Itemirus

Itemirus is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Turonian aged Bissekty Formation of the Late Cretaceous period of Uzbekistan.

Itemirus Temporal range: Turonian, 91 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Reconstruction
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	Theropoda
Family:	†Dromaeosauridae
Clade:	†Eudromaeosauria
Subfamily:	†Dromaeosaurinae
Genus:	†Itemirus Kurzanov, 1976
Species:	†I. medullaris
Binomial name
†Itemirus medullaris Kurzanov, 1976

Discovery

Rear of skull

Itemirus is known from a single small, damaged fossil braincase or neurocranium, in 1958 found near the village of Itemir at the Dzharakuduk escarpment in layers of the Bissekty Formation. This holotype has accession number PIN 327/699. The type species, Itemirus medullaris, was named and described by Sergei Kurzanov in 1976. The generic name refers to Itemir. The specific name refers to the medulla oblongata, the part of the brain encased by the partial braincase.^[1]

Classification

Kurzanov noted anatomical similarities to the Tyrannosauridae and the Dromaeosauridae; he assigned Itemirus to a separate Itemiridae. In 2004, Thomas Holtz suggested it was a member of the Tyrannosauroidea.^[2] Nicholas Longrich and Philip J. Currie in 2009 included Itemirus in a cladistic analysis of internal dromaeosaurid relationships and found it to be a velociraptorine.^[3] In 2014, during a study assigning more material to Itemirus, it was found that the genus could be placed in Dromaeosaurinae in a phylogeny.^[4]

Eudromaeosauria	Bambiraptor Saurornitholestes Velociraptorinae Deinonychus Adasaurus Velociraptor Balaur Dromaeosaurinae Tsaagan Dromaeosaurus Atrociraptor Utahraptor Achillobator Itemirus

See also

• Timeline of dromaeosaurid research