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1 March 2013 An Ankylosaurid Dinosaur from Mongolia with in Situ Armour and Keratinous Scale Impressions
Victoria M. Arbour, Nicolai L. Lech-Hernes, Tom E. Guldberg, Jørn H. Hurum, Philip J. Currie
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Abstract

A Mongolian ankylosaurid specimen identified as Tarchia gigantea is an articulated skeleton including dorsal ribs, the sacrum, a nearly complete caudal series, and in situ osteoderms. The tail is the longest complete tail of any known ankylosaurid. Remarkably, the specimen is also the first Mongolian ankylosaurid that preserves impressions of the keratinous scales overlying the bony osteoderms. This specimen provides new information on the shape, texture, and arrangement of osteoderms. Large flat, keeled osteoderms are found over the pelvis, and osteoderms along the tail include large keeled osteoderms, elongate osteoderms lacking distinct apices, and medium-sized, oval osteoderms. The specimen differs in some respects from other Tarchia gigantea specimens, including the morphology of the neural spines of the tail club handle and several of the largest osteoderms.

© 2013 V.M. Arbour et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Victoria M. Arbour, Nicolai L. Lech-Hernes, Tom E. Guldberg, Jørn H. Hurum, and Philip J. Currie "An Ankylosaurid Dinosaur from Mongolia with in Situ Armour and Keratinous Scale Impressions," Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 58(1), 55-64, (1 March 2013). https://doi.org/10.4202/app.2011.0081
Received: 18 July 2011; Accepted: 10 February 2012; Published: 1 March 2013
KEYWORDS
Ankylosauria
Ankylosauridae
Dinosauria
Late Cretaceous
Mongolia
Saichania
Tarchia
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