Pronunciation: HOOL-sahn-pees
Meaning: Khulsan (Mongolia) foot
Author/s: Osmólska (1982)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Khulsan, Mongolia
Discovery Chart Position: #295
Hulsanpes perlei
The problem with Hulsanpes, and it ain't a trivial one, is that it was described on the basis of a single foot, and a poorly represented one at that, plus a lump of possible braincase that took half a century to illustrate and describe. It's probably a maniraptoran, possibly a troodontid or dromaeosaurid, or maybe a velociraptorine, given that its remains bear a striking similarity to those of a young Velociraptor.
Truth be told, its remains bear a striking similarity to many critters of its size, place and time. Heck, it could turn out to be one of the primitive euornithines (the ancient ancestors of "true birds"), or something else entirely.
In 2017, Andrea Cau and colleagues assigned Hulsanpes to Halszkaraptorinae, a subfamily of diminutive theropods, roughly the size of modern-day ducks. Like some ducks, their research concluded, halszkaraptorines were semiaquatic: they walked on two legs on land, but were also capable swimmers that used their forelimbs to push through water and their long necks to forage for aquatic goodies. However, several scientists have since questioned that theory, claiming the features noted by Cau do not directly support an ability to swim. Hulsanpes in particular seems more suited to life on land, with its slender holotype foot built for running rather than swimming.
In 2017, Andrea Cau and colleagues assigned Hulsanpes to Halszkaraptorinae, a subfamily of diminutive theropods, roughly the size of modern-day ducks. Like some ducks, their research concluded, halszkaraptorines were semiaquatic: they walked on two legs on land, but were also capable swimmers that used their forelimbs to push through water and their long necks to forage for aquatic goodies. However, several scientists have since questioned that theory, claiming the features noted by Cau do not directly support an ability to swim. Hulsanpes in particular seems more suited to life on land, with its slender holotype foot built for running rather than swimming.
(Perle's foot from Khulsan)
Etymology
Hulsanpes is derived from "Khulsan" (the Latinised name of Hulsan) and the Latin "pes" (foot)... because its fossilized foot was discovered at Khulsan, Mongolia.The species epithet, perlei, honours Mongolian palaeontologist Altangerel Perle.
Discovery
The only remains of Hulsanpes were discovered in the Barun Goyot Formation of Khulsan in 1970, during the third Polish-Mongolian paleontological expedition to the Nemegt Basin.
The holotype (ZPAL MgD-I/173) is the partial foot (a metatarsal and a single toe bone) of an apparently immature individual. An undescribed fragment of braincase, found along with the foot, was identified as belonging to the inner ear region by Andrea Cau and Daniel Madzia in 2018, and it includes the floccular recess and part of the labyrinth.
