Talarurus

• Mongolia

• Talarurus plicatospineus Maleev, 1952

Talarurus is a genus of bird Beck dinosaur from the group of Ankylosauria. He lived during the early Cretaceous in Asia.

Features

The length of Talarurus is estimated to be 4 to 6 feet, his skull was about 24 inches long. He had the typical physique of Ankylosauria with the short, stocky limbs and the group consisting of bone plates armor. This consisted of band-shaped plates arranged in addition, this dinosaur had arranged in rows, conical spines. At the rear end of the head he had two small sheds on the leg ( squamosal ) seated horns. The front legs ending in five and the hind feet four toes (for later ankylosauruses it were, in contrast, usually only three ). The tail ended as with all Ankylosauridae in a bony club that served the enemy defenses. This club was slimmer at Talarurus than other ankylosauruses.

The skull was equipped as in all Ankylosauridae wide and bulky and at the tip of the snout with a toothless horny beak. The small, leaves shaped teeth were aligned to a plant-based diet.

Discovery and designation

Fossil finds of Talarurus were discovered at a Soviet- Mongolian expedition in the 1950s in Mongolia and first described by Russian paleontologist Maleev. The name Talarurus (Greek for " wicker basket - tail" ) alludes to the interwoven tail vertebrae, which stabilized the tail lobe. Only species and therefore type species is Talarurus plicatospineus.

The finds are dated to the early Late Cretaceous ( Cenomanian to Turonian ) at an age 100-89 million years.

System

Talarurus is a relatively old and primitive in some respects Ankylar. It is classified within the Ankylosauridae in an Asian clade, which also includes, among others Saichania and Pinacosaurus.