Rinchen Barsbold
Encyclopedia
Dr. Rinchen Barsbold is a Mongolia
n paleontologist
and geologist
. He works with the Institute of Geology, at Ulaanbaatar
, Mongolia
. He is recognized around the world as a leader in vertebrate
paleontology
and Mesozoic
stratigraphy
.
Barsbold has been instrumental in the discovery and recovery of one of the largest dinosaur
collections in the world. His work has projected Mongolian paleontology into world prominence and helped to form a more modern understanding of the later stages of dinosaur evolution in Eurasia
.
Barsbold has had considerable influence on dinosaur paleontology in the Communist world. Barsbold's scientific work has made him a leading authority on theropods of the Gobi Desert
, starting with his doctoral dissertation on these dinosaurs. As early as 1983, he noted that in different lineages of theropods, many features hitherto only known from bird
s had evolved in various combinations (Barsbold 1983). He postulated that as a result of this "ornithization", one or several lineages of theropods that happened to acquire the proper combination of such traits went on to evolve into actual birds.
Since the identification of a number of feathered dinosaurs
beginning in the late 1990s, Barsbold's ideas are more fully appreciated. When he initially published his conclusions - a list of generally rather obscure anatomical features - in 1983, there was little exchange between the Mongolian scientific community and that of Western countries. Moreover, Barsbold's early papers were usually published in Russian
, in which few Western scientists are fluent. In addition, Evgeny Kurochkin - probably the leading specialist on bird paleontology in the then-Communist world - was critical of the theropod-bird link, working with and teaching mostly Cenozoic
bird paleontology. Therefore, Barsbold's theories initially had more impact among "dinosaur" paleontologists in Mongolia, the USSR, and allied countries.
(Maryanska et Osmolska, 1981) and Rinchenia
(Osmolska et al. , 2004) were named to honour Rinchen Barsbold.
The dinosaur genera
and families
named by Barsbold are, in alphabetical order:
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
n paleontologist
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
and geologist
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
. He works with the Institute of Geology, at Ulaanbaatar
Ulaanbaatar
Ulan Bator or Ulaanbaatar is the capital and largest city of Mongolia. An independent municipality, the city is not part of any province, and its population as of 2008 is over one million....
, Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
. He is recognized around the world as a leader in vertebrate
Vertebrate
Vertebrates are animals that are members of the subphylum Vertebrata . Vertebrates are the largest group of chordates, with currently about 58,000 species described. Vertebrates include the jawless fishes, bony fishes, sharks and rays, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds...
paleontology
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
and Mesozoic
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic era is an interval of geological time from about 250 million years ago to about 65 million years ago. It is often referred to as the age of reptiles because reptiles, namely dinosaurs, were the dominant terrestrial and marine vertebrates of the time...
stratigraphy
Stratigraphy
Stratigraphy, a branch of geology, studies rock layers and layering . It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks....
.
Barsbold has been instrumental in the discovery and recovery of one of the largest dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
collections in the world. His work has projected Mongolian paleontology into world prominence and helped to form a more modern understanding of the later stages of dinosaur evolution in Eurasia
Eurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
.
Barsbold has had considerable influence on dinosaur paleontology in the Communist world. Barsbold's scientific work has made him a leading authority on theropods of the Gobi Desert
Gobi Desert
The Gobi is a large desert region in Asia. It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the...
, starting with his doctoral dissertation on these dinosaurs. As early as 1983, he noted that in different lineages of theropods, many features hitherto only known from bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s had evolved in various combinations (Barsbold 1983). He postulated that as a result of this "ornithization", one or several lineages of theropods that happened to acquire the proper combination of such traits went on to evolve into actual birds.
Since the identification of a number of feathered dinosaurs
Feathered dinosaurs
The realization that dinosaurs are closely related to birds raised the obvious possibility of feathered dinosaurs. Fossils of Archaeopteryx include well-preserved feathers, but it was not until the early 1990s that clearly non-avialan dinosaur fossils were discovered with preserved feathers...
beginning in the late 1990s, Barsbold's ideas are more fully appreciated. When he initially published his conclusions - a list of generally rather obscure anatomical features - in 1983, there was little exchange between the Mongolian scientific community and that of Western countries. Moreover, Barsbold's early papers were usually published in Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, in which few Western scientists are fluent. In addition, Evgeny Kurochkin - probably the leading specialist on bird paleontology in the then-Communist world - was critical of the theropod-bird link, working with and teaching mostly Cenozoic
Cenozoic
The Cenozoic era is the current and most recent of the three Phanerozoic geological eras and covers the period from 65.5 mya to the present. The era began in the wake of the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous that saw the demise of the last non-avian dinosaurs and...
bird paleontology. Therefore, Barsbold's theories initially had more impact among "dinosaur" paleontologists in Mongolia, the USSR, and allied countries.
