#Hadrosaurine | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

a-dinosaur-a-day · 5 years

Text

Diabloceratops eatoni

By Jack Wood

Etymology: Devil Horned Face

First Described By: Kirkland et al., 2010

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Ornithischia, Genasauria, Neornithischia, Cerapoda, Marginocephalia, Ceratopsia, Neoceratopsia, Coronosauria, Ceratopsoidea, Ceratopsidae, Centrosaurinae?

Status: Extinct

Time and Place: Between 81 and 79 million years ago, in the Campanian of the Late Cretaceous

Diabloceratops is known from the lower and middle members of the Wahweap Formation of Utah

Physical Description: Diabloceratops is one of the most completely visually distinctive Ceratopsids - like all members of this very samey group, its body was the same as the rest of them, but its head was distinctive enough to give it a famous name. Like other Ceratopsids, Diabloceratops had four squat legs, a thick torso, and a short tail. It had a long head, with a large crest and a giant beak in the front of its snout, as well as teeth well built for chewing. The interesting thing about this Ceratopsid is that, while it has small brow horns like most early members of this group, it also had two very noticeable horns coming out of its frills - curving away from each other, the left one curving out to the left and the right one curving out to the right. This gave Diabloceratops the very distinctive look of… well, the Christian depiction of Satan. Hence its name, Devil Horned Face! It had a lightly built skull, with a hole seen in earlier Ceratopsians than the later Ceratopsids, and its head was shorter and deeper than later members. The frill of Diabloceratops was kind of weird too - very tall and narrow, rather than wider as in later Ceratopsians. Diabloceratops was primarily scaly all over, though it is possible (especially given how early derived it was) that it had quills or feathery fluff on its tail like earlier Ceratopsians. It was probably about 5.5 meters long from head to tail.

By Nix, CC BY-NC 4.0

Diet: As a Ceratopsid, Diabloceratops probably fed primarily on plants, though it is possible that it supplemented its diet with meat from time to time for protein. It would focus on low-lying and medium-level plant material, less than a meter in height.

By Franz Anthony

Behavior: The frill and fancy spikes of Diabloceratops would have been primarily used in sexual display and other types of communication between members of the herd, especially since they were rather small all things considered. That being said, other Ceratopsians would use these features for defense, and it is thus likely that Diabloceratops did too, even though they didn’t evolve for such a purpose. Diabloceratops, like other Ceratopsians, would have been a very social animal, spending most of its life in herds with socially complex behavior. These herds would have aided Diabloceratops in defending itself from the local predator Lythronax, and any other predatory animals that may have attempted to attack it. Like other dinosaurs, Diabloceratops probably would have taken care of its young, and the social group would have aided it in doing so. Being a large herbivore with deadly weapons on its face, Diabloceratops would have been a very aggressive animal, not trusting anything that got too close to it or its family. It is possible that Diabloceratops herds also migrated too and from the Western Interior Seaway, based on the seasonal rainfall.

By Sam Stanton

Ecosystem: The Wahweap Formation is one of the earliest environments we know of from the charismatic and iconic Late Cretaceous North American faunas - those ecosystems from the Campanian and Maastrichtian which featured Ceratopsians, Hadrosaurs, and Ankylosaurs a plenty, all being preyed upon by terrifying Tyrannosaurs. Weirdly enough, this unique makeup of these ecosystems is unique to North America - while Hadrosaurs could be found elsewhere somewhat, both Tyrannosaurs and Ceratopsids were very rare elsewhere, Ceratopsids especially so. Instead, the world was frequented with many other kinds of large predatory dinosaurs (especially Abelisaurids), and Titanosaurs were some of the most common large herbivores. But I am getting off track - the Wahweap Formation is one of the earliest of these charismatic locations, and as expected, it has some of the earliest members of these groups to branch off, including Diabloceratops. The Wahweap Formation began as a very dry ecosystem, filled with sand and very brief wet seasons; over time, it became a pond ecosystem and - by the time Diabloceratops disappeared - a very fertile system of rivers running in from the Western Interior Seaway.

By Nathan E. Rogers, used with permission from Studio 252Mya

So, in the time of the earliest part of the formation, Diabloceratops was a living in an extremely seasonally varied environment, as it began to transition to more freshwater being present in later millenia from its earlier dry beginnings. The diversity of the later environments, however, was lacking in the earliest one. Here, Diabloceratops was preyed upon by Lythronax, and while some mammals, turtles, and crocodylomorphs were present, it is entirely possible that the great diversity of mammals and other animals to be found later wasn’t present quite yet. In the middle environment, when the ponds were coming in and things were getting more lush, Lythronax was gone - but now Diabloceratops was accompanied by the Hadrosaur Acristavus, similar to the later Maiasaura. There were many non-dinosaurs too, like turtles, though it is uncertain if the many mammals found in Wahweap are from the middle, lower, or upper parts of this environment.

By Nix, CC BY-NC 4.0

Interestingly enough, one of Diabloceratops’ closest relatives, Machairoceratops, is known from the upper unit of this formation - indicating that it is possible that Diabloceratops evolved into Machairoceratops, and never really disappeared from the environment at all.

