Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Dinosaur Fossils from the Upper Cretaceous of Crimea

  • Published:
Paleontological Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A new study of the holotype of Riabininohadros weberae from the Upper Cretaceous (upper Maastrichtian) of Crimea (Besh-Kosh) reveals previously unknown fragments of femur, astragalus, and calcaneus. This taxon is characterized by a complex of primitive characters found in Iguanodontia and basal Ornithischia and its phylogenetic position can be defined as Styracosterna indet. The second dinosaur record from Crimea (Aleshino) is represented by a fragmentary skeleton, including cervical and dorsal vertebrae. It may belong to a derived iguanodontian or a primitive hadrosauroid. Thus, at least two species of dinosaurs coexisted in the Maastrichtian of Crimea.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 6.
Fig. 7.
Fig. 8.

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  1. Barrett, P.M., Butler, R.J., Twitchett, R.J., and Hutt, S., New material of Valdosaurus canaliculatus (Ornithischia: Ornithopoda) from the Lower Cretaceous of southern England, Spec. Pap. Palaeontol., 2011, vol. 86, pp. 131–163.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Brinkmann, W., Zur Fundgeschichte und Systematik der Ornithopoden (Ornithischia, Reptilia) aus der Ober-Kreide von Europa, Documenta Naturae, 1988, vol. 45, pp. 1–157.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Carpenter, K. and Wilson, Y., A new species of Camptosaurus (Ornithopoda: Dinosauria) from the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic) of Dinosaur National Monument, Utah, and a biomechanical analysis of its forelimb, Ann. Carnegie Mus., 2008, vol. 76, no. 4, pp. 227–263.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Dalla Vecchia, F.M., An overview of the latest Cretaceous hadrosauroid record in Europe, in Hadrosaurs, Eberth, D.A. and Evans, D.C., Eds., Bloomington, Indianapolis: Indiana Univ. Press, 2012, pp. 268–297.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Gilmore, C.W., On the dinosaurian fauna of the Iren Dabasu Formation, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 1933, vol. 67, pp. 23–78.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Horner, J.R., Weishampel, D.B., and Forster, C.A., Hadrosauridae, The Dinosauria, Weishampel, D.B., Dodson, P., and Osmólska, H., Eds., Berkeley: Univ. California Press, 2004, 2nd ed., pp. 438–463.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Jeletzky, J.A., The allegedly Danian dinosaur-bearing rocks of the globe and the problem of the Mesozoic–Cenozoic boundary, J. Paleontol., 1962, vol. 36, no. 5, pp. 1005–1018.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Lopatin, A.V., Averianov, A.O., and Alifanov, V.R., New data on dinosaurs of the Crimean Peninsula, Dokl. Biol. Sci., 2018, vol. 482, no. 1, pp. 206–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. McDonald, A.T., Bird, J., Kirkland, J.I., and Dodson, P., Osteology of the basal hadrosauroid Eolambia caroljonesa (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from the Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah, PLoS One, 2012, vol. 7, no. 10, p. e45712.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Nesov, L.A., Dinozavry Severnoi Evrazii: novye dannye o sostave kompleksov, ekologii I paleobiogeografii (Dinosaurs of Northern Eurasia: New Data on the Composition of Assemblages, Ecology, and Paleobiogeography), St. Petersburg, SPb Gos. Univ., 1995.

