Gilmoreosaurus
Name:
Gilmoreosaurus
(Gilmores’ lizard).
Phonetic: Gil-mor-o-sor-us.
Named By: M. K. Brett-Surman - 1979.
Synonyms: Mandschurosaurus mongoliensis.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Ornithischia, Ornithopoda, Hadrosauroidea.
Species: G. mongoliensis
(type), G. atavus, G. arkhangelskyi.
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Up to about 6 meters long.
Known locations: Mongolia - Iren Dabasu
Formation. Uzbekistan - Khodzhakul Formation, Bissekty
Formation.
Time period: Campanian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Remains of several
individuals.
The
discovery of Gilmoreosaurus began in 1923 when
the first fossil
remains were discovered. These remains were however referred to the
genus Mandschurosaurus
as a new species, which is where they
remained until a study by Brett-Surman in 1979 saw them
re-identified as a distinct genus separate from Mandschurosaurus.
Later in 1995, two further species of Gilmoreosaurus
were named
from fossils discovered in Uzbekistan. The Uzbekistani species (G.
atavus and G. arkhangelskyi) however are not
always considered as
belonging to Gilmoreosaurus upon the basis that
they are based upon
only fragmentary remains. Further discoveries in the future may be
able to clarify. Fossils of another species G.
kysylkumensis are
now usually included into the Bactrosaurus
genus.
Gilmoreosaurus
was a mid-sized hadrosauroid dinosaur, the kind that was very similar
to hadrosaurid dinosaurs though not quite one, being slightly more
primitive. Though more primitive however, Gilmoreosaurus
still
lived at the same time as the more advanced hadrosaurids, showing us
the more primitive forms were not immediately displaced by their more
developed descendants.
At
about six meters in length, Gilmoreosaurus was a
medium sized
hadrosauroid, and one that may have been preyed upon by large
tyrannosaurs
such as Alioramus
and Tarbosaurus.
Further reading
- Phylogeny and palaeobiogeography of hadrosaurian dinosaurs. -
Nature 277:560-562 0 - M. K. Brett-Surman - 1979.
- Anatomy and Relationships of Gilmoreosaurus mongoliensis
(Dinosauria: Hadrosauroidea) from the Late Cretaceous of Central
Asia. - American Museum Novitates 3694: 1-49. - A.
Prieto-M�rquez & M.A. Norell - 2010.
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