By José Carlos Cortés

Other: Diabloceratops is usually found to be a Centrosaurine, the group of Ceratopsids with prominent nose horns and frill ornamentation, and usually little to no brow horns. However, a very recent analysis of Ceratopsian relationships found Diabloceratops to be neither a Centrosaurine nor a Chasmosarine (the other group of Ceratopsians, which includes Triceratops and its closest relatives), but rather outside both. Either way, Diabloceratops was a very early Ceratopsids, showing characteristics that are often found in common between both of the major groups of these dinosaurs - and showing how weird their headgear got even early on in their evolution.

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources Under the Cut

Chiba, K.; Michael J. Ryan; Federico Fanti; Mark A. Loewen; David C. Evans (2018). "New material and systematic re-evaluation of Medusaceratops lokii (Dinosauria, Ceratopsidae) from the Judith River Formation (Campanian, Montana)". Journal of Paleontology. in press (2): 272–288.

Dalman, Sebastian G.; Hodnett, John-Paul M.; Lichtig, Asher J.; Lucas, Spencer G. (2018). "A new ceratopsid dinosaur (Centrosaurinae: Nasutoceratopsini) from the Fort Crittenden Formation, Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) of Arizona". New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin. 79: 141–164.

De Blieux, Donald D. 2007. Analysis of Jim's hadrosaur site; a dinosaur site in the middle Campanian (Cretaceous) Wahweap Formation of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM), southern Utah. Abstracts with Programs – Geological Society of America 39 (5): 6.

Eaton, J. G., R. L. Cifelli. 2005. Review of Cretaceous mammalian paleontology; Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah. Abstracts with Programs - Geological Society of America 37 (7): 115.

Evans, D. C., and M. J. Ryan. 2015. Cranial anatomy of Wendiceratops pinhornensis gen. et sp. nov., a centrosaurine ceratopsid (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Oldman Formation (Campanian), Alberta, Canada, and the evolution of ceratopsid nasal ornamentation. PLoS ONE 10(7):e0130007

Farke, A. A. 2011. Anatomy and taxonomic status of the chasmosaurine ceratopsid Nedoceratops hatcheri from the Upper Cretaceous Lance Formation of Wyoming, U.S.A. PLoS One 6(1(e16196)):1-9

Farke, A. A., M. J. Ryan, P. M. Barrett, D. H. Tanke, D. R. Braman, M. A. Loewen, and M. R. Graham. 2011. A new centrosaurine from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada, and the evolution of parietal ornamentation in horned dinosaurs. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 56(4):691-702

Fiorillo, A. R., and R. S. Tykoski. 2012. A new Maastrichtian species of the centrosaurine ceratopsid Pachyrhinosaurus from the North Slope of Alaska. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 57(3):561-573

Fowler, D. W. 2017. Revised geochronology, correlation, and dinosaur stratigraphic ranges of the Santonian-Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) formations of the Western Interior of North America. PLoS ONE 12 (11): e0188426.

Gates, T.A.; Horner, J.R.; Hanna, R.R.; Nelson, C.R. (2011). "New unadorned hadrosaurine hadrosaurid (Dinosauria, Ornithopoda) from the Campanian of North America". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 31 (4): 798–811.

Gates, Jinnah, Levitt, and Getty, 2014. New hadrosaurid specimens from the lower-middle Campanian Wahweap Formation of southern Utah. pp. 156–173. In The Hadrosaurs: Proceedings of the International Hadrosaur Symposium (D. A. Eberth and D. C. Evans, eds), Indiana University Press, Bloomington.

Getty, M. A., M. A. Loewen, E. M. Roberts, A. L. Titus, and S. D. Sampson. 2010. Taphonomy of horned dinosaurs (Ornithischia: Ceratopsidae) from the late Campanian Kaiparowits Formation, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah. In M. J. Ryan, B. J. Chinnery-Allgeier, D. A. Eberth (eds.), New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs: The Royal Tyrrell Museum Ceratopsian Symposium. Indiana University Press, Bloomington 478-494

Hone, D.W.E.; Naish, D.; Cuthill, I.C. (2011). “Does mutual sexual selection explain the evolution of head crests in pterosaurs and dinosaurs?” (PDF). Lethaia. 45 (2): 139–156.

Glut, D. F., 2012, Dinosaurs, the Encyclopedia, Supplement 7: McFarland & Company, Inc, 866pp.

Kentaro Chiba; Michael J. Ryan; Federico Fanti; Mark A. Loewen; David C. Evans (2018). "New material and systematic re-evaluation of Medusaceratops lokii (Dinosauria, Ceratopsidae) from the Judith River Formation (Campanian, Montana)". Journal of Paleontology. in press (2): 272–288.

Kirkland, J. I. 2005. An inventory of paleontological resources in the lower Wahweap Formation (lower Campanian), southern Kaiparowits Plateau, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah. Abstracts with Programs - Geological Society of America 37 (7): 114.

