| Arstanosaurus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Hypothetical life reconstruction | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | †Ornithischia |
| Clade: | †Ornithopoda |
| Superfamily: | †Hadrosauroidea |
| Genus: | †Arstanosaurus Shilin & Suslov, 1982 |
| Species: | †A. akkurganensis |
| Binomial name | |
| †Arstanosaurus akkurganensis Shilin & Suslov, 1982 | |
Arstanosaurus (meaning "Arstan lizard" after theArstan well) is agenus ofhadrosauroiddinosaur from theSantonian-Campanian-ageUpper CretaceousBostobe Formation,Kazakhstan. It has had a confusing history, being considered both a hadrosaurid and aceratopsid, or both at the same time (chimeric).
The genus was based on a partial leftmaxilla (holotypeAAIZ 1/1 or IZ AN KSSR 1/1), with the lower end of a leftfemur (AAIZ 1/2) possibly referable. Both were found atAkkurgan-Boltyk nearQyzylorda and were named and described asArstanosaurus akkurganensis in 1982.[1] This is not much material for naming a new genus, and it was largely ignored until the mid-1990s, when the hypothesis that it was really a ceratopsid appeared.[2] Shortly thereafter, a new revision appeared that showed that the characteristics listed as unusual forArstanosaurus were really based on perspective, and that the maxilla was from an animal likeBactrosaurus, albeit indeterminate (adubious name). The femur was uninformative.[3] It was regarded as an indeterminate hadrosaurid in the most recent review.[4]
Diagnostichadrosauroid remains from the same area have in 2012 been named asBatyrosaurus.[5]
A hadrosauroid from theBayan Shireh Formation (informally called "Gadolosaurus") has at times been identified asArstanosaurus, but is clearly a distinct genus.[6][7][8]
As a hadrosaurid,Arstanosaurus would have been abipedal/quadrupedalherbivore, eating plants with sets of ever-replacing teeth stacked on each other.[4]
