Koreanosaurus, new burrowing ornithopod

[bh480@scn.org]

From: Ben Creisler
bh480@scn.org

In case this advance online paper has not been mentioned 
yet:

Min Huh, Dae-Gil Lee, Jung-Kyun Kim, Jong-Deock Lim, and 
Pascal Godefroit (2010).
A new basal ornithopod dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous 
of South Korea.

Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - 
Abhandlungen (advance online publication)

Abstract:

The Seonso Conglomerate (?Santonian ? Campanian, Late 
Cretacous) of Boseong site 5 (southern coast of Korean 
Peninsula) has yielded well-preserved postcranial 
material belonging to a new taxon of ornithischian 
dinosaur, Koreanosaurus boseongensis nov. gen., nov. sp. 
This dinosaur is characterized by elongated neck 
vertebrae, very long and massive scapulocoracoid and 
humerus, proportionally short hindlimbs with a low 
hindlimb ratio for tibia/femur, and anteroposteriorly-
elongated femoral head forming an obtuse 135° angle with 
the femoral shaft. Koreanosaurus displays a series of 
neornithischian synapomorphies. Amongst Neornithischia, 
most features of the postcranial skeleton suggest 
affinities with basal ornithopods and, amongst them, 
particularly with a small clade formed by three genera 
from the Cretaceous of Montana: Zephyrosaurus schaffi, 
Orodromeus makelai, and Oryctodromeus cubicularis. 
According to the morphological, phylogenetic, 
sedimentological, and taphonomic data at hand, it is 
tentatively postulated that Koreanosaurus was a burrowing 
dinosaur, like Oryctodromeus. 

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/schweiz/njbgeol/pre-
prints/0102