Taphonomy of and new burrows from Oryctodromeus cubicularis, a burrowing neornithischian dinosaur, from the mid-Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian) of Idaho and Montana, U.S.A.

Krumenacker, L. J.; Varricchio, David J.; Wilson, John P.; Martin, Anthony J.; Ferguson, Ashley L.

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.05.047

“…Based on morphological modifications of its skull and postcranial skeleton, Varricchio et al (2007) convincingly hypothesized that Oryctodromeus was a burrowing dinosaur. Additional burrows containing Oryctodromeus skeletons were subsequently described in Idaho and Montana, reinforcing previous suggestions of communal and fossorial lifestyle, and even possibly parental care in Oryctodromeus (Krumenacker et al, 2019). Skeletal features observed in Zephyrosaurus, Orodromeus, and…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

“…Oryctodromeus (Varricchio et al, 2007;Krumenacker, 2017;Fearon & Varricchio, 2016;Krumenacker et al, 2019). A possible fossorial behavior in Changmiania therefore supports the hypothesis that both PMOL AD00114 and PMOL LFV022 were suddenly entrapped in a collapsed underground burrow, which would explain their perfect lifelike postures and the complete absence of weathering and scavenging traces, as proposed by Meng et al (2004) and Gao et al (2012).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

Peer Review #3 of "A new basal ornithopod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China (v0.1)"

Barta¹

2020

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A new basal ornithopod dinosaur, based on two nearly complete articulated skeletons, is reported from the Lujiatun Beds (Yixian Fm, Lower Cretaceous) of western Liaoning Province (China). Some of the diagnostic features of Changmiania liaoningensis nov. gen., nov. sp. are tentatively interpreted as adaptations to a fossorial behavior, including: fused premaxillae; nasal laterally expanded, overhanging the maxilla; shortened neck formed by only six cervical vertebrae; neural spines of the sacral vertebrae completely fused together, forming a craniocaudally-elongated continuous bar; fused scapulocoracoid with prominent scapular spine; and paired ilia symmetrically inclined dorsomedially, partially covering the sacrum in dorsal view. A phylogenetic analysis places Changmiania liaoningensis as the most basal ornithopod dinosaur described so far. It is tentatively hypothesized that both Changmiania liaoningensis specimens were suddenly entrapped in a collapsed underground burrow while they were resting, which would explain their perfect lifelike postures and the complete absence of weathering and scavenging traces. However, further behavioural inference remains problematic, because those specimens lack extensive sedimentological and taphonomic data, as it is also the case for most specimens collected in the Lujiatun Beds so far.

show abstract

“…The longest cervical is cervical 3; then, there is apparently a slight decrease in length until cervical 6, as also noticed in Changchunsaurus ( Butler et al, 2011 ). The cervical centra appear less elongated than in Oryctodromeus ( Krumenacker, 2017 ). The lateral surfaces of the centra are concave both anteroposteriorly and dorsoventrally.…”

Section: Systematic Paleontologymentioning

confidence: 72%

“…Besides Changmiania liaoningensis , we have integrated 14 taxa that were not included in Dieudonné et al (2016) data-matrix: Ankylosauria, Archaeoceratops oshimai , Chaoyangsaurus youngi , Goyocephale lattimorei , Homalocephale calathocercos , Isaberrysaura mollensis , Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus, Laquintasaura venezuelae , Liaoceratops yanzigouensis, Morrosaurus antarcticus , Stegosauria, Stenopelix valdensis, Thescelosaurus assiniboiensis and Wannanosaurus yansiensis . In the present analysis, we have not coded the basal ornithopod Oryctodromeus cubicularis , from the middle Cretaceous Blackleaf Formation of southwestern Montana and the Wayan Formation of southeastern Idaho, USA ( Varricchio, Martin & Katsura, 2007 ; Krumenacker, 2010 , 2017 ), pending the formal publication of the numerous partial skeletons from the Wayan Formation ( Krumenacker, 2010 , 2017 ). The final analysis consequently includes 61 taxonomic units and 263 characters ( Table S1 provides the character descriptions, Table S2 contains the final data matrix, Table S3 , the data matrix in TNT format, and Table S4 , the character support for selected nodes).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, there is no evidence for the tendons extending onto anterior dorsal vertebrae in Jeholosaurus ( Han et al, 2012 ). In Hypsilophodon and Oryctodromeus , ossified tendons are also present alongside the dorsal and sacral regions, but they extend up to the distal part of the tail ( Galton, 1974 ; Krumenacker, 2017 ). In Psittacosaurus xinjiangensis , ossified tendons extend on the proximal part of the tail ( Sereno & Zhao, 1988 ).…”

