Anzu wyliei, near-complete caenagnathid oviraptorosaurian

[Jay <jayp.nair@yahoo.com>]

Congrats to Matt Lamanna and the other authors on this awesomeness; this paper 
presents the first decent look into the complete morphology of caenagnathids:


http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0092022;jsessionid=D51520EFE466DC952C242885BED75637

Abstract: The oviraptorosaurian theropod dinosaur clade Caenagnathidae has long 
been enigmatic due to the incomplete nature of nearly all described 
fossils. Here we describe Anzu wyliei gen. et sp. nov., a new 
taxon of large-bodied caenagnathid based primarily on three 
well-preserved partial skeletons. The specimens were recovered from the 
uppermost Cretaceous (upper Maastrichtian) Hell Creek Formation of North and 
South Dakota, and are therefore among the stratigraphically 
youngest known oviraptorosaurian remains. Collectively, the fossils 
include elements from most regions of the skeleton, providing a wealth 
of information on the osteology and evolutionary relationships of 
Caenagnathidae. Phylogenetic analysis reaffirms caenagnathid monophyly, 
and indicates that Anzu is most closely related to Caenagnathus collinsi, a 
taxon that is definitively known only from a mandible from the 
Campanian Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta. The problematic 
oviraptorosaurs Microvenator and Gigantoraptor are recovered as basal 
caenagnathids, as has previously been suggested. Anzu and other caenagnathids 
may have favored well-watered floodplain 
settings over channel margins, and were probably ecological generalists 
that fed upon vegetation, small animals, and perhaps eggs.