Kirkland, J. I., and D. D. DeBlieux. 2007. New horned dinosaurs from the Wahweap Formation, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, southern Utah. Utah Geological Survey Notes 39(3):4-5

Kirkland, J. I., and D. D. Deblieux. 2010. New basal centrosaurine ceratopsian skulls from the Wahweap Formation (middle Campanian), Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, southern Utah. New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs: The Royal Tyrrell Museum Ceratopsian Symposium. Indiana University Press, Bloomington 117-140

Loewen, M. A., R. B. Irmis, J. J. W. Sertich, P. J. Currie, and S. D. Sampson. 2013. Tyrant dinosaur evolution tracks the rise and fall of Late Cretaceous oceans. PLoS ONE 8(11):e79420

Lund, E. K., P. M. O'Connor, M. A. Loewen and Z. A. Jinnah. 2016. A new centrosaurine ceratopsid, Machairoceratops cronusi gen et sp. nov., from the Upper Sand Member of the Wahweap Formation (Middle Campanian), southern Utah. PLoS ONE 11(5):e0154403:1-21

Mallon, Jordan C; David C Evans; Michael J Ryan; Jason S Anderson (2013). [tp://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1472-6785-13-14 “Feeding height stratification among the herbivorous dinosaurs from the Dinosaur Park Formation (upper Campanian) of Alberta, Canada”]. BMC Ecology. 13: 14.

Orsulak, M. 2007. A lungfish burrow in late Cretaceous upper capping sandstone member of the Wahweap Formation Cockscomb area, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah. Abstracts with Programs - Geological Society of America 39 (5): 43.

Sampson, S. D., 2001, Speculations on the socioecology of Ceratopsid dinosaurs (Orinthischia: Neoceratopsia): In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, pp. 263–276.

Simpson, Edward L.; Hilbert-Wolf, Hannah L.; Wizevich, Michael C.; Tindall, Sarah E.; Fasinski, Ben R.; Storm, Lauren P.; Needle, Mattathias D. (2010). "Predatory digging behavior by dinosaurs". Geology. 38 (8): 699–702.

Tester, E. 2007. Isolated vertebrate tracks from the Upper Cretaceous capping sandstone member of the Wahweap Formation; Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah. Abstracts with Programs - Geological Society of America 39 (5): 42.

Thompson, C. R. 2004. A preliminary report on biostratigraphy of Cretaceous freshwater rays, Wahweap Formation and John Henry Member of the Straight Cliffs Formation, southern Utah. Abstracts with Programs - Geological Society of America 36 (4): 91.

Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Late Cretaceous, North America)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 574–588.

Williams, J. A. J., C. F. Lohrengel. 2007. Preliminary study of freshwater gastropods in the Wahweap Formation, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. Abstracts with Programs - Geological Society of America 39 (5): 43.

Zubair A. Jinnah, #30088 (2009)Sequence Stratigraphic Control from Alluvial Architecture of Upper Cretaceous Fluvial System - Wahweap Formation, Southern Utah, U.S.A. Search and Discovery Article #30088. Posted June 16, 2009.

410 notes · View notes

dylanfarrellds-blog · 4 years

Text

Ph.D. in Canada

Amazing ornithischian dinosaur From Dakota A Mummified Fossil

Dinosaur bones area unit rare, healthy ones area unit exceptionally rare and for a few palaeontologists the invention of inflexible bones in association with one another or bones in articulation area unit the realize of a life-time. However, for one young, yankee soul, Tyler Lyson, his discovery of a remarkably healthy ornithischian dinosaur, complete with inflexible skin, ligaments and tendons may be a discovery to beat most alternative discoveries.

Lucky realize by Ph.D. Student in Dakota Badlands

Tyler, World Health Organization is presently finishing his doctor's degree in fossilology at Yale University, found the superb fossil while on a fossil safari in an exceedingly remote a part of North Dakota. The animal, a ornithischian, once it died was buried terribly quickly by fine sediment and this has preserved components of the soft body tissue, the dinosaur's skin scales have even been preserved on components of the skeleton.

This animal had no flamboyant head crest therefore it absolutely was most likely a member of the Hadrosaurine cluster, putting it within the same biological group of dinosaurs as animals like hadrosaur and Kritosaurus and dates from sixty- seven million years agone, the late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian faunal stage).

This realize has been referred to as a "Mummy" as just like the Egyptian mummies soft tissue has been preserved, permitting scientists to shed new light-weight on however these animals looked. Ph.D. in Canada Dr Phil Manning (Manchester University), the chief research worker on this specimen has supervised a CAT scan (computerised tomography) of this superb fossil. CAT scans modify scientists to visualize within fossils while not intrusive and damaging additional preceding work. The CAT scan was solely attainable thanks to the very fact that the animal was able to be extracted from the location in one complete block of stone. solely alittle a part of the tail, was contained in an exceedingly second block.

CAT Scans Reveal exceptional Detail in Cretaceous Specimen

The CAT scan and alternative assessments have provided the researchers with a wealth of recent material. as an example, the vertebrae appear to be any apart during this specimen than antecedently thought. this might mean that scientists area unit planning to ought to amend their calculable sizes for this sort of ornithischian. they'll even have been larger than we expect. Animals like hadrosaur are calculable at lengths in far more than thirteen metres, currently this new realize might result in scientists having to revise these estimates.

The CAT scan has conjointly discovered that this ornithischian had larger hind quarters than antecedently thought. The powerful back legs would have helped this animal take up a two-footed posture and run faster than earlier studies had shown, maybe serving to to flee from predators like bird-footed dinosaur that were around during this a part of Dakota sixty seven million years agone.

