Troodontidae (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Uzbekistan

Abstract

To date three taxa of troodontid theropod dinosaurs have been recognized from Upper Cretaceous strata in two regions of the Kyzylkum Desert in Uzbekistan. The Cenomanian Khodzhakul Formation in the southwestern Kyzylkum Desert has yielded isolated serrated teeth and some postcranial bones of an indeterminate troodontid. In the central Kyzylkum Desert troodontids are known from the Cenomanian Dzharakuduk Formation (Urbacodon itemirensis) and the Turonian Bissekty Formation (Urbacodon sp.). Urbacodon itemirensis is known from a single dentary whereas Urbacodon sp. is represented by isolated teeth, maxilla and dentary fragments, a partial braincase, and some postcranial bones. The troodontid affinities of Urbacodon are supported by several synapomorphies: presence of a subotic recess; reduced basal tubera placed directly under the occipital condyle; maxilla participating in the margin of the external naris; nutrient foramina on dentary situated within a deep lateral groove; dentary without distinct interdental plates; large number of small dentary and maxillary teeth; teeth constricted between root and crown; anterior dentary teeth smaller, more numerous, more closely spaced than those in the middle of the tooth row, and implanted in a groove; posterior dorsal vertebrae with tall and posterodorsally tapering neural spines; and presence of a midline sulcus on the neural arches of distal caudals. Among Troodontidae, Urbacodon resembles Byronosaurus, Gobivenator, and Xixiasaurus in the absence of serrations on the tooth crowns and having premaxillary teeth that are D-shaped in cross-section. However, phylogenetic analysis did not recover a clade of Asiatic troodontids with unserrated teeth.