Ferganocephale
| Ferganocephale | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
| Middle Jurassic ( Callovium ) | ||||||||||||
| 166.1 to 163.5 million years | ||||||||||||
| Locations | ||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Ferganocephale | ||||||||||||
| Averianov , Martin & Bakirov , 2005 |
Ferganocephale is a genus of bird pelvic dinosaurs (Ornithischia)known only through individual teeth, possibly from the group of Pachycephalosauria . The only species described is F. adenticulatum .
The teeth show strong signs of wear and are therefore not easy to interpret. The first descriptors identified Ferganocephale as Pachycephalosaurier, among other things due to the cingulum (a bead of tooth enamel located on the tooth neck ), asymmetrical tooth crowns and different tooth types ( heterodontics ). Other authors such as Robert Sullivan doubt this affiliation, but consider the findings to be too sparse for a systematic classification and use them as a nomen dubium .
The finds were discovered in the Balabansai Formation in the Kyrgyz part of the Fergana Valley and first described in 2005. The generic name is derived from the place where it was found and the Greek kephale (= "head"), a common part of the name in pachycephalosaurs. The only known species is F. adenticulatum . The finds are dated to the Middle Jurassic ( Callovian ), to an age of around 166 to 163 million years.
If Ferganocephale belongs to the Pachycephalosauria, it is the only known from the Jura and therefore the oldest representative of this group. Apart from other controversial finds ( Stenopelix and Yaverlandia ) from the Lower Cretaceous, these dinosaurs are otherwise only recorded from the Upper Cretaceous.
literature
- Alexander O. Averianov, Thomas Martin, Aizek A. Bakirov: Pterosaur and dinosaur remains from the Middle Jurassic Balabansai Svita in the northern Fergana depression, Kyrgystan (Central Asia). In: Palaeontology. Vol. 48, No. 1, 2005, ISSN 0031-0239 , pp. 135-155, doi : 10.1111 / j.1475-4983.2004.00437.x .
- Robert M. Sullivan: A taxonomic review of the Pachycephalosauridae (Dinosauria: Ornithischia). In: Spencer G. Lucas, Robert M. Sullivan (Eds.): Late Cretaceous Vertebrates from the Western Interior (= New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. Bulletin. 35, ISSN 1524-4156 ). New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Albuquerque NM 2006, pp. 347–365, digital version (PDF; 4.79 MB) .