Skin Pattern Preserved

According to the scientific team learning the fossil specimen, patterns known within the skin scales indicate that this animal had stripes on its tail. it's been speculated that the strips were a sort of camouflage to assist this plant-eater mix into its surroundings. Stripes might have conjointly served another purpose. In herd animals like zebras, the strip pattern helps the animals merge into one another, preventing predators from singling out a personal. Palaeontologists believe that Hadrosaurs lived in massive herds, therefore maybe the stripped pattern was designed to confuse potential attackers.

As with several special finds, this specimen has been given a nick-name by the analysis team, the archosaurian reptile has been named "Dakota", named when the USA state wherever the fossil was found. Some scientists have speculated that this realize might convince be the foremost necessary phytophagous archosaurian reptile discovery nonetheless created within the Dakota States.

Other Mummified Members of the Dinosauria

Other "mummified" archosaurian reptile remains are found, notably within the USA, Canada, European country and China. What makes this specimen therefore rare is that the soft tissue has really been preserved, alternative mummified fossils like the fantastically preserved ornithischian unearthed by Charles Sternberg in 1908 have the impression of sentimental tissue like skin preserved as a bearing within the close rock matrix.

The palaeontologists hope that this exceptional fossil realize can give them with tons of information concerning the Hadrosaurs. Hadrosaurs, otherwise called the beaked dinosaurs were a extremely productive cluster of phytophagous, bird-hipped dinosaurs that thrived within the Cretaceous geological time. various genera are represented from fossil remains found within the u. s. and Canada. Some individual animals might have reached lengths in far {more than|way over} fifteen metres and weighed more than 5 metric tonnes.

#Ph.D. in Canada

1 note · View note

monster-musings · 6 years

Note

What anatomical quirks do the Aptonoth have that makes you think that they’re Thyreophorians?

Limb and foot structure, the tail club/thagomizer hybrid, hornlet pairs behind the eyes, etc.

I won’t deny their hadrosaurine features, but given the fact that many of the bone piles found all over the New World’s environments have Thyreophorian traits (some even have straight up stegosaur skulls), I’d say the dominant herbivorous species are all Thyreophorians - including Aptonoth.

#monster science #monster hunter world #monster hunter #mhw #aptonoth #new nerd tag #iamthekaijuking

15 notes · View notes

jurassicsunsets · 7 years

Note

Do you have any resources that could give me a good overall explanation of dinosaur classification? I’m pretty new to paleoblr and I get mixed up with all of the names floating around. Thanks and sorry if I bothered you!

I don’t - but I’ll be happy to write a bit!

1. What is a “Dinosaur”?

This may seem obvious, but it’s a bit more subtle. To scientists, “Dinosauria” is a group containing the most recent creature that was the ancestor of T. rex, Triceratops, and Brontosaurus, and everything descended from that ancestor. This means that birds, as descendants of dinosaurs, are included under that definition, while pterosaurs and most mesozoic sea reptiles like plesiosaurs are not.

This kind of group is called a “node-based group”, and is written as (Tyrannosaurus+Triceratops+Brontosaurus).

There’s also “stem-based groups”, which is “everything closer related to X than to Y”. A good example of this is reptilia, which is something like (Alligator>Homo) [that is, everything closer to alligators than to people!].

2. 3 main groups

There’s three main groups of dinosaurs - theropods, sauropodomorphs, and ornithischians. The simplest (though not always accurate) way of thinking about these is that theropods are two-legged meat-eaters, sauropodomorphs are long-necked plant eaters, and ornithischians are beaked plant-eaters.

For a long time it was accepted that theropods and sauropodomorphs were each others’ closest relatives, in a group called saurischia, and that this group was in turn the closest relatives of ornithischians. Recent analyses show that this may not be entirely accurate - it may be that theropods and ornithischians are united in a group called ornithoscelida, and that sauropodomorphs are the closest relative of this group. There’s good reasons to think each is true, and there’s going to need to be more research done in the future, and hopefully more fossils will straighten things out.

3. Ornithischia

Nearly all ornithischians have three things in common:

They’re mainly herbivores

They have a special bone on their lower jaw called a predentary that formed part of a beak

Part of their hips faces backwards, allowing more room for guts (important because plants are hard to digest!)

There’s three main groups of ornithischians, as well as a bunch that don’t really fit into any of those groups.

The most significant of these “oddballs” are the heterodontosaurs, a group of early ornithischians that mainly lived in the jurassic and triassic periods. They’re generally small (60-200cm in length) two-legged omnivores or herbivores that had big fangs that were probably used for display. They’re kind of the weird cousins of all other ornithischians.

Thyreophorans

This literally means “shield bearers”, and as you might expect it includes the armoured dinosaurs like Stegosaurus and Ankylosaurus. It also includes some weird early forms like Scutellosaurus. It’s defined as (Ankylosaurus>Triceratops).

>Eurypods

This is specifically (Stegosaurus+Ankylosaurus), so it’s contained within thyreophora.

