New Materials of <i>Protoceratops hellenikorhinus</i> (Neoceratopsia: Protoceratopsidae) in Alxa Region, Inner Mongolia

GUO Bin; MA Feimin; JI Shu’an

doi:10.12401/j.nwg.2024066

2024 Vol. 57, No. 6

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Article navigation > Northwestern Geology > 2024 > 57(6): 127-135

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GUO Bin, MA Feimin, JI Shu’an. 2024. New Materials of Protoceratops hellenikorhinus (Neoceratopsia: Protoceratopsidae) in Alxa Region, Inner Mongolia. Northwestern Geology, 57(6): 127-135. doi: 10.12401/j.nwg.2024066

Citation:

GUO Bin, MA Feimin, JI Shu’an. 2024. New Materials of Protoceratops hellenikorhinus (Neoceratopsia: Protoceratopsidae) in Alxa Region, Inner Mongolia. Northwestern Geology, 57(6): 127-135. doi: 10.12401/j.nwg.2024066

New Materials of Protoceratops hellenikorhinus (Neoceratopsia: Protoceratopsidae) in Alxa Region, Inner Mongolia

1.
Inner Mongolia Museum of Natural History, Hohhot 010010, Inner Mongolia, China
2.
Key Laboratory of Stratigraphy and Palaeontology of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037, China

More Information

Corresponding author: JI Shu’an, jishu_an@sina.com

Received Date: 08 September 2022

Revised Date: 08 April 2023

Accepted Date: 23 April 2023

Publish Date: 20 December 2024

Abstract

Abstract

Three new specimens of protoceratopsid skulls have been discovered recently from the Late Cretaceous Wulansuhai Formation (Campanian) at Bayan Tal locality in Alxa Right Banner, western Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, northern China. The skull is relatively large, with premaxillary teeth absent. The craniocaudally arranged ridge on the lateral surface of maxilla is generally straight, and comparatively reduced. The ventral edge of dentary is nearly straight. These specimens show the representative characters only present in Protoceratops hellenikorhinus, thus should be assigned to this taxon. Only one genus and species of Protoceratopsidae has been confirmed, i.e. Protoceratops hellenikorhinus, at Bayan Tal locality. This locality becomes the second site yielding P. hellenikorhinus, following Bayan Mandahu locality in Urad Rear Banner, western Inner Mongolia. This protoceratopsid species was the dominant element among the dinosaur faunas at both Bayan Tal and Bayan Mandahu localities, which provides more paleontological evidences for the Late Cretaceous dinosaur faunal similarity between the two sites. P. hellenikorhinus has been only known at Bayan Tal and Bayan Mandahu localities during the Campanian, Late Cretaceous. This fact indicates that there may have existed a vast region in similar paleoenvironment across the western Inner Mongolia at that time, and that the dinosaurs could exchange easily within the region.
- Protoceratopsidae /
- Protoceratops hellenikorhinus /
- Late Cretaceous /
- Wulansuhai Formation /
- Alxa Right Banner

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References

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