''Wulatelong'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

basal Basal or basilar is a term meaning ''base'', ''bottom'', or ''minimum''. Science * Basal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location for features associated with the base of an organism or structure * Basal (medicine), a minimal level that is nec ...

oviraptorid Oviraptoridae is a group of bird-like, herbivorous and omnivorous maniraptoran dinosaurs. Oviraptorids are characterized by their toothless, parrot-like beaks and, in some cases, elaborate crests. They were generally small, measuring between on ...

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

known from the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', ...

Wulansuhai Formation (

Campanian The Campanian is the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous Epoch on the geologic timescale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). In chronostratigraphy, it is the fifth of six stages in the Upper Cretaceous Series. Campani ...

stage) of Bayan Mandahu,

Linhe District Linhe ( mn, ; ) is the only district and the seat of the city of Baynnur, Inner Mongolia, situated at the northern loop of the Yellow River, south of the Lang Shan range ( south-east of the Huhebashige). The district spans an area of 2,333 sq ...

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for ...

, northern China. It contains a single

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

, ''Wulatelong gobiensis''.

History

The fossils of ''Wulatelong'', representing a single nearly-complete skeleton, now cataloged IVPP V 18409, were discovered in 2009 in the Bayan Mandahu area of Wulatehouqi, Inner Mongolia, a fossil-rich area which has yielded many recent dinosaur discoveries. The authors of the paper describing ''Wulatelong'' had previously described the dromaeosaurid '' Linheraptor'' (2010), the alvarezsaurid ''

Linhenykus ''Linhenykus'' is an extinct genus of alvarezsaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia, China. It is the most basal known member of the Parvicursorinae. The genus gets its name from Linhe, a city near the site where t ...

'' (2011), and the troodontid '' Linhevenator'' (2011). ''Wulatelong'' was described by Xu ''et al.'' in 2013. The generic name derives from ''Wulate'', where the fossils were discovered, and ''long'', the Chinese word for "dragon". The specific name, ''gobiensis'', refers to the

Gobi Desert The Gobi Desert ( Chinese: 戈壁 (沙漠), Mongolian: Говь (ᠭᠣᠪᠢ)) () is a large desert or brushland region in East Asia, and is the sixth largest desert in the world. Geography The Gobi measures from southwest to northeast ...

Classification

''Wulatelong'' is an

dinosaur, the sister taxon of '' Banji''. Oviraptorids were bird-like, herbivorous and omnivorous

theropod Theropoda (; ), whose members are known as theropods, is a dinosaur clade that is characterized by hollow bones and three toes and claws on each limb. Theropods are generally classed as a group of saurischian dinosaurs. They were ancestrally ...

s characterized by toothless, parrot-like beaks, and often elaborate crests. They are known only from the Late Cretaceous of Asia. Wulatelong skull

Paleoecology

''Wulatelong'' shared their habitat in the Bayan Mandahu with a number of other dinosaurian fauna. These included the ceratopsians ''

Protoceratops ''Protoceratops'' (; ) is a genus of small protoceratopsid dinosaurs that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous, around 75 to 71 million years ago. The genus ''Protoceratops'' includes two species: ''P. andrewsi'' and the larger ''P. helleni ...

'' and ''

Magnirostris ''Bagaceratops'' (meaning "small-horned face") is a genus of small protoceratopsid dinosaurs that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous, around 72 to 71 million years ago. ''Bagaceratops'' remains have been reported from the Barun Goyot For ...

'', the ankylosaurian ''

Pinacosaurus ''Pinacosaurus'' (meaning "Plank lizard") is a genus of ankylosaurid thyreophoran dinosaur that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous (Santonian-Campanian, roughly 75 million to 71 million years ago), mainly in Mongolia and China. The first r ...

'', and a number of other theropods: the dromaeosaurids ''

Velociraptor ''Velociraptor'' (; ) is a genus of small dromaeosaurid dinosaur that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous epoch, about 75 million to 71 million years ago. Two species are currently recognized, although others have been assigned in the p ...

'', ‘’ Papiliovenator’’ and '' Linheraptor'', the oviraptorosaurian ''

Machairasaurus ''Machairasaurus'' is a genus of oviraptorid dinosaur which was found in the Bayan Mandahu Formation, China, dating to the late Cretaceous period. Discovery During the Sino-Canadian expeditions of 1988 and 1990 some skeletons of unknown ovira ...

'', the alvarezsauroid ''

'', and the troodontid '' Linhevenator''. The authors of the paper describing ''Wulatelong'' concluded that the Bayan Mandahu fauna "differs fundamentally in composition from the classical Djadokhta fauna, perhaps because of a difference in age" or due to environmental factors.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q12973051 Late Cretaceous dinosaurs of Asia Oviraptorids Fossil taxa described in 2013 Taxa named by Xu Xing Paleontology in Inner Mongolia

History

Classification

Paleoecology

See also

References