Open Paleo

Anomalipes

Yu et al., 2018 a-NOH-ma-LEE-pez

From Latin 'anomalus' meaning 'peculiar' or 'abnormal' and 'pes' meaning 'foot'; meaning 'unusual foot', referring to the unusual shape of its foot

83.6–72.2 million years ago Campanian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Anomalipes is an extinct genus of caenagnathid oviraptorosaurian dinosaurs known from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian age) Wangshi Group of China. The genus contains a single species, Anomalipes zhaoi, known from a partial hindlimb.

Diagnosis

  1. Femoral head anteroposteriorly narrow and somewhat deflected posteriorly.
  2. Accessory trochanter low and confluent with lesser trochanter.
  3. Lateral ridge present on femoral lateral surface, not known in other oviraptorosaurs.
  4. Weak fourth trochanter present along posteromedial margin of femoral shaft.
  5. Metatarsal III with triangular proximal articular surface, prominent anterior flange near proximal end, medial hemicondyle much narrower than lateral hemicondyle, and longitudinal groove on distal articular surface.
  6. Pedal phalanx II-3 with lateral collateral groove deeper and more dorsally located than medial groove.

Species

Anomalipes zhaoi Yu et al., 2018

Type species

Named for Zhao Xijin, a prominent Chinese vertebrate paleontologist.

Holotype
ZCDM V0020 , Zhucheng Dinosaur Museum
Material
Incomplete left hindlimb: left femur missing distal end, left tibia missing proximal end, left fibula missing distal and proximal ends, complete metatarsal III, two pedal phalanges.
Horizon
Wangshi Group, Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–72.2 million years ago
Locality
Kugou, Shandong, China The describing paper gives the Wangshi Group. Xing and colleagues (2014) place the Kugou bonebed at the transition from the Xingezhuang to the Hongtuya Formation, "possibly situated just below the boundary"; An and colleagues (2015) place the Kugou bone beds in the Hongtuya and date them Campanian from a maximum depositional age of 77.3 Ma.

References

  1. An, W.; Kuang, H. W.; Liu, Y. Q.; Peng, N.; Xu, K. M.; Xu, H.; Zhang, P.; Wang, K. B.; Chen, S. Q.; Zhang, Y. X. (2015). Detrital zircon dating and tracing the provenance of dinosaur bone beds from the Late Cretaceous Wangshi Group in Zhucheng, Shandong, East China. Journal of Palaeogeography 5(1): 72-99. doi:10.1016/j.jop.2015.11.002

    Places the Kugou bone beds in the Hongtuya Formation and dates them Campanian from a maximum depositional age of 77.3 Ma.

    an2015a
  2. Xing, H.; Zhao, X.; Wang, K.; Li, D.; Chen, S.; Mallon, J. C.; Zhang, Y.; Xu, X. (2014). Comparative osteology and phylogenetic relationship of Edmontosaurus and Shantungosaurus (Dinosauria: Hadrosauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous of North America and East Asia. Acta Geologica Sinica (English Edition) 88(6): 1623-1652. doi:10.1111/1755-6724.12334

    Places the Kugou bonebed at "the transition from the Xingezhuang Formation to the overlying Hongtuya Formation".

    xing2014b
  3. Yu, Y.; Wang, K.; Chen, S.; Sullivan, C.; Wang, S.; Wang, P.; Xu, X. (2018). A new caenagnathid dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous Wangshi Group of Shandong, China, with comments on size variation among oviraptorosaurs. Scientific Reports 8(1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-23252-2 yu2018a