Comparison of Ulughbegsaurus (top) to Timurlengia (bottom right). Artwork by Julius Csotonyi.
Ulughbegsaurus uzbekistanensis (meaning "Ulugh Beg's Lizard") is an extinct genus of Carcharodontosaurian theropod dinosaur that lived in Uzbekistan during the Late Cretaceous period around 90 million years ago.
Discovery[]
Ulughbegsaurus is so far known from 3 bones:
- UzSGM 11-01-02', which is the holotype that is a left maxilla
- CCMGE [[1]], the ramus end of a left maxilla
- ZIN PH 357/16, the posterior end of the right maxilla(Formerly assigned to Itemirus)
Etymology[]
In 2021, The genus and species was described in 2021 by Kohei Tanaka, Otabek Ulugbek Ogli Anvarov, Darla K. Zelenitsky, Akhmadjon Shayakubovich Ahmedshaev and Yoshitsugu Kobayashi. The genus name of Uglughbegsaurus was in honor of the sultan and scientist Ulugh Beg, while saurus is derived from the Greek word for lizard, "Sauros". The specific name refers to the area in which it was found, Uzbekistan.
Classification[]
Tanaka et al. ran two phylogenetic analyses using two different datasets to determine the relationships of Ulughbegsaurus. One placed it in a polytomy with Neovenator and Megaraptorans, while the second placed it as a basal Carcharodontosaurian, with Megaraptorans being placed within Tyrannosauroidea.
Description[]
Skeletal of Ulughbegsaurus by Clumsystiggy
In life, Ulughbegsaurus would have been one of the biggest animals of its region (measuring at around 7.5-8 m long (25–26 ft) and weighing over 1,000 kg (2,200 lb)), and it would have been the apex predator, overshadowing smaller carnivores like Timurlengia. This also shows that many Carcharodontosaurs were still apex predators as far as into the Turonian stage. However, a 2022 study proposed that because the taxon lacked diagnostic features, and because of that it was considered a nomen dubium. The same study also suggested that the maxilla may have instead belonged to a dromaeosaur.
Paleobiology[]
In the Turonian, Ulughbegsaurus would have coexisted with a wide array of animals, such as the former Rebbachisaurid (Now titanosaur) Dzharatitanis, the giant flying Azhdarcho, small theropods like Itemirus, medium-sized tyrannosaurs like Timurlengia, and ceratopsians like the unusually small Turanoceratops. As well as the Iguanodont Levnesovia.
