Biota and Environment of Natural Areas

Bolotsky I.Y., Ermatsans I.A., Bolotsky Y.L.

Tyrannosaurid remains (Dinosauria: Tyrannosauridae) from localities in Blagoveshchensk and Kundur (Amur Region, Russia)

Year: 2021, Number: 2, Pages: 49-70

This study presents examination of isolated tooth crowns, their fragments and rare postcranial bones of tyrannosaurids (Dinosauria: Tyrannosauridae). Studied specimen, stored in the collection of IGNM FEB RAS, come from the dinosaur locations Blagoveshchensk and Kundur in the Amur region. We identified teeth of animals at different growth stages. We slso identified ungual phalanges and caudal vertebrae. Comparison of the studied finds with analogous finds from the Longgushan locality (Jiayin county, China) revealed their size and morphology similarities. Comparison results also correlated with the data from the North American studies of tyrannosaurid teeth. Maastrichtian biota of the Zeya-Bureya basin included several theropod dinosaur taxa along with hadrosaurs, crocodiles, turtles and mammals. Presumably, Tyrannosaurids held the top position in the Zeya-Bureya paleovalley food pyramid. During the Late Cretaceous period that territory could be dominated by Tyrannosaurids closely related to Tyrannosaurus from the same period in North America and Tarbosaurus from Mongolia. Tyrannosaurid could reach large sizes, its main food specialization was numerous hadrosaurs.

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