Section: Systematic Paleontologymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A new basal ornithopod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China

Yang

¹

,

Wu

²

,

Dieudonné

³

et al. 2020

PeerJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A new basal ornithopod dinosaur, based on two nearly complete articulated skeletons, is reported from the Lujiatun Beds (Yixian Fm, Lower Cretaceous) of western Liaoning Province (China). Some of the diagnostic features of Changmiania liaoningensis nov. gen., nov. sp. are tentatively interpreted as adaptations to a fossorial behavior, including: fused premaxillae; nasal laterally expanded, overhanging the maxilla; shortened neck formed by only six cervical vertebrae; neural spines of the sacral vertebrae completely fused together, forming a craniocaudally-elongated continuous bar; fused scapulocoracoid with prominent scapular spine; and paired ilia symmetrically inclined dorsomedially, partially covering the sacrum in dorsal view. A phylogenetic analysis places Changmiania liaoningensis as the most basal ornithopod dinosaur described so far. It is tentatively hypothesized that both Changmiania liaoningensis specimens were suddenly entrapped in a collapsed underground burrow while they were resting, which would explain their perfect lifelike postures and the complete absence of weathering and scavenging traces. However, further behavioural inference remains problematic, because those specimens lack extensive sedimentological and taphonomic data, as it is also the case for most specimens collected in the Lujiatun Beds so far.

show abstract

Placing juvenile specimens in phylogenies: An ontogenetically sensitive phylogenetic assessment of a new genus of iguanodontian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Kirkwood Formation, South Africa

Poole

¹

2022

The Anatomical Record

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The phylogenetic relationships of the new dryosaurid genus Iyuku are explored using parsimony analysis. As all known specimens are juvenile, each character of the data matrix was examined across all included taxa for morphological changes through ontogeny in the phylogenetic characters. Any character that changed in any taxon was considered an ontogenetically sensitive character (OSC) and coded as unknown for juvenile specimens, including all specimens of Iyuku. This method was tested with three other genera in the data set that are known from juvenile and adult specimens: Orodromeus, Dryosaurus, and Hypacrosaurus. Four separate analyses were performed: (1) standard phylogenetic coding, (2) coding OSCs as unknown for juveniles, with both juvenile and adult OTUs present, (3) removal of adult specimens from second analysis, (4) adult specimens where known, taxa known only from juveniles coded as unknown for OSCs. In all taxa, congeneric juvenile and adult specimens were recovered as sister taxa (analysis 2), and juveniles in analysis 3 were found at a congruent node to the congeneric adult in analyses 1 and 4, though with a loss of resolution in the tree. Consideration of the changes in morphology through ontogeny across a given set of taxa can allow some confidence in the phylogenetic affinities of juvenile specimens. In all analyses, Iyuku is recovered as the sister taxon to Dysalotosaurus within Dryosauridae.

show abstract

Taphonomy of and new burrows from Oryctodromeus cubicularis, a burrowing neornithischian dinosaur, from the mid-Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian) of Idaho and Montana, U.S.A.

Cited by 17 publications

References 17 publications

Peer Review #3 of "A new basal ornithopod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China (v0.1)"

Peer Review #3 of "A new basal ornithopod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China (v0.1)"

A new basal ornithopod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China

Placing juvenile specimens in phylogenies: An ontogenetically sensitive phylogenetic assessment of a new genus of iguanodontian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Kirkwood Formation, South Africa

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About