Hulsanpes

Hulsanpes (hhʊlsɑːnpɛs meaning "Khulsan foot") is a genus of halszkaraptorine theropod dinosaurs that lived during the Late Cretaceous in what is now the Barun Goyot Formation of Mongolia, about 75-72 million years ago. The remains were found in 1970 and formally described in 1982 by Halszka Osmólska, who noted that the genus is represented by an immature individual. Hulsanpes represents the first record of the basal dromaeosaurid subfamily Halszkaraptorinae. The first fossil remains of Hulsanpes were discovered in 1970 during the third Polish-Mongolian expedition at Khulsan in the Gobi Desert. Twelve years later, the type species, Hulsanpes perlei, was named and described by the Polish palaeontologist Halszka Osmólska in 1982. Hulsanpes is based on the holotype fossil specimen ZPAL MgD-I/173, uncovered in a sandstone layer of the Barun Goyot Formation, dating from the Late Campanian (roughly 72 million years ago). It consists of a partial braincase fragment and the right metatarsus composed by the second, third and fourth metatarsals and three pedal phalanges from an apparently immature individual. Osmólska mentioned the braincase as preserved in the holotype but this element was never described. Based on the unusual morphology of the metatarsus and second phalanges she concluded that Hulsanpes represented a deinonychosaur taxon, but due to the lack of more material, she tentatively classified the genus as a dromaeosaurid taxon. In an etymological aspect, the generic name, Hulsanpes, can be translated as "Khulsan pes" and is derived from the Latinized name of the type locality Khulsan and the Latin pēs meaning "foot" (Hulsan + pēs). The specific name, perlei, is in honour to the veteran Mongolian paleontologist Altangerel Perle. The holotype specimen is represented by a very small immature individual and therefore all the available data is somewhat limited. The roughly textured bones are indicators of an early stage of life, probably a post-hatchling chick.