Dinosaur identification
BarsboldiaBarsboldia
Barsboldia was a genus of large hadrosaurid dinosaur from the early Maastrichtian Nemegt Formation of Ömnogöv', Mongolia. It is known from a partial vertebral column, partial pelvis, and some ribs...
(Maryanska et Osmolska, 1981) and Rinchenia
Rinchenia
Rinchenia is a genus of Mongolian oviraptorid dinosaur from the late Cretaceous Period. The type species, Rinchenia mongoliensis, was originally classified as a species within the genus Oviraptor , but a re-examination by Barsbold in 1997 found differences significant enough to warrant a separate...
(Osmolska et al. , 2004) were named to honour Rinchen Barsbold.
The dinosaur genera
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
and families
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
named by Barsbold are, in alphabetical order:
- AdasaurusAdasaurusAdasaurus is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now Central Asia. It was a small bipedal carnivore with a sickle-shaped claw on the second toe of each hind foot. An adult was perhaps about long....
(1983) - AnserimimusAnserimimusAnserimimus is a genus of ornithomimid theropod dinosaur, from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now Mongolia. It was a lanky, fast-running animal, possibly an omnivore...
(1988) - ConchoraptorConchoraptorConchoraptor is a genus of oviraptorid dinosaur from the late Cretaceous Period of what is now Asia.-Description:...
(1986) - the family Enigmosauridae (1983) (now inactive)
- EnigmosaurusEnigmosaurusEnigmosaurus is a genus of therizinosauroid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia, central Asia...
(with A. Perle, 1983) - GallimimusGallimimusGallimimus is a genus of ornithomimid theropod dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period Nemegt Formation of Mongolia. With individuals as long as , it was one of the largest ornithomimosaurs...
(with H. Osmólska and E. Roniewicz, 1972) - GarudimimusGarudimimusGarudimimus is a basal ornithomimosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia.-Discovery and naming:...
and the family Garudimimidae (1981) - HarpymimusHarpymimusHarpymimus is a basal ornithomimosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period of what is now Mongolia. Unlike later, more derived ornithomimosaurs, Harpymimus still possessed teeth, although they appear to have been restricted to the dentary of the lower jaw.-Discovery and naming:In...
and the family Harpymimidae (with A. Perle, 1984) - IngeniaIngenia"Ingenia" is a genus of oviraptorid theropod dinosaurs, with one known species, "Ingenia" yanshini. Fossils have been found in several Late Cretaceous-age formations of Mongolia, most prominently in the Bugin Tsav beds of the Nemegt Formation, which has also yielded the holotype of Mononykus...
(1981) - the family Ingeniidae (1986)
- the family OviraptoridaeOviraptoridaeOviraptoridae is a group of bird-like, herbivorous and omnivorous maniraptoran dinosaurs. Oviraptorids are characterized by their toothless, parrot-like beaks and, in some cases, elaborate crests. They were generally small, measuring between one and two metres long in most cases, though some...
(1976) - the suborder Segnosauria (with A. Perle, 1980) but this name is now inactive and is included in TherizinosaurTherizinosaurTherizinosaurs are theropod dinosaurs belonging to the clade Therizinosauria. Therizinosaur fossils have been found in Early through Late Cretaceous deposits in Mongolia, the People's Republic of China and Western North America...
ia.
See also
- Nemegt BasinNemegt BasinThe Nemegt Basin is situated in the northwestern part of the Gobi Desert, in the Ömnögovi Province in the southern part of Mongolia. It is known locally as the valley of the dragons, since it is a source of many fossil finds, including dinosaurs, dinosaur eggs and trace fossils.The main geological...
- Nemegt FormationNemegt FormationThe Nemegt Formation is a geological formation dating from the Late Cretaceous sedimentary from the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. It overlies and sometimes forms folds with the Barun Goyot Formation. It consists of river channel sediments and contains fossils of fish, turtles, crocodilians, birds and a...
- Barun Goyot FormationBarun Goyot FormationThe Barun Goyot Formation , dating from the Late Cretaceous Period, is located within and is widely represented in the Gobi Desert basin, in the Ömnögovi Province of Mongolia....
- Djadochta FormationDjadochta FormationThe Djadochta Formation is situated in central Asia and dates from the Late Cretaceous Period. Laid down in the early Campanian, possibly starting in the latest Santonian, it is dated somewhat uncertainly at about 84-75 mya...