Barsboldia (named after Rinchen Barsbold, a prominent Mongolian paleontologist and geologist) is a genus of saurolophine hadrosaurid dinosaur that lived in the Nemegt Formation, Mongolia, during the early Maastrichtian stage.
Barsboldia is a large hadrosaur believed to have been 10 meters (33 feet) long and 5 metric tons (5.5 short tons) in mass,[1] though later estimates, based on a tibia around 1.4 meters (4 feet, 7 inches) long, indicate that it could have grown significantly bigger, around 12 - 14 meters (40 - 46 feet) in length, which would make it one of the largest hadrosaurs alongside Shantungosaurus, Magnapaulia, and Edmontosaurus. Initially believed to be a lambeosaurine due to its bones resembling those of Hypacrosaurus (down to what is considered the most distinctive feature of Barsboldia, the very tall neural spines that are second only to those of Hypacrosaurus altispinus), studies since 2011 have considered Barsboldia a saurolophine hadrosaur.[2]
Prehistoric Planet portrays Barsboldia with an ocher color scheme consisting of brown stripes on an orange coat and a yellowish-white underside, fitting given its desert habitat.
“ It's not just the unrelenting power of the sun that makes deserts inhospitable; so too do winds. Here in Central Asia, they rip across the landscape, drying up the lands still further, and uprooting vegetation. ”
Barsboldia lived 70 million years ago in the Nemegt Formation, an area that would one day become the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. The formation shows evidence of a rich, humid environment with large river channels, tidal flats, and forests. However, the area is also known to have undergone periodic droughts, and there is precedence for arid regions much like the Gobi Desert today existing in Mongolia during those times, thus justifying the depiction of Barsboldia living in or at least traveling through a vast desert environment.
Social Behavior[]
“ Large dinosaurs keep on the move to try and cope with these harsh conditions. These duck-billed dinosaurs are Barsboldia. They are long-distance specialists, and can go without water for an astonishing length of time, but on rare occasions, there is an abundance. ”
As with most hadrosaurs, Barsboldia is depicted as a social, herding animal. Given how they live in a desert environment, they evolved to be quite resilient, able to go for long periods of time without water. However, when the opportunity to drink comes by, they, along with all other animals that can sense an abundant source of water, would capitalize on this brief chance to rehydrate. It is in these oases that being part of a herd can prove beneficial, for oases can also attract predators like Tarbosaurus. As a herd, the animals can either stand their ground together against their attacker, or escape unharmed at the expense of the least fit individuals, which inevitably become the prime target of most hunters.
Even so, most prey animals do not immediately flee once they are aware of a nearby predator. Some individuals would already plan out how they would escape. The herd could also not afford to simply leave a resource rarely encountered (e.g. a fresh source of water), and animals would also prefer not to waste energy unnecessarily. Such a mindset can prove wise once a potential predator proves to be uninterested in hunting, even if just for the moment.
In the fourth segment of Deserts, a herd of Barsboldia, along with several other animals, travel several miles across the Nemegt desert to drink from a temporary oasis.
“ Much like everyone else, the hunter is here just for water. ”
Later on, a Tarbosaurus arrives, causing the herd of hadrosaurs to cautiously make way for it to avoid conflict. However, the theropod ignores them and simply proceeds to drink water as well.
Subject The evolutionary means and efficient systems that let sauropods attain their massive sizes.
Experts Professor Paul Barrett, Dr. Susannah Maidment
Near the end of the Uncovered segment "How Did Dinosaurs Get So Big?", stock footage from the fourth segment of Deserts is shown, featuring a Mongolian Titan drinking water alongside a a herd of Barsboldia, a Therizinosaurus, and a few Mononykus, with a pair of Tarchia in the background. Although its cameo appearance is not given further elaboration, Barsboldia itself could be seen as an example of dinosaurs gaining massive body sizes.