  11. Norman, D.B., On the ornithischian dinosaur Iguanodon bernissartensis of Bernissart (Belgium), Mém. Inst. R. Sci. Nat. Belg., 1980, vol. 178, pp. 1–105.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Norman, D.B., On the anatomy of Iguanodon atherfieldensis (Ornithischia: Ornithopoda), Bull. Inst. R. Sci. Nat. Belg., Sci. Terre. 1986, vol, 56, pp. 281–372.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Norman, D.B., On Asian ornithopods (Dinosauria: Ornithischia). 3. A new species of iguanodontid dinosaur, Zool. J. Linn. Soc., 1998, vol. 122, nos. 1–2, pp. 291–347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Norman, D.B., Basal Iguanodontia, The Dinosauria, Weishampel, D.B., Dodson, P., and Osmólska, H., Eds., Berkeley: Univ. California Press, 2004, 2nd ed., pp. 413–437.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Norman, D.B., On the history, osteology, and systematic position of the Wealden (Hastings group) dinosaur Hypselo-spinus fittoni (Iguanodontia: Styracosterna), Zool. J. Linn. Soc., 2014, vol. 173, no. 1, p. 920189.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Norman, D.B., Sues, H.-D., Witmer, L.M., and Coria, R.A., Basal Ornithopoda, The Dinosauria, Weishampel, D.B., Dodson, P., and Osmólska, H., Eds., Berkeley: Univ. California Press, 2004, 2nd ed., pp. 393–437.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Ősi, A., Prondvai, E., Butler, R.J., and Weishampel, D.B., Phylogeny, histology and inferred body size evolution in a new rhabdodontid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Hungary, PLoS One, 2012, vol. 7, p. e44318.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Prieto-Márquez, A. and Norell, M.A., Anatomy and relationships of Gilmoreosaurus mongoliensis (Dinosauria: Hadrosauroidea) from the Late Cretaceous of Central Asia, Am. Mus. Novit., 2010, no. 3694, pp. 1–49.

  19. Riabinin, A.N., Dinosaur fossils from the Upper Cretaceous of Crimea, Paleontol. Stratigr., 1945, no. 4, pp. 4–10.

  20. Riabinin, A.N., New discoveries of fossil reptiles in Crimea, Priroda, 1946, no. 11, pp. 65–66.

  21. Seeley, H.G., On the dinosaurs from the Maastricht beds, Quart. J. Geol. Soc. London, 1883, vol. 39, pp. 246–253.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Sues, H.-D. and Averianov, A.O., A new basal hadrosauroid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Uzbekistan and the early radiation of duck-billed dinosaurs, Proc. R. Soc., Ser. B: Biol. Sci., 2009, vol. 276, no. 1667, pp. 2549–2555.

  23. Ulanskii, R.E., Riabininohadros, a new hadrosaur species from the Maastrichtian of Crimea, Russia, Dinologia, 2015, pp. 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Weber, G.F., From Yalta through Kokkoz village to Bakhchisaray, in Mezhdunarodnyi geologicheskii kongress. XVII sessiia. Iuzhnaia ekskursiia. Krymskaia ASSR (International Geological Congress. XVII session. Southern Field Trip. Crimea), Moiseev, A.A., Ed., Moscow: Glavn. redakciia geol.-razved. lit-ry, 1937, pp. 48–58.

  25. Weishampel, D.B., Jianu, C.-M., Csiki, Z., and Norman, D.B., Osteology and phylogeny of Zalmoxes (N. G.), an unusual euornithopod dinosaur from the latest Cretaceous of Romania, J. Syst. Palaeontol., 2003, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 65–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Weishampel, D.B., Norman, D.B., and Grigorescu, D., Telmatosaurus transsylvanicus from the Late Cretaceous of Romania: the most basal hadrosaurid dinosaur, Palaeontology, 1993, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 361–385.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are grateful to D.V. Grigoriev for photographing the specimens and to Prof. G.D. Sues (National Museum of Natural History, Washington) for consultations.

Funding

This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (project number 19-14-00020). The work was partially supported by the federal grant to the Kazan Federal University supporting competitiveness among the world’s leading scientific and educational centers and by the Program of fundamental research of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences “Evolution of the Organic World: Role and Effect of Planetary Processes.”

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 199034, St. Petersburg, Russia

    A. O. Averianov

  2. Kazan Federal University, 420008, Kazan, Russia

    A. O. Averianov

  3. St. Petersburg State University, 199034, St. Petersburg, Russia

    A. O. Averianov

  4. Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117647, Moscow, Russia

    A. V. Lopatin

Authors
  1. A. O. Averianov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. V. Lopatin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. O. Averianov.

Additional information

Translated by D. Ponomarenko

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Averianov, A.O., Lopatin, A.V. Dinosaur Fossils from the Upper Cretaceous of Crimea. Paleontol. J. 53, 398–410 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030119040026

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030119040026

Keywords:

Search

Navigation