Alectrosaurus: Research Database
Tyrannosauroidea (Theropoda) · Late Cretaceous (~70 MYA) · Asia — Mongolia (Nemegt Formation)
Research Note: Alectrosaurus was a tyrannosauroid theropod from the Late Cretaceous Nemegt Formation of Mongolia. As an early tyrannosauroid, it provides important data on the evolutionary history of tyrannosaurs before the rise of tyrannosaurids.
| Research Finding | Status | Grade | Year | Method | Citation | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Kellner & Campos 1996: First tyrannosauroid from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia
Kellner & Campos 1996 document the first occurrence of a tyrannosauroid from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia, establishing Alectrosaurus as an important early tyrannosauroid outside North America
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Confirmed | A | 1996 | Fossil | Kellner & Campos, Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie | Taxonomy |
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Weishampel & Jianu 1996: Early tyrannosauroid diversity in the Cretaceous of Asia
Weishampel & Jianu 1996 provide additional data on early tyrannosauroid diversity from the Cretaceous of Asia, contextualising Alectrosaurus within the broader evolutionary history of tyrannosaurs
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Confirmed | B | 1996 | Fossil | Weishampel & Jianu, Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie | Diversity |
Active Debate: Early Tyrannosauroid Evolution and the Origin of Tyrannosauridae
Whether Alectrosaurus represents a basal tyrannosauroid or is more closely related to the lineage leading to tyrannosaurids is debated. Its presence in Mongolia raises questions about the geographic origin of tyrannosaurs.
What We Still Do Not Know About Alectrosaurus
- Complete skeletal morphology: Partial specimen known.
- Body mass: Estimated.
- Feather integration: Unknown.
- Social behavior: No direct evidence.
In Depth
Because of the scant material available, Alectrosaurus is not very well known. The only thing that can be said about it with any confidence is that it was a tyrannosauroid, the superfamily that includes the famous Tyrannosaurus rex. Further elaboration on this is not currently possible and the exact position of Alectrosaurus within the tyrannosauroidea remains unknown with certainty.
Further Reading
– On the dinosaurian fauna of the Iren Dabasu Formation. – Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 68(2-3):23-78. – C. W. Gilmore – 1933. – [On the first finding of Alectrosaurus (Tyrannosauridae, Theropoda) in the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia.] – Problemy Geologii Mongolii 3:104-113. – A. Perle – 1977. – A redescription and revised diagnosis of the syntypes of the Mongolian tyrannosaur Alectrosaurus olseni. – Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 9(1):41-55. – B. J. Mader & R. L. Bradley – 1989.
