First find of an ornithomimid theropod dinosaur in the Upper Cretaceous of the Russian Far East

Abstract

A fragmentary tibia of an actively growing sub-adult individual from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Udurchukan Formation at Kundur, Amur oblast, Far East, Russia, is similar to the tibia of Qiupalong henanensis from the Maastrichtian of Henan Province, China, in bearing a weak posteromedial ridge at the distal end and equally projecting distal malleoli. Qiupalong had a transcontinental distribution and likely originated in North America. Similarly, lambeosaurine hadrosaurids from the Udurchukan Formation have American affinities and their ancestors may had dispersed from North America to East Asia together with a Qiupalong-like ornithomimid. Q. henanensis and Ornithomimidae indet. from Kundur are the only records of the Maastrichtian Ornithomimidae in Asia outside Gobi Desert.