Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
4747232 Cretaceous Research 2013 6 Pages PDF
Abstract

•We describe a complete ankylosaur humerus from the Santonian of Hungary.•The specimen is here referred to as cf. Struthiosaurus.•It dates back the first occurrence of this genus to the Santonian.•It documents the sympatry of two ankylosaurs in Iharkút.

A complete and well-preserved right ankylosaurian humerus from the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian) Csehbánya Formation of Iharkút, western Hungary is described here. Based on its osteological features and 21.5 cm adult length, the new specimen is markedly different from the slender humerus of Hungarosaurus, the previously known ankylosaur from the locality, and more similar to that of Struthiosaurus. Thus, the new Hungarian specimen is tentatively assigned here to cf. Struthiosaurus thereby dating back the first occurrence of this genus to the Santonian. The new fossil demonstrates the sympatric co-existence of two different nodosaurid ankylosaurs (a smaller, robust form with 2–2.5 m total body length and a larger, cursorial form with 4–4.5 m body length) in the Iharkút fauna. This also suggests that the pattern of the European ankylosaur diversity was more complex than previously thought.

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Earth and Planetary Sciences Palaeontology
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