>>Ankylosauria

This is (Ankylosaurus>Stegosaurus), and contains the most heavily armoured dinosaurs. It’s divided into Ankylosauridae (ones with tail clubs), Nodosauridae (which have bigger shoulder spikes), and possibly also Polacanthidae (which have more sticky-up spikes, but also might just be nodosaurids)

>>Stegosauridae

This is (Stegosaurus>Ankylosaurus), and contains the familiar plated dinosaurs. It includes Stegosauridae (the big ones like Stegosaurus) and Huayangosauridae (some smaller Chinese forms).

Neornithischia

This group is defined as (Parasaurolophus>Stegosaurus/Ankylosaurus). It contains two major groups - the Marginocephalians and the Ornithopods, but also a bunch of important basal members, like Thescelosauridae, Kulindadromeus and Hypsilophodon - animals that were once thought to be ornithopods but probably aren’t.

Marginocephalia

This is (Pachycephalosaurus+Triceratops). The name means “rimmed head”, because….both major groups have big stuff around their heads.

>Pachycephalosauria

These are the “bone-headed” dinosaurs like Pachycephalosaurus. It’s (Pachycephalosaurus>Triceratops)

>Ceratopsia

This is (Triceratops>Pachycephalosaurus), and contains the beakiest of all dinosaurs. Chaoyangosaurids are frill-less, hornless, 2-legged forms; Bagaceratopsids, Leptoceratopsids, and Protoceratopsids are hornless but increasingly frilled and 4-legged groups.

>>Ceratopsidae

This is (Centrosaurus+Triceratops), and contains the big, 4-legged, horned guys. Centrosaurines usually have smaller frills with big horns around them, smaller brow horns, and bigger nose horns, while Chasmosaurines usually have bigger frills, bigger brow horns, and smaller nose horns.

Ornithopoda

This is (Parasaurolophus>Triceratops). It used to contain a bunch more stuff, but now it mostly contains just Iguanodonts, so for most purposes those are the same thing (except for some southern forms called Elasmaria that don’t come up much). Doesn’t matter as much as it used to; them’s the breaks. It includes Rhabdodontids, a weirdogroup of small bipedal guys from Europe, and Dryomorpha.

>>Dryomorpha

This is (Dryosaurus+Iguanodon). It contains Dryosauridae, a group of fast-running ornithopods, and Ankylopollexians, the group that had the famous “thumb-spikes).

>>>Styracosterna

Except for a few species, this is about the same as Ankylopollexia. It contains a bunch of species, most of which used to just be called Iguanodon, as well as the Hadrosauriformes, which contains the Hadrosauroids, which contains the Hadrosauromorphs, which contains the Hadrosaurids (whew!)

>>>>Harosauridae

These are the “Duck-bills”. It contains the Lambeosaurines, which had big long hollow crests they could use to HONK !, as well as the Hadrosaurines, which didn’t have hollow crests.

4. Sauropodomorpha

This group is mainly made up of long-necked plant eaters. It starts off with a bunch of things we used to call “Prosauropods”, but now call…….basal sauropodomorphs. It may include Herrersauridae (Pedants be quiet), a group of early, early predators. It probably includes Guaibasaurids, a group of small omnivores from the triassic. It also includes Plateosaurids, a group of larger (but still bipedal), long-necked herbivores. From here we go into Massopoda, a group that includes Massospondylids and Riojasaurids, which…are similar to plateosaurids, as well as Sauropodiformes.

Sauropodiformes is where we start to get more sauropod-y, though we still have to zoom through Anchisauria to get to actual sauropods. We’re there now.

Sauropoda

These guys are actually quadrupedal! Here we’ve got….more sliding groups. There’s a bunch of early sauropods that are quite cool, but I’m not gonna name them. The fun group is Gravisauria. This includes some early guys calls Vulcanodonts, and Eusauropods,

Eusauropods include – you guessed it! More grades. There’s some interesting features here though - Mamenchisaurids are a bunch of Chinese forms with super long necks, and I can’t say I know anything remarkable about Turiasaurs. You’ll have to talk to John about that one.

Neosauropoda

Here’s where you’ll start recognising things if you haven’t already. This is (Saltasaurus+Diplodocus), and contains the most famous sauropods. It’s split into two main groups.

>Diplodocoidea

There are the “whip-tails” (again, pedants be quiet!). It contains Dicraeosaurids, a few weird, short-necked, double sailed things, Rebbachisaurids, a group of wide-mouthed weirdos, and Diplodocids, the famous great swan-necked ones that are some of the largest dinosaurs ever.

>Macronaria

This group contains some basal forms like Camarasaurus, and two main groups (Maybe?? This is kind of a contentious area). Brachiosaurids include the giant, super-tall ones, and some little ones also. Then there’s the monster that is Somphospondyli. This contains….more grades, the Euhelopodids, and the Titanosaurs.

>>Titanosauria.

This is a real monster, let me tell you. It includes more grades – yay! – and Lithostrotia.

>>>Lithostrotia

This is where titanosaurs start getting armoured (except it’s not really that simple, since others have armour, and it may have evolved multiple times, and…..lots of stuff). It also includes the real giants like Lognkosaurs, Aeolosaurs, and Saltasaurs.

5. Theropods

These are the two-legged meat-eaters – although many are omnivorous or herbivorous! They include some early forms and Neotheropods. (From here on, except when notes, groups in big font include the rest of the groups listed below).

