Data from: Postcrania of juvenile Pinacosaurus grangeri (Ornithischia: Ankylosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous Alagteeg Formation, Alag Teeg, Mongolia: implications for ontogenetic allometry in ankylosaurs

The ankylosaurine Pinacosaurus is one of the best known ankylosaur to date
in terms of the number and preservational quality of specimens. Juvenile
to sub-adult postcrania collected by the Soviet-Mongolian Paleontological
Expedition from the Upper Cretaceous Alagteeg Formation at Alag Teeg,
Mongolia can be assigned to Pinacosaurus grangeri based on discrete
cranial characters. One individual is significantly larger than the others
and demonstrates delayed fusion of postcranial elements with the earliest
occurring between dorsal ribs and vertebrae. The robustness of forelimb
elements is positively allometric with respect to their length, indicating
weight-bearing relationship. Such length-dependent correlations are not
seen in the hind limbs. Finally, incipient cervical half rings suggest a
developmental pathway of outgrowths from the underlying band combined with
fusion of overlying osteoderms.