Gurilynia

Gurilynia is a genus of enantiornithine birds.[1] One species is known, G. nessovi. It lived during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous period, between 70 and 66 mya.[2] Gurilynia is known from fragmentary fossils found at the Gurilyn Tsav locality of the Nemegt Formation in south Gobi, Mongolia.

Gurilynia
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Clade: Avialae
Clade: †Enantiornithes
Genus: †Gurilynia
Kurochkin, 1999
Species:
†G. nessovi
Binomial name
†Gurilynia nessovi
Kurochkin, 1999

Description

The fossil material includes three partial bones. The holotype is the proximal end of a right humerus, catalog number PIN 4499-12. This specimen indicates the largest Mongolian Mesozoic bird,[3] with a length of 53 cm (21 in), hip height of 23.2 cm (9.1 in), and weight of 2.1 kg (4.6 lb).[3] A paratype is the distal end of a left humerus, catalog number PIN 4499-14. The last paratype is the shoulder end of a left coracoid, catalog number PIN 4499-13. All three fossils are in the collection of the Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The material is depicted in the journal with both photographs and illustrations. The humeral head is around 29 mm (1.1 in) wide. The largest enantiornithine from the Early Cretaceous is Pengornis, with a humeral head width of 17 mm (0.67 in).[4]

Kurochkin also mentions that "The additional distal portions of the ulna, radius, and carpometacarpus from the same beds also very probably belong to the Enantiornithes." This passage may describe PIN 4499-1, which was later assigned to Teviornis. Kurochkin also adds that G. nessovi demonstrates that there were large Enantiornithids in Central Asia as well as the Americas at the end of the Cretaceous.[1]

References
  1. Kurochkin, E.N. (1999) "A new large enantiornithid from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia." In I. Darevskii and A. Averianov (editors), "Materials on the History of Fauna of Eurasia. Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint-Petersburg" 277: 132–147. QL1 .A4253 v.277 1999[in Russian]
  2. Clarke, Julia A., Norell, Mark A. (2004) "New Avialan Remains and a Review of the Late Cretaceous Nemegt Formation of Mongolia" "American Museum Novitates" Number 3447, 12pp. June 2, 2004
  3. Rubén Molina-Pérez, Asier Larramendi, David Connolly, Gonzalo Ángel Ramírez Cruz, Andrey Atuchin (June 25, 2019). Dinosaur Facts and Figures: The Theropods and Other Dinosauriformes. Princeton University Press. p. 281. ISBN 9780691190594. Retrieved 29 August 2022.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. "Insight into diversity, body size and morphological evolution from the largest Early Cretaceous enantiornithine bird" Zhonghe Zhou, Julia Clarke, Fucheng Zhang "Journal of Anatomy" (2008) 212, pp565–577. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7580.2008.00880.x
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