Neotheropods

These include the early, long-necked Coelophysoids and Dilophosaurids (which may well be more advanced possibly even Tetenurans!). This group also contains the:

Averostrans

Literally “bird beaks”, although they didn’t all have beaks. It includes the Ceratosaurs, a group that contains some weird forms, and the Abelisaurs (large, short-armed, and bulldog faced) and the Noasaurs (Small, longer arms, need a good orthodontist).

Averostrans also include the:

Tetenurans

Named after their stiffened tails, around here is where theropods lost their fourth finger. After some basal forms it includes the:

>Megalosauroids

These consist of two main groups - the heavily built Megalosaurids and the fish-specialist Spinosaurids.

Tetenurae also includes the:

Avetheropods

This consists of the Carnosaurs and the Coelurosaurs.

>Carnosaurs

These are your big sauropod killers. They include Metriacanthosaurids and Allosaurids, as well as Carcharodontosaurians. This last group is divided into Carcharodontosaurids, which includes some of the largest predators ever to walk the Earth, and the Neovenatorids, a smaller group that MAY contain the Megaraptorans.

The other group of avetheropods is the:

Coelurosaurs

This is the earliest that we can definitively say, with pretty good certainty, that all members had feathers. It includes some basal forms and the:

Tyannoraptors

….which hands-down win the coolest name competition. This group includes the Tyrannosauroids, which I’m sure need no introduction.

It may also include the famously small Compsognathids, but those may also be outside tyrannoraptora.

It also contains the:

Maniraptoriformes

This group is the earliest we can say that all members had wings. It includes the famous “ostrich dinosaurs” or Ornithomimosaurs, and the:

Maniraptora

This group is where we first see the wing-folding ability like in modern birds. It includes the tiny, 1-fingered Alvarezsauroids and, at the other end of the spectrum, the giant, long-necked, pot-bellied, wickedly-clawed, plant-eating Therizinosaurs. It also includes the:

Pennaraptors

This group is the earliest place we see true vaned feathers. It includes the Oviraptorosauria, a group of typically beaked and crested omnivores and herbivores, as well as the

Eumaniraptors

AKA Paravians - it’s the difference between a stem-based and node-based group, but they’re essentially the same.

This group includes the really birdy things, like Anchiornis and the dragon-like Scansoriopterygids (really rolls off the tongue after some practice, I promise!). It also includes the famous “Raptors” – the Dromaeosaurids. There’s also the sickle-clawed but more omnivorous or herbivorous Troodontids, famous for their brains. This latter group may be a sister group to Dromaeosauridae, or it may be closer to:

Avialae

This is (Passer>Troodon, Deinonychus). It’s what most scientists would call “birds”. It includes some early forms exemplified by Archaeopteryx and Jeholornis, as well as:

Pygostylia

This is birds with shortened, fused tails. It’s (Confuciusornis+Passer), and includes the cool streamer-tailed Confuciusornithids. It also includes:

Ornithothoraces

This group of birds is (Enantiornis+Passer). It includes the very successful and widespead (but now extinct) bird group called the Enantiornithines. It also includes the

Euornithines

This is where we first see birds with modern-style tails. It includes some basal forms at the

Ornithuromorphs

This group contains some early groups, the Hongshanornithids and the Songlingornithids, and the:

Ornithurans

This is sort of the “last burst” before we get to true birds! It includes the seagull-like Ichthyornis and the seal-like Hesperornithines. From here on out, everything is included in the:

Neornithines

We’ve made it! This is true birds - no teeth here. From here we’re divided into – What, did you think we were done? – we’re divided into the Palaeognaths and the Neognaths.

Palaeognaths include giant flightless birds like ostriches and emus, as well as the kiwi and the chicken-like Tinamids.

Neognaths

This contains all the familiar birds.

One major group is the Galloanserans.

These include the Odontoanseres, possibly* including the albatross-like Pelagornithids as well as the famous “horse-eating” (but actually vegetarian) Gastornithids and Dromornithids, and ducks, geese, swans, and screamer birds in Anseriformes.

*Pelagornithids may be more basal galloanserans or neognaths

Galloanserae also includes Pangalliformes, which consists of megapode fowl, chickens, turkeys, pheasants, peacocks, the whole shebang.

Neognathae also includes the:

Neoaves

From here taxonomy does get a bit muddled for a while. I’ll present the two major hypotheses.

1. Columbea/Passerea hypothesis

The Columbimorphs consists of Columbiformes or pigeons and doves, Pteroclidoformes or sandgrouse, and Mesitornithiformes or Mesites.

Columbimorphs may be closest to Mirandornithes, which consists of Phoenicopteriformes or flamingoes, and Podicepidiformes or grebes. If so, this clade is called Columbea.

The rest of the birds in this hypothesis belong in a clade called Passerea.

Otidomorphs are a group consisting of Otidids or bustards, Cuculiformes or cuckoos, and Musopagoformes or turacos.

Otidomorphs may be closest to Strisores, which include Apodiformes (Hummingbirds and swifts) and Caprimulgiformes (Nightjars, owlet-nightjars, and frogmouths). In this case their clade is Otidae, not to be confused with Otididae.

