Skip to main content

Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus, a new species theropod dinosaur in Kyrgyzstan

NEWS - A Kyrgyz-German paleontological team has unearthed the fossils of two specimens of a new species of predatory dinosaur near Tashkumyr in southwestern Kyrgyzstan in one of the most important finds in Central Asia. The new discovery is significant because Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus is the first theropod dinosaur in Central Asia.

Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus, a new species theropod dinosaur in Kyrgyzstan 1

Theropod dinosaurs date back to the Mesozoic Era and include Tyrannosaurus, Allosaurus and modern birds. Allosaurus was widespread during the Jurassic Period in North America and southwestern Europe, while Metriacanthosaurus lived in China. But so far, central Europe and East Asia have been terra incognita, meaning there is no trace of the Jurassic period.

The first fossil remains were discovered in 2006 by Kyrgyz paleontologist Aizek Bakirov in a mountainous desert region near the city of Tashkumyr. The exposed Balabansai Formation sediments were deposited during the Middle Jurassic period about 165 million years ago.

Several excavation operations between 2006 and 2023 found skull bones, dorsal and pelvic vertebrae, fragments of the shoulder girdle and forelimbs, an almost complete pelvic girdle and hind limbs with a length of 8-9 meters. This is a new genus and species with previously unknown characteristics.

Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus, a new species theropod dinosaur in Kyrgyzstan 2

A unique feature found is the very prominent "eyebrow" on the so-called postorbital bone, the skull bone behind the eye opening, which suggests the presence of horns at this point. Other strange features were found on the dorsal vertebrae and the thigh bone.

The new species belongs to the metriacanthosaurids which are closely related to the large predatory dinosaurs of East Asia. Paleontologists suggest the origin of metriacanthosaurids and other important theropod groups in Southeast Asia from where they spread to other continents via Central Asia and Europe.

"Although the affiliation of Alpkarakush with metriacanthosaurids is not necessarily surprising, this finding fills a major gap in the Jurassic theropods. We have new insights into the evolution and biogeography of these animals," says Oliver Rauhut of the Bavarian Collection of Paleontology and Geology (SNSB-BSPG) in Munich.

The second specimen is slightly smaller. The internal bone structure reveals that it was almost an adult, at least 17 years old and sexually mature, while the smaller individual was still a juvenile. Perhaps the mother animal was on a tour with her offspring 165 million years ago.



"The models are now available online and enable researchers worldwide to carry out further studies and make 3D prints," says Oliver Wings, Director of the Bamberg Natural History Museum.

Original research

Oliver W M Rauhut, Aizek A Bakirov, Oliver Wings, Alexandra E Fernandes, Tom R Hübner, A new theropod dinosaur from the Callovian Balabansai Formation of Kyrgyzstan, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 201, Issue 4, August 2024, zlae090, DOI:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae090

Popular Posts

Blood lily (Scadoxus multiflorus)

Blood lily or Haemanthus multiflorus ( Scadoxus multiflorus ) is a species of plant in the Amaryllidaceae, a bulbous shrub that produces rhizomes. Leaves and flowers may appear together or leaves may be produced later. The base of the leaves and stems are tightly wrapped to form a pseudo-stem or false stem, 5-60 cm long. Flowers in umbels at the top of the stem, leafless, 12-75 cm long. Pseudostems and scapes are often covered with reddish brown to dark purple spots. The flower umbel is in the shape of a globe with 10-200 individual flowers. Each flower has a stalk, 15-45 mm long. The tepals and filaments of the stamens are red. The base of the tepals is fused to form a cylindrical tube, 4-26 mm long, the free end of the tepals 12-32 mm long, narrow and spreading. The fruit is a berry having a diameter of 5-10 mm. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Liliopsida Order: Asparagales Family: Amaryllidaceae Subfamily: Amaryllidoideae Tribe: Haemantheae Ge...

Indian rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia)

Sonokeling or Java palisandre or Indian rosewood ( Dalbergia latifolia ) is a species of plant in the Fabaceae, a large tree producing hardwood, medium weight and high quality, rounded leaves, thin and broad pods, highly adaptive, grows in dry and rocky landscapes with lots of sunlight. D. latifolia has medium to large size, cylindrical stems, up to 40 m high with a ring of up to 2 m, the bark is brownish gray and slightly cracked longitudinally. The crown is dense, dome-shaped and sheds leaves. The leaves are compound and pinnate oddly with 5-7 strands that have different sizes and appear alternately on the shaft. The leaves are round or elongated in width or heart, the upper surface is green and the surface is pale green. The flowers are small, 0.5-1 cm long and clustered in panicles. The pods are green to brown when ripe and are elongated lanceolate, pointed at the base and tip. The pods have 1-4 seeds which are soft and brownish. Indian rosewood grows at elevations below 600 m,...

Plumeria rubra and Plumeria obtusa, the differences

SPECIES HEAD TO HEAD - The genus frangipani trees ( Plumeria Tourn. ex L.) has only 18 officially recorded species and two very similar species, frangipani ( Plumeria rubra L.) and white frangipani ( Plumeria obtusa L.). Both have the same habitus, flowers and fruits and are difficult to distinguish. The leaves of both species have slightly different shapes. Therefore, the leaves are very important to distinguish the two species, especially the shape of the tip. P. rubra has simple, lanceolate leaves with acute tips. P. obtusa has simple, elliptic leaves with rounded tips. By Aryo Bandoro Founder of Dlium.com . You can follow him on X: @Abandoro . Read more: Plumeria rubra Plumeria obtusa