Talarurus (/ˌtæləˈrʊərəs/ TAL-ə-ROOR-əs) is an extinct genus of ankylosaurid dinosaur that lived approximately 90 million years ago during the latter part of the Cretaceous Period in what is now Mongolia. Talarurus was a hippopotamus-sized, heavily-built, ground-dwelling, quadrupedal herbivore, that could grow up to an estimated 6 m (19.7 ft) long. Like other ankylosaurs it had heavy armour and a club on its tail. Along with Tsagantegia, Talarurus is the oldest known ankylosaurid from Asia and one of the better-known ankylosaurs from Mongolia.
Etymology[]
The genus name Talarurus, means "basket tail", and is derived from the Greek word "talaros" (ταλαρος) meaning "wicker basket", and the Latinized form "urus" of the Greek word (ουρα) meaning "tail". The genus name is a reference to the club end of the tail which bears resemblance to a wicker basket, and the length of the tail which consists of interlaced bony struts, reminiscent of the weave that is employed when making wicker baskets. The type and only valid species known today is Talarurus plicatospineus. The specific name "plicatospineus" is derived from the Latin words "plicatura" which means "folded" and "spineus" which means "thorny". this is a reference to the corrugated spines which are present on the surface of its armor plates.[1][2] Talarurus was described and named by Russian paleontologist Evgeny Maleev in 1952.
Discovery and age[]
Talarurus remains have been discovered in the southeastern parts of the Gobi Desert in what is now Mongolia. The type specimen PN 557-91 was discovered in 1948 by a joint Soviet-Mongolian Paleontological Expedition expedition, and recovered from sandy, red calcareous claystone at the Bayn Shire locality of the Bayan Shireh Formation. Sediments found in this rock formation, are thought to date from the Turonian stage of the Late Cretaceous period, about 95-88 million years ago. To determine the age of these sentiments more accurately, researchers examine dinosaur remains from similar-aged rocks elsewhere are compared with dinosaur remains from the Bayan Shireh Formation. Specimen PN 557-91 included a fragmentary skull with the posterior part of the skull roof, including the occipital region and the basicranium, numerous vertebrae, several ribs, a scapulocoracoid, a humerus, a radius, an ulna, a nearly complete manus, a partial ilium, an ischium, a femur, a tibia, a fibula, a nearly complete pes, and assorted armor and scutes.
Specimen PIN 3780/1 was collected from terrestrial sediments at the Bayshin-Tsav locality of the the Bayan Shireh Formation, by a joint Soviet-Mongolian Paleontological Expedition expedition in 1975 and is now reposited at the Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, in Moscow.[4] This material was assigned to Talarurus and is also considered to date from the Turonian stage of the Cretaceous. This specimen consists of the top of a skull and a fragmentary skeleton.
Talarurus is now known from five individual specimens, from various localities at the Bayan Shireh Formation. Specimen PEN AN SSR 557 consists of a dorsal vertebra with an attached rib, and a dermal scute. Another specimen referred to this genus from the Bayshin-Tsav locality is composed of an (undescribed) incomplete skull with cranial roof, occipital part and brain Case. A second undescribed specimen, collected at the Baga Tarjach locality, consists of a fragment of a maxilla with 8 teeth.