The rest of the birds in this hypothesis clade together in a clade called Litoritelluraves.

Gruae may be a group consisting of Opisthocomids (Hoatzins), Charadriiformes (Gulls, terns, puffins, plovers, sandpipers), and Gruiformes (Cranes, rails).

The rest of the birds in this hypothesis clade together in an unnamed clade.

This group contains the Telluraves (more on them later!) and the:

Ardeae

This consists of Eurypygimorphs, consisting of Eurypigids (Sunbitterns) and Phaethoniformes (Tropicbirds).

Ardeae may also include:

Aequornithes

This group of waterbirds includes Gaviiformes (divers/loons), Austrodyptornithes (a clade that includes Sphenisciformes [Penguins] and Procellariiformes [Albatrosses, petrels]), Ciconiiformes (Storks), Suliformes (Boobies, gannets, cormorants), and Pelicaniformes (Pelicans, herons, ibises).

2. Columbaves Hypothesis

Strisores may be the earliest to branch off of Neoaves.

Columbimorphs may alternatively be closest to Otidomorphs, If so, this clade is called Columbaves.

The rest of the birds in this hypothesis clade together in an unnamed clade.

Gruiformes may have been the earliest to branch off in this clade.

The rest of the birds in this hypothesis clade together in an unnamed clade.

The Aequorlitornithes (Not to be confused with Aequornithes) may consist of Mirandornithes clading with Charadriiformes as a sister group to a clade between Eurypygimorphs and Aequornithes.

Also included in this unnamed clade is the

Inopaves

This may consist of Opisthocomids and Telluraves.

Telluraves – Back to your regularly scheduled program

There’s actually, to my knowledge, some degree of concensus here. It’s divided into two main groups - Afroaves and Australaves.

Australaves consists of Cariamiformes (seriemas and terror birds) and Eufalconimorphae.

>Eufalconimorphae consists of Falconiformes (Falcons, kestrels, and caracaras), as well as Psittacopasserans.

>>Psittacopasserans consist of Psittacoformes (Parrots and their ilk) and Passeriformes (Perching birds, which I’m not going into more detail on because I’d be here for a month).

Afroaves

This clade consists of Accipterimophs (New-world vultures, hawks, eagles, old-world vultures, kites), and an unnamed clade.

Unnamed clade

This clade consists of Strigiformes (owls and kin) and Coraciimorphs.

Coraciimorphs

This clade consists of Coliiformes (mousebirds), the cuckoo-roller, and Cavitaves.

Cavitaves

This clade consists of the Trogonids (Trogons and Quetzals) and the Picocoraciae.

Picocoraciae

This clade consists of Bucerotiformes (Hornbills, hoopoes, woodhoopoes) and the Picodynastornithes.

Picodynastornithes

Last one! This consists of Coraciiformes (Kingfishers, rollers, motmots, and bee eaters), and the Piciformes, or toucans, barbets, and woodpeckers.

230 notes · View notes

sciencespies · 5 years

Text

New hadrosaur from Japan sheds light on dinosaur diversity

https://sciencespies.com/biology/new-hadrosaur-from-japan-sheds-light-on-dinosaur-diversity/

New hadrosaur from Japan sheds light on dinosaur diversity

A reconstruction of Kamuysaurus japonicus. Credit: Kobayashi Y., et al, Scientific Reports, September 5, 2019

The dinosaur, whose nearly complete skeleton was unearthed from 72 million year old marine deposits in Mukawa Town in northern Japan, belongs to a new genus and species of a herbivorous hadrosaurid dinosaur, according to the study published in Scientific Reports. The scientists named the dinosaur Kamuysaurus japonicus.

A partial tail of the dinosaur was first discovered in the outer shelf deposits of the Upper Cretaceous Hakobuchi Formation in the Hobetsu district of Mukawa Town, Hokkaido, in 2013. Ensuing excavations found a nearly complete skeleton that is the largest dinosaur skeleton ever found in Japan. It’s been known as “Mukawaryu,” nicknamed after the excavation site.

In the current study, a group of researchers led by Professor Yoshitsugu Kobayashi of the Hokkaido University Museum conducted comparative and phylogenetic analyses on 350 bones and 70 taxa of hadrosaurids, which led to the discovery that the dinosaur belongs to the Edmontosaurini clade, and is closely related to Kerberosaurus unearthed in Russia and Laiyangosaurus found in China.

The research team also found that Kamuysaurus japonicus, or the deity of Japanese dinosaurs, has three unique characteristics that are not shared by other dinosaurs in the Edmontosaurini clade: the low position of the cranial bone notch, the short ascending process of the jaw bone, and the anterior inclination of the neural spines of the sixth to twelfth dorsal vertebrae.

A map of Hokkaido showing the location of Hobetsu district where Kamuysaurus (black star labeled “Kjâ€�) was excavated. Credit: Kobayashi Y., et al, Scientific Reports, September 5, 2019

According to the team’s histological study, the dinosaur was an adult aged 9 or older, measured 8 meters long and weighed 4 tons or 5.3 tons (depending on whether it was walking on two or four legs respectively) when it was alive. The frontal bone, a part of its skull, has a big articular facet connecting to the nasal bone, suggesting the dinosaur may have had a crest. The crest, if it existed, is believed to resemble the thin, flat crest of Brachylophosaurus subadults, whose fossils have been unearthed in North America.

