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Palaeontology: New predatory dinosaur discovered in Kyrgyzstan
A new discovery has significantly expanded the scientific data situation: the first theropod dinosaur discovered in Kyrgyzstan bears the name Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus. Kyrgyz palaeontologist Aizek Bakirov came across the first remains of this fossil back in 2006. The fossil was found in the mountainous deserts near the town of Tashkömür in western Kyrgyzstan, more precisely in the Balabansai Formation. This geological layer dates back to the Middle Jurassic period and is around 165 million years old.
Origin in Southeast Asia
Theropods, an important group of carnivorous dinosaurs, include famous species such as Tyrannosaurus and Allosaurus as well as the ancestors of our modern birds. During the Mesozoic era, the age of the dinosaurs, a variety of theropod groups existed. Just as lions today live mainly in Africa and tigers in Asia, Allosaurus was restricted to North America and south-west Europe in the Jurassic period, while comparable metriacanthosaurs were found in China. ‘However, the area between Central Europe and East Asia had hardly been researched until now, as no large Jurassic theropods were known from this huge region,’ explains Professor Oliver Rauhut from LMU Munich and the Bavarian State Collection of Palaeontology and Geology.
As part of several excavation campaigns between 2006 and 2023, skull bones, dorsal and pelvic vertebrae, fragments of the shoulder girdle and forelimbs as well as almost the entire pelvic girdle and hind limbs of a predatory dinosaur around eight to nine metres long were recovered. This new genus and species has previously unknown characteristics. Particularly striking is the strongly protruding ‘eyebrow’ on the postorbital bone, a skull bone behind the eye socket, which indicates the existence of a horn at this point. Other unique features can be found on the dorsal vertebrae and the femur. The study, funded by the German Research Foundation, was recently published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
Comparisons with other theropods show that this new species can be assigned to the metriacanthosaurids, which are closely related to the large predatory dinosaurs of East Asia. The palaeontologists suspect that the metriacanthosaurids and other important theropod groups originated in Southeast Asia and spread from there across Central Asia and Europe. ‘Even though the assignment of Alpkarakush to the metriacanthosaurids is not entirely unexpected, this discovery fills a significant gap in our understanding of Jurassic theropods and provides new, important insights into the evolution and biogeography of these animals,’ emphasises Oliver Rauhut, the lead author of the study.
The remains of a second, somewhat smaller specimen of Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus were also discovered at the same site. Analyses of the bone structure showed that the larger specimen was an almost fully grown animal, at least seventeen years old and probably already capable of reproducing, while the smaller one was a juvenile. It is conceivable that a parent was travelling with its offspring 165 million years ago.
The fossil was named after Alpkarakush, a giant bird from the mythological Kyrgyz ‘Manas’ epic, which assists the heroes in critical situations. The species name ‘kyrgyzicus’ refers directly to the origin of the dinosaur from the Kyrgyz Republic. There is a possibility that Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus will be the first dinosaur skeleton to be exhibited in Kyrgyzstan: If there is sufficient support, the reconstructed skeleton with all the original bones will be exhibited in the National Historical Museum in Bishkek.
Digital 3D models of all the main bones of the Alpkarakush were also created using photogrammetry. ‘These models are now accessible online and enable researchers worldwide to carry out further studies or make 3D prints,’ explains co-author Dr Oliver Wings, Director of the Bamberg Natural History Museum.
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