PONE-D-21-13378

A partial caenagnathid skeleton from the Nemegt Formation of Bügiin Tsav, and the status of Nomingia gobiensis (Theropoda: Oviraptorosauria)

PLOS ONE

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Please address the reviewers issues, especially the diversity question proposed by Dr. Pittman. Beyond that there are only very minor issues to be dealt with before this manuscript can be accepted for publications. This is a quality work and I believe that it will be a strong addition to the field. 

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Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Additional Editor Comments (if provided):

First off congratulations on a high quality manuscript. Both reviewers enjoyed and recommended this work with only minor issues. I agree with both of them and suggest you follow their recommendations especially the issue about the use of nomen dubium raised by Dr. Holtz (which can be easily dealt with with minor text alterations) and the issue raised by Dr. Pittman about low diversity of caenagnathids in the Nemegt compared to other oviraptorosaurs and how this compares to other well studied regions. I do agree such a broader picture perspective would increase the readership and impact of this paper and, given your strong background and work in this area, I do not believe that compiling this data would be much of a stretch. I feel this small addition, a small analysis and a couple of paragraphs in the discussion, would greatly increase this manuscripts influence on future discussion both on oviraptorosaur diversity trends and other clades. I look forward to reading the next version as I think with those small modifications and the other very minor comments the two reviewers bring up this paper would be more than acceptable for publication in PLoS one.

Hope all is well and once again congratulations to all the authors on your hard work.

TA Dececchi

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: N/A

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: Dear Dr. Funston and colleagues (Hi Greg, Phil, Chinzorig and Tsogtbaatar!),

Thank you for the opportunity to review your work. I agree with your synonymy and think it is convincingly argued.

I have recommended a few references for you to add -- I think they would strengthen your paper. My main suggestion is to discuss what low caenagnathid species count in the Nemegt tells us about the local oviraptorosaur fauna e.g. were caenagnathids marginal members there? This naturally springboards onto whether the make up of oviraptorosaur faunas are similar in this way regionally and globally or if this was unique to the Nemegt. These are bigger picture questions that the reader would be very interested in that your work provides an ideal opportunity to comment on. I hope you can comment on these aspects.

Thanks for taking my comments on board. I look forward to seeing the manuscript published at the journal.

Best regards,

Dr. Michael Pittman

The University of Hong Kong

Reviewer #2: In a world where partial skull caps or proximal femora become the source of new taxon names, it is pleasant and encouraging to see the case where two relatively well-known sympatric species based on non-overlapping parts of the anatomy turn out to be just one taxon.

The anatomical descriptions of the specimens (both the new one, and the reprepared Elmisaurus rarus holotype) are thorough. The case uniting this specimen with both Nomingia gobiensis and Elmisaurus rarus is strong; those features where it differs from some specimens of Elmisaurus rarus (e.g., lack of fusion of distal tarsals and proximal ends of the metatarsals) are shown to be variable within Elmisaurus already.

I disagree with the authors, however, on one specific item on p. 19, line 406. I do not think that they have shown that Nomingia gobiensis is a nomen dubium. A nomen dubium isn’t simply an invalid name; it is specifically a reference to a species name in which the type specimen is in fact insufficient to diagnose the species in question (see Mones 1989, for instance). That isn’t the case here; if the name “Elmisaurus rarus” had not been proposed, it seems as if the type specimen of Nomingia gobiensis could have served as a valid source for an oviraptorosaur name distinct from other known named taxa. Instead, the authors have simply shown that Nomingia gobiensis is a junior subjective synonym of Elmisaurus rarus (“junior” in that it was named later; “subjective synonym” in that they refer to the same taxon but use different type specimens.)

Mones, A. 1989. Nomen dubium vs. nomen vanum. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 9: 232-234.

COMMENTS

Line 514 It might be appropriate to cite Persons et al. (2015) here, with the demonstration that chevron morphology can vary intraspecifically (sexually?) within an oviraptorosaur.

Persons, W.S., IV, G.F. Funston, P.J. Currie & M.A. Norell. 2015. A possible instance of sexual dimorphism in the tails of two oviraptorosaur dinosaurs. Scientific Reports 5: 9472. Doi: 10.1038/srep09472

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Reviewer #1: Yes: Dr. Michael Pittman

Reviewer #2: Yes: Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.

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Attachments

Attachment

Submitted filename: Funston et al 2021_MP review_20210524.pdf

A partial oviraptorosaur skeleton suggests low caenagnathid diversity in the Late Cretaceous Nemegt Formation of Mongolia

PONE-D-21-13378R1

Dear Dr. Funston,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

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Kind regards,

T. Alexander Dececchi, Ph.D

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments:

I want to thank you all for listening to the reviewers comments and addressing them in your revision. I know adding a new part to the discussion increased the workload for you, but I hope you agree that it does improve the impact and reach of your paper. I look forward to seeing this "on the shelves" soon. Great job to you and your team.