The study also shed light on the origin of the Edmontosaurini clade and how it might have migrated. Its latest common ancestors spread widely across Asia and North America, which were connected by what is now Alaska, allowing them to travel between the two continents. Among them, the clade of Kamuysaurus, Kerberosaurus and Laiyangosaurus inhabited the Far East during the Campanian, the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous epoch, before evolving independently.

A fossilized skeleton of Kamuysaurus japonicus was first discovered in the Hobetsu district of Mukawa Town, Hokkaido, in 2013. Ensuing excavations found a nearly complete skeleton (above), currently the largest dinosaur skeleton ever found in Japan. Credit: Hokkaido University

The research team’s analyses pointed to the possibility that ancestors of hadrosaurids and its subfamilies, Hadrosaurinae and Lambeosaurinae, preferred to inhabit areas near the ocean, suggesting the coastline environment was an important factor in the diversification of the hadrosaurids in its early evolution, especially in North America.

Join us on Facebook or Twitter for a regular update.

Explore further

First-confirmed occurrence of a lambeosaurine dinosaur found on Alaska’s North Slope

More information: A new Hadrosaurine (Dinosauria: Hadrosauridae) from the Marine Deposits of the Late cretaceous Hakobuchi formation, Yezo Group, Japan, Scientific Reports (2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-48607-1 , https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-48607-1

Provided by Hokkaido University

Citation: New hadrosaur from Japan sheds light on dinosaur diversity (2019, September 5) retrieved 6 September 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2019-09-hadrosaur-japan-dinosaur-diversity.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

#Biology

0 notes

a-dinosaur-a-day · 4 years

Text

Nanningosaurus dashiensis

By José Carlos Cortés

Etymology: Nanning City Reptile

First Described By: Mo et al., 2007

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Ornithischia, Genasauria, Neornithischia, Cerapoda, Ornithopoda, Iguanodontia, Dryomorpha, Ankylopollexia, Styracosterna, Hadrosauriformes, Hadrosauroidea, Hadrosauromorpha, Hadrosauridae, Euhadrosauria, Lambeosaurinae

Status: Extinct

Time and Place: Sometime in the Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous, between 72 and 66 million years ago

Nanningosaurus is known from the Dashi Site in Guangxi, China

Physical Description: Nanningosaurus is, sadly, only known from a very incomplete and partial skeleton, which does include parts of the skull and jaws. Thus, it is difficult to say what it would have looked like beyond being a Hadrosaur. It seems most likely that it was a Lambeosaurine, or Hollow-Crested Hadrosaur, though of course we don’t know if it actually had a crest or not. As such, all we can know is that it would have been a fairly bulky animal, covered in scales, with a duck-like beak and potential display or communication structures on its head. It also may have had hooves, like other hadrosaurs, on its front feet. Because of course they did.

Diet: Being a hadrosaur, Nanningosaurus would have mainly fed upon soft, wet plants, such as those found around or in sources of water. It would have then used its thousands of teeth to mash it up into a paste, to make the leaves easier to swallow.

Behavior: Obviously, we don’t know a lot about the behavior of Nanningosaurus because, again, we don’t have a lot of fossils of it. As hadrosaurs, they would have been very social animals, living in large herds. It would have taken care of its young, potentially in communal nesting grounds with large mounds to hold the eggs in and rotting vegetation to keep the eggs warm. It probably would have had somewhat complex social displays, potentially using color and sound, in order to communicate with other members of the herd and to find mates. It also may have used this communication to warn the herd of predators, though no predators were found with Nanningosaurus.

Ecosystem: Nanningosaurus is not known from a very well studied fossil site - it doesn’t even have a formation name! It does seem to have been a muddy environment, indicating some sort of source of fresh water and probable frequent rains. Here, Nanningosaurus lived alongside the titanosaur Qingxiusaurus, which is also only known from limited remains.

Other: While the exact nature of Nanningosaurus is rather murky, it is a very important fossil discovery - it’s one of the most Southern Asian Hadrosaurs! As such, as we learn more about it, we will be able to piece together the evolutionary puzzle of this wonderful dinosaur group a little clearer.

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources Under the Cut

Cruzado-Caballero, P., and J. E. Powell. 2017. Bonapartesaurus rionegrensis, a new hadrosaurine dinosaur from South America: implications for phylogenetic and biogeographic relations with North America. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 37(2):e1289381:1-16.

Mo, J., Z. Zhao, W. Wang and X. Xu. 2007. The first hadrosaurid dinosaur from southern China. Acta Geologica Sinica 81(4):550-554.

Mo, J.-Y., C.-L. Huang, Z.-R. Zhao, W. Wang, and X. Xu. 2008. A new titanosaur (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the Late Cretaceous of Guangxi, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 46(2):147-156.

Xu, S.-C., H.-L. You, J.-W. Wang, S.-Z. Wang, J. Yi and L. Jia. 2016. A new hadrosauroid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Tianzhen, Shanxi Province, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 54(1):67-78.

107 notes · View notes