Tarchia
| Tarchia | ||||||||||||
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
| Upper Cretaceous (Upper Campanium to Lower Maastrichtian ) | ||||||||||||
| 76.4 to 69.9 million years | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Tarchia | ||||||||||||
| Maryańska , 1977 | ||||||||||||
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Tarchia is a genus of bird basin dinosaurs from the group of Ankylosauria from the Upper Cretaceous (76.4 to 69.9 mya ) of East Asia.
features
Tarchia was one of the largest ankylosaurs with an estimated length of 8 meters. He had the typical build of this group: he had a stocky body, which was supported by four strong legs. Although the hind limbs were slightly longer than the front, he still moved quadruped (on all fours). As with all ankylosaurs, the trunk was covered with armor made of bone plates. The tail ended in a massive leg of bone, which probably served as a defense against the enemy.
The skull of tarchia was built massive and wide, the muzzle ended in a wide, toothless horny beak. The top of the skull was also covered by armor made of rounded bone plates. He had two horn-like protrusions on the back of his head, and there were two other protrusions on his cheeks. As with most ankylosaurs, the teeth were small and leaf-shaped and adapted to a plant-based diet. They were indented inward, suggesting that he had cheeks.
Discovery and naming
Fossil remains of Tarchia were found in the Nemegt formation in the Mongolian region of Ömnö-Gobi-Aimag and initially described under the name Dyoplosaurus . This generic name was previously used for a North American ankylosaur. Further finds made it clear that this is a separate genus of dinosaurs, for which the name Tarchia was chosen. The name comes from the Mongolian term for brain ("tarchi") and alludes less to the assumed mental abilities of this animal - in fact, ankylosaurs had proportionally smaller brains than stegosauria - than to the voluminous skull. The only recognized species is Tarchia gigantea , a second species described, T. kielanae , is now considered a synonym for T. gigantea .
In total, the remains of seven animals were found, including complete skulls and nearly complete postcranial skeletons. The finds are dated in the Upper Cretaceous (late Campanium or early Maastrichtian ) to an age of about 76 to 69 million years. Tarchia is thus the youngest known Asian ankylosaur and at the same time the largest.
literature
- Matthew K. Vickaryous, Teresa Maryańska , David B. Weishampel : Ankylosauria. In: David B. Weishampel, Peter Dodson , Halszka Osmólska (eds.): The Dinosauria . 2nd edition. University of California Press, Berkeley CA et al. 2004, ISBN 0-520-24209-2 , pp. 363-392.
Individual evidence
- ^ Gregory S. Paul : The Princeton Field Guide To Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ et al. 2010, ISBN 978-0-691-13720-9 , p. 231, online .