Hunted by Fragments

©Nobu Tamura

This illustration depicts what appears to be a tyrannosaurid attacking Aralosaurus tuberiferus. As two of the very few recovered remains of dinosaurs from Kazakhstan, this tyrannosaurid and Aralosaurus probably had significant contact during their species' time spans. Here the body of Aralosaurus has been detailed as very typically Lambeosaurine, which it should be, by all rights, if the assigned phylogenetic positioning proscribed to the fossils are correct. The most interesting aspect of this illustration is the interpretation of the wide protuberance of the nasal area. Many of the illustrations I have seen of this fossil animal "fleshed out", and even the fossil "blueprints" that included hypothetical extensions of bony and fleshy boundaries, show this as a part of a ridge that caudally slopes downward into the neurocranium rather than depicting it as a spiky protuberance, as seen here. These usual illustrations follow the illustrations of Rozhdetvensky's 1968 Hadrosaurs of Kazakhstan. Tamura's illustration is one of the few that strays from this in a way that is subtle and flowing rather than depicting it as a spike on the nose.The tyrannosaurid depicted in the attack is also based on fragmentary evidence, but was probably related to Tarbosaurus in some fashion; the closest discussion I have found in Rozhdestvensky's papers thus far are a few mentions of Tarbosaurus from Asia, but not Kazakhstan specifically. Eventually, as I hopefully mentioned yesterday, these dinosaurs will excite more investigation and these dinosaurs from Kazakhstan will become better known. For now, these are some of the best interpretations of the known remains.