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The most ancient Ornithomimosaur (Theropoda, Dinosauria), with cover imprints from the Upper Jurassic of Russia

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Abstract

A new theropod dinosaur, Lepidocheirosaurus natatilis gen. et sp. nov., from the Upper Jurassic (?Tithonian) deposits of the Kulinda locality (Transbaikal Area, Russia) is described based manus fragments, caudal vertebrae, and imprints of horn scales. The new form is similar in morphology to Nqwebasaurus thwazi de Klerk et al., 2000 from the Lower Cretaceous of South Africa and assigned to the family Nqwebasauridae fam. nov. (Ornithomimosauria, Theropoda). It is proposed that nqwebasaurids searched for relatively small prey in the water column.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Profsoyuznaya ul. 123, Moscow, 117997, Russia

    V. R. Alifanov

  2. Scientific Research Institute of Human Morphology, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, ul. Tsyurupy 3, Moscow, 117418, Russia

    S. V. Saveliev

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  1. V. R. Alifanov
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  2. S. V. Saveliev
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Correspondence to V. R. Alifanov.

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Original Russian Text © V.R. Alifanov, S.V. Saveliev, 2015, published in Paleontologicheskii Zhurnal, 2015, No. 6, pp. 71–85.

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Alifanov, V.R., Saveliev, S.V. The most ancient Ornithomimosaur (Theropoda, Dinosauria), with cover imprints from the Upper Jurassic of Russia. Paleontol. J. 49, 636–650 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030115060039

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