Barsboldia

Barsboldia (meaning "of Barsbold", a well-known Mongolian paleontologist) was a genus of large hadrosaurid dinosaur from the early Maastrichtian Nemegt Formation of Ömnogöv', Mongolia. It is known from a partial vertebral column, partial pelvis, and some ribs.

Barsboldia Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 70 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Sacrum of the holotype
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Order:	†Ornithischia
Suborder:	†Ornithopoda
Family:	†Hadrosauridae
Subfamily:	†Saurolophinae
Genus:	†Barsboldia Maryańska & Osmólska, 1981
Species
B. sicinskii Maryańska & Osmólska, 1981 (type)

Description

Restoration

Teresa Maryańska and Halszka Osmólska based this genus on ZPAL MgD-1/110, a partial skeleton consisting of nine back vertebrae, nine hip vertebrae, fifteen tail vertebrae, a left ilium, parts of the left and right pubis, several ribs, and a few fragments of the hind limbs, with the backbone largely articulated. The most distinctive features of this skeleton are found in the neural spines. These are very tall, particularly over the hips, and were described as second only to those of Hypacrosaurus altispinus and the tips of those found in the first few vertebrae of the tail are club-shaped[1] (possibly a sign of old age).[2] In 2010 Gregory S. Paul gave a length of 10 meters (33 ft) and a weight of 5 tonnes (5.5 short tons).[3]

Phylogeny

Maryańska and Osmólska described their new genus as a lambeosaurine (or hollow-crested duckbill), the first from the Nemegt Formation, although it lacked a skull. However, the sacrum has a keel along the bottom, a possible lambeosaurine feature,[4] and the bones closely resemble those of Hypacrosaurus.[2][5] With only one partial skeleton known, and no skull, the genus has been considered dubious[4] or a possible lambeosaurine of uncertain placement.[6] A newer study published in 2011 suggests that Barsboldia is actually a valid saurolophine.[7]

The following cladogram was recovered in the 2011 phylogenetic analysis of Hadrosauroidea by Prieto-Márquez (the relationships within Lambeosaurinae and between basal hadrosauroids aren't shown).[7]

Caudal vertebrae

Vertebrae

Telmatosaurus       Lophorhothon    Hadrosauridae    Hadrosaurus    Saurolophidae    Lambeosaurinae    Saurolophinae      Maiasaura     Brachylophosaurus         Barsboldia       Shantungosaurus         Edmontosaurus annectens     Edmontosaurus regalis           Unnamed Sabinas species       Kerberosaurus       Prosaurolophus       Saurolophus osborni     Saurolophus angustirostris               Wulagasaurus       Kritosaurus         Gryposaurus latidens       Gryposaurus notabilis     Gryposaurus monumentensis           Unnamed Big Bend species       Secernosaurus     Willinakaqe (=Salitral Moreno species)

Paleobiology

As a hadrosaurid, Barsboldia would have been a bipedal/quadrupedal herbivore, eating plants with a sophisticated skull that permitted a grinding motion analogous to chewing, and was furnished with hundreds of continually-replaced teeth. If it was a lambeosaurine, it would have had a hollow crest formed out of expanded skull bones containing the nasal passages, with a function relating to identification by sight and sound.[6]

See also

• Timeline of hadrosaur research

References

1. Maryańska, Teresa; Osmólska, Halszka (1981). "First lambeosaurine dinosaur from the Nemegt Formation, Upper Cretaceous, Mongolia". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 26: 243–255.
2. Brett-Surman, Michael K. (1989). A revision of the Hadrosauridae (Reptilia:Ornithischia) and their evolution during the Campanian and Maastrichtian. Ph.D. dissertation. Washington, D.C.: Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of The George Washington University. pp. 1–272.
3. Paul, Gregory S. (2010). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. p. 310.
4. Norman, David B.; Sues, Hans-Dieter (2000). "Ornithopods from Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Siberia". In Benton, Michael J.; Shishkin, Mikhail A.; Unwin, David M.; Kurochkin, Evgenii N. (eds.). The Age of Dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 462–479. ISBN 0-521-55476-4.
5. Glut, Donald F. (1997). "Barsboldia". Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co. p. 202. ISBN 0-89950-917-7.
6. Horner, John R.; Weishampel, David B.; Forster, Catherine A (2004). "Hadrosauridae". In Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; Osmólska, Halszka (eds.). The Dinosauria (2nd ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 438–463. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
7. Prieto-Márquez, Albert (2011). "A Reappraisal of Barsboldia sicinskii (Dinosauria: Hadrosauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia". Journal of Paleontology. 83 (3): 468–477. doi:10.1666/10-106.1.