Haplocheirus sollers, Choiniere et al., 2010

Choiniere, Jonah N., Clark, James M., Norell, Mark A. & Xu, Xing, 2014, Cranial osteology of Haplocheirus sollers Choiniere et al., 2010 (Theropoda: Alvarezsauroidea), American Museum Novitates 2014 (3816), pp. 1-1 : 1-

H. sollers Choiniere et al., 2010

HOLOTYPE: IVPP V 14988 , a nearly complete skeleton lacking the dorsal parts of the ilium and the caudal vertebrae distal to caudal 13. An articulated skeleton of a crocodyliform is preserved surrounding its cervical vertebrae.

STRATIGRAPHIC AND GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION: “Middle beds” of the Shishugou Formation, Xinjiang, China ( fig. 1 ). The section of the Shishugou Formation at Wucaiwan in which the specimen was found ( fig. 2) is under- and overlain by radiometrically dated volcanic tuffs (Eberth et al., 2001). They bracket the age of the fossils to between 159.7+/-0.3 and 162.2+/-0.2 Ma (previously reported as between 158.7 ± 0.3 and 161.2 ± 0.2 mya [Clark et al., 2006], but recalibration of the Fish Canyon Sanidine [Kuiper et al., 2008)] adds 0.6% to our previous dates Clark et al., 2006), which corresponds to the Oxfordian stage (Gradstein et al., 2012). Unlike the recently described Shishugou theropods Guanlong ( Xu et al., 2006) and Limusaurus ( Xu et al., 2009) , which were discovered in mud mires (Eberth et al., 2010), the holotype of Haplocheirus was discovered in a fine-grained red to brown mudstone, with no evidence of miring.

Figures

FIGURE 1. A. Map showing location of Shishugou Formation and Wucaiwan locality in Xinjiang, People’s Republic of China. B. View of type locality of Haplocheirus sollers at Wucaiwan. View is looking toward the SW.