辐射,这一辐射在白垩纪末大灭绝之前形成了最后一批丰富多样的恐龙动物群之一。