Arkharavia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Arkharavia
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 66 Ma
PreꞒ
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Sauropodomorpha
Clade: Sauropoda
Clade: Macronaria
Clade: Titanosauriformes
Clade: Somphospondyli
Genus: Arkharavia
Alifanov & Bolotsky, 2010
Type species
Arkharavia heterocoelica
Alifanov & Bolotsky, 2010

Arkharavia (meaning "Arkhara road") is a dubious genus of somphospondylan sauropod, but at least some of the remains probably belong to a hadrosaurid.[1] It lived in what is now Russia, during the Late Cretaceous. It was described in 2010 by Alifanov and Bolotsky. The type species is A. heterocoelica.

Description[]

The holotype material consists of a single anterior caudal vertebra. Also, a tooth and a few proximal tail vertebrae (from near the base of the tail) were originally described as belonging to this species, but these probably belong to an indeterminate hadrosaur.[1][2] The vertebrae are unusual in being weakly heterocoelous,[3] which means that the centrum or body of a vertebra has saddle-shaped surfaces where it meets the vertebrae in front or behind it.

Classification[]

Arkharavia was originally classified as a titanosauriform sauropod, thought to be related to Chubutisaurus, a sauropod from the Cretaceous of Argentina.[3] However, further study showed that the referred vertebra in fact belonged to a hadrosaurid.[2] The holotype vertebra is currently considered an indeterminate somphospondylan.[1]

Contemporaries[]

Arkharavia lived in the Amur Region, which was a 'hot spot' for dinosaurs in Russia. Other dinosaurs from the area include the lambeosaurines (hollow-crested duckbills) Amurosaurus, Olorotitan, and Charonosaurus, and the saurolophine (duckbills without hollow crests) Kerberosaurus and Wulagasaurus.[3]

See also[]

  • 2010 in paleontology

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Mannion, Philip D.; Upchurch, Paul; Barnes, Rosie N.; Mateus, Octávio (2013). "Osteology of the Late Jurassic Portuguese sauropod dinosaur Lusotitan atalaiensis (Macronaria) and the evolutionary history of basal titanosauriforms" (PDF). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 168: 98–206. doi:10.1111/zoj.12029.
  2. ^ a b Godefroit, P.; Bolotsky, Y.L. & Bolotsky, I.Y. (2011). "Osteology and relationships of Olorotitan arharensis, a hollowcrested hadrosaurid dinosaur from the latest Cretaceous of Far Eastern Russia". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 57 (3): 527. doi:10.4202/app.2011.0051.
  3. ^ a b c Alifanov, V. R.; Bolotsky, Y. L. (2010). "Arkharavia heterocoelica gen. et sp. nov., a new sauropod dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of the Far East of Russia". Paleontologicheskii Zhurnal (in Russian). 2010 (1): 76–83.


Retrieved from ""