Erlikosaurus [4] ( lat. Erlikosaurus , literally - Erlik lizard) is a genus of dinosaur dinosaurs from the infraorder of therizinosaurs that lived during the Upper Cretaceous era ( 100.5–83.6 million years ago) [5] . Their fossil remains ( skull and some post-cranial fragments) were found in the Bayanshire suite ( Mongolia ) [6] .
| † Erlicosaurus |
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Reconstruction |
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| {{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{| 1}} | 1}} | 1}} | 1}} | 1}} | 1}} | 1}} | 1}} | 1}} | 1}} | 1}} | 1}} | 1}} | 1}} | 1 }} | 1}} | 1}} | 1}} | 1}} | 1}} | 4}} : | Eukaryotes |
| No rank : | Bilateral symmetrical |
| Infraclass : | Archosauromorphs |
| No rank : | Archosauriformes |
| Group : | † Maniraptoriformes |
| Infrastructure : | † Therizinosaurs |
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Erlikosaurus Barsbold & Perle , 1980 |
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- Erlicosaurus
Barsbold & Perle, 1980 , orth. var. [one]
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† Erlikosaurus andrewsi
Barsbold & Perle, 1980 [2] - [ syn. Erlicosaurus andrewsi
Barsbold & Perle, 1980 , orth. var. [3] ]
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The only species of Erlikosaurus andrewsi was described by A. Perle in 1980. Its name was derived from the names of the Turkic - Mongolian deity of Erlik’s death and the name of paleontologist R. C. Andrews . At that time it was the only known therizinosaurid whose skull was discovered (then it was considered a segnosaur ) [6] . This helped shed light on the mysterious and little-studied group of dinosaurs.
Erlikosaurus belongs to the infraorder of therizinosaurs - an unusual group of theropods that ate plants instead of meat, and had a basin similar to poultry dinosaurs . In addition, as in poultry, their jaws were a bone beak suitable for plant nutrition [6] . At the moment, it is known that some of the terenosaurus were feathered, so it is likely that the erlicosaurus was also covered with feathers.
Erlikosaurus had “thin” claws on its paws, the purpose of which is unclear. Based on fragmented skeletal material, the length of an adult erlicosaurus was estimated at 6 meters. Erlikosaurus could be more “lightweight" than its close relative segnosaurus [6] .
Obsolete reconstruction of an erlicosaurus as a
sauropod Some scientists suggest that the erlicosaurus is the same animal as the enigmosaurus , since the latter was found in the same geological formation, and is known only by the hip [6] .
However, since an enigmosaurus does not resemble a segnosaurus as much as one would expect from an erlicosaurus [6] , an enigmosaurus and an erlicosaurus are still considered separate genera.
