Ningyuansaurus

Ning-yu-an-sore-us.
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John Stewart

Paleoecologist

John Stewart is a distinguished paleoecologist whose work has significantly advanced our understanding of prehistoric ecosystems. With over two decades dedicated to unearthing fossils across Asia and Africa

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Name

Ningyuansaurus.

Phonetic

Ning-yu-an-sore-us.

Named By

Ji Qiang,‭ ‬L� Jun-Chang,‭ ‬Wei Xue-Fang‭ & ‬Wang Xu-Ri‭ ‬-‭ ‬2012.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Theropoda,‭ ‬Oviraptorosauria.

Diet

Uncertain,‭ ‬but possible herbivore.

Species

N.‭ ‬wangi‭

Size

Unavailable.

Known locations

China,‭ ‬Liaoning Province‭ ‬-‭ ‬Yixian Formation.

Time Period

Aptian of the Cretaceous.

Fossil representation

‭ ‬Fairly well preserved remains of one individual.‭ ‬Feather impressions are also known.

In Depth

       At the time of its description,‭ ‬Ningyuansaurus is considered to be one of the earliest known oviraptosaurs to appear on the‭ ‬Mesozoic landscape.‭ ‬So primitive is Ningyuansaurus,‭ ‬that the skull it proportionately longer than later oviraptosaurs,‭ ‬and still contains teeth,‭ ‬ten in the upper jaw‭ (‬four premaxilla,‭ ‬six maxilla‭)‬,‭ ‬and at least fourteen teeth in the lower jaw.

       It has been notoriously difficult to determine what oviraptosaurs ate since they could have eaten either meat of plants,‭ ‬and even feasibly both.‭ ‬The teeth of Ningyuansaurus do‭ ‬not‭ ‬seem to have‭ ‬had‭ ‬any special adaptations,‭ ‬and they didn’t even have any serrations.‭ ‬They are tightly packed though which suggest a dietary specialisation of some kind.‭ ‬An insight though might be gleamed from the discovery of small oval shaped structures found within the holotype remains of Ningyuansaurus.‭ ‬With the largest of these only having a ten millimetre diameter,‭ ‬these may indicate that Ningyuansaurus might have included seeds in its diet.

Further Reading

-‭ ‬A new oviraptorosaur from the Yixian Formation of Jianchang,‭ ‬Western Liaoning Province,‭ ‬China‭‬.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Geological Bulletin of China‭ ‬31‭ (‬12‭)‬:‭ ‬2102‭–‬2107‭ ‬-‭ ‬Ji Qiang,‭ ‬L� Jun-Chang,‭ ‬Wei Xue-Fang‭ & ‬Wang Xu-Ri‭ ‬-‭ ‬2012.

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