Troodontids are known from Asia and North America, with the most complete specimens from the Jurassic of China and the Cretaceous of Mongolia. North American troodontids are poorly known, and specimens that have been described are isolated elements or partial skeletons with limited material. A new troodontid from the upper Dinosaur Park Formation (upper Campanian) is based on partial skulls, several vertebrae, ribs, gastralia, chevrons, a sacrum, partial pelvis, and partial fore and hind limbs. It is the largest troodontid known, with an estimated height of 180 cm and length of 350 cm. Like other troodontids, it possesses an elongated ambiens process and has a horizontal ventral margin of the postacetabular process. It differs from all other derived troodontids in that the slightly retroverted pubis has a shaft that curves anteroventrally. Some specimens from the Dinosaur Park Formation previously assigned to Troodon are reassigned to the new taxon, including multiple partial crania, an associated dentary and metatarsus, and a partial skeleton. Previously undescribed elements from the lower part of the Dinosaur Park Formation are assigned to the resurrected Stenonychosaurus inequalis. Distinct stratigraphic separation of Stenonychosaurus inequalis and the new taxon indicates a replacement in troodontid fauna, similar to the turnover of large ornithischians in the same formation. The new taxon is phylogenetically more closely related to Mongolian taxa, indicating the replacement of Stenonychosaurus may have been from an earlier Asian form immigrating into North America.
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Research Article|
August 08, 2017
Troodontids (Theropoda) from the Dinosaur Park Formation, Alberta, with a description of a unique new taxon: implications for deinonychosaur diversity in North America
Aaron J. van der Reest;
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada.
Corresponding author: Aaron J. van der Reest (email: [email protected]).
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Philip J. Currie
Philip J. Currie
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada.
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Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada.
Philip J. Currie
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada.
Corresponding author: Aaron J. van der Reest (email: [email protected]).
Publisher: Canadian Science Publishing
Received:
31 Jan 2017
Accepted:
04 Jun 2017
First Online:
05 Oct 2017
Online ISSN: 1480-3313
Print ISSN: 0008-4077
Published by NRC Research Press
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences (2017) 54 (9): 919–935.
Article history
Received:
31 Jan 2017
Accepted:
04 Jun 2017
First Online:
05 Oct 2017
Citation
Aaron J. van der Reest, Philip J. Currie; Troodontids (Theropoda) from the Dinosaur Park Formation, Alberta, with a description of a unique new taxon: implications for deinonychosaur diversity in North America. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 2017;; 54 (9): 919–935. doi: https://doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2017-0031
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Index Terms/Descriptors
- Alberta
- Archosauria
- bones
- Campanian
- Canada
- Chordata
- cladistics
- Coelurosauria
- Cretaceous
- Diapsida
- Dinosaur Park Formation
- Dinosaur Provincial Park
- dinosaurs
- Mesozoic
- morphology
- new taxa
- phylogeny
- Reptilia
- Saