Abdarainurus

Abdarainurus (meaning "Abdrant Nuru tail" after the holotype locality) is a genus of titanosaur dinosaur from the Alagteeg Formation in Mongolia. The type and only species is A. barsboldi. Currently seen as an indeterminate titanosaur, it may possibly represent a previously unknown lineage of Asian macronarians.[1] Abdarainurus is not known from many remains; it is only known from eight front tail vertebrae and a middle tail vertebra and several chevrons.

Hypothetical reconstruction/size comparison of Abdarainurus with human for reference.

Abdarainurus
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous 85–72.1 Ma
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Suborder: †Sauropodomorpha
Clade: †Sauropoda
Clade: †Eusauropoda
Clade: †Neosauropoda
Clade: †Macronaria
Clade: †Titanosauria
Genus: †Abdarainurus
Averianov & Lopatin, 2020
Type species
†Abdarainurus barsboldi
Averianov & Lopatin, 2020

Discovery and naming

The holotype was discovered in 1970 in Abdrant Nuru, hence the genus name, during a Joint Soviet–Mongolian Paleontological expedition and was excavated by V. P. Tverdokhlebov of Saratov State University. The fossils were left unprepared until at least 2000, when paleontologist Andrei Podlesnow revealed that they probably belonged to a new genus of sauropod.[2] The species Abdarainurus barsboldi was named in February 2020.[1]

Paleoecology

Abdarainurus was discovered in the Abdarant Nuru locality of the Alagteeg Formation (which may be the same unit as the underlying Djadochta Formation)[3] of Mongolia[1] and coexisted with the ankylosaur Pinacosaurus sp., and indeterminate turtles and dinosaurs.

References
  1. Alexander Averianov; Alexey Lopatin (2020). "An unusual new sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. doi:10.1080/14772019.2020.1716402.
  2. Atkinson, L. "ABDARAINURUS :: from DinoChecker's dinosaur archive". http://www.dinochecker.com/dinosaurs/ABDARAINURUS. Web access: 09th Dec 2020.
  3. Hasegawa, Hitoshi; Ryuji Tada; Niiden Ichinnorov, and Chuluun Minjin. 2009. Lithostratigraphy and depositional environments of the Upper Cretaceous Djadokhta Formation, Ulan Nuur basin, southern Mongolia, and its paleoclimatic implication. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 35. 13–26. doi:10.1016/j.jseaes.2008.11.010


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