Ornithomimidae (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Bissekty Formation (Upper Cretaceous: Turonian) of Uzbekistan

The stratigraphically oldest remains of ornithomimid theropod dinosaurs are known from the Cenomanian Khodzhakul Formation and the Turonian Bissekty Formation of Uzbekistan. The ornithomimid from the Bissekty Formation is documented by more than 800 isolated bones that represent much of the skeleton. It shows at least three unambiguous synapomorphies of Ornithomimidae: length of anterior cervical centra three to five times greater than transverse width; low and rounded fibular crest of tibia; metatarsal III pinched between metatarsals II and IV; and proximal end of metatarsal III not visible in anterior view. Phylogenetic analysis, based on a dataset with 568 morphological characters and including all known ornithomimosaurian taxa, places the ornithomimid from the Bissekty Formation near the base of the ornithomimid radiation, between Archaeornithomimus asiaticus and Sinornithomimus dongi.