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      A partial oviraptorosaur skeleton suggests low caenagnathid diversity in the Late Cretaceous Nemegt Formation of Mongolia

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          Abstract

          The Nemegt Formation of the Gobi Desert of Mongolia has produced one of the most abundant and diverse oviraptorosaur records globally. However, the caenagnathid component of this fauna remains poorly known. Two caenagnathid taxa are currently recognized from the Nemegt Formation: Elmisaurus rarus and Nomingia gobiensis. Because these taxa are known from mostly non-overlapping material, there are concerns that they could represent the same animal. A partial, weathered caenagnathid skeleton discovered adjacent to the holotype quarry of Nomingia gobiensis is referable to Elmisaurus rarus, revealing more of the morphology of the cranium, mandible, pectoral girdle, and pubis. Despite metatarsals clearly exhibiting autapomorphies of Elmisaurus rarus, overlapping elements are identical to those of Nomingia gobiensis, and add to a growing body of evidence that these taxa represent a single morphotype. In the absence of any positive evidence for two caenagnathid taxa in the Nemegt Formation, Nomingia gobiensis is best regarded as a junior synonym of Elmisaurus rarus. Low caenagnathid diversity in the Nemegt Formation may reflect broader coexistence patterns with other oviraptorosaur families, particularly oviraptorids. In contrast to North America, competition with the exceptionally diverse oviraptorids may have restricted caenagnathids to marginal roles in Late Cretaceous Asian ecosystems.

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          Taphonomic and ecologic information from bone weathering

          Bones of recent mammals in the Amboseli Basin, southern Kenya, exhibit distinctive weathering characteristics that can be related to the time since death and to the local conditions of temperature, humidity and soil chemistry. A categorization of weathering characteristics into six stages, recognizable on descriptive criteria, provides a basis for investigation of weathering rates and processes. The time necessary to achieve each successive weathering stage has been calibrated using known-age carcasses. Most bones decompose beyond recognition in 10 to 15 yr. Bones of animals under 100 kg and juveniles appear to weather more rapidly than bones of large animals or adults. Small-scale rather than widespread environmental factors seem to have greatest influence on weathering characteristics and rates. Bone weathering is potentially valuable as evidence for the period of time represented in recent or fossil bone assemblages, including those on archeological sites, and may also be an important tool in censusing populations of animals in modern ecosystems.
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            Late Mesozoic stratigraphy and vertebrates of the Gobi Basin

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              Evidence for taphonomic size bias in the Dinosaur Park Formation (Campanian, Alberta), a model Mesozoic terrestrial alluvial‐paralic system

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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Role: ConceptualizationRole: Formal analysisRole: InvestigationRole: MethodologyRole: Project administrationRole: VisualizationRole: Writing – original draftRole: Writing – review & editing
                Role: ConceptualizationRole: Data curationRole: InvestigationRole: Writing – review & editing
                Role: ConceptualizationRole: Data curationRole: InvestigationRole: Writing – review & editing
                Role: ConceptualizationRole: Data curationRole: ResourcesRole: Writing – review & editing
                Role: Editor
                Journal
                PLoS One
                PLoS One
                plos
                PLoS ONE
                Public Library of Science (San Francisco, CA USA )
                1932-6203
                12 July 2021
                2021
                : 16
                : 7
                : e0254564
                Affiliations
                [1 ] School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
                [2 ] Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
                [3 ] NC Museum of Natural Sciences, Department of Biological Sciences, NC State University, Raleigh, NC, United States of America
                [4 ] Institute of Paleontology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
                Mount Marty College, UNITED STATES
                Author notes

                Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

                Author information
                https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3430-4398
                https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5231-0113
                Article
                PONE-D-21-13378
                10.1371/journal.pone.0254564
                8274908
                34252154
                e45a1b95-4791-40ff-be4f-a4cce1b81286
                © 2021 Funston 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.

                History
                : 22 April 2021
                : 29 June 2021
                Page count
                Figures: 8, Tables: 0, Pages: 21
                Funding
                Funded by: The Royal Society
                Award ID: NIF\R1\191527
                Award Recipient :
                Funded by: funder-id http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000038, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada;
                Award ID: RGPIN-2017-04715
                Award Recipient :
                Funded by: funder-id http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000038, natural sciences and engineering research council of canada;
                Award ID: Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement
                Award Recipient :
                Funding to GFF for travel and research in Mongolia was provided by a Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement from NSERC ( https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/index_eng.asp) and Vanier Canada ( https://vanier.gc.ca). GFF is funded by the Royal Society [Grant NIF\R1\191527] ( https://royalsociety.org/). PJC is funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada [Grant RGPIN-2017-04715] ( https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/index_eng.asp). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
                Categories
                Research Article
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Anatomy
                Musculoskeletal System
                Skeleton
                Pelvis
                Pubis
                Medicine and Health Sciences
                Anatomy
                Musculoskeletal System
                Skeleton
                Pelvis
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                Custom metadata
                All data used in the study are available in the paper, except for precise coordinates of the fossil localities, which are withheld to protect the sites. Precise coordinates are accessioned with the specimens at the Institute of Paleontology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and are available upon request by email ( ipt@ 123456mas.ac.mn ) or phone [+(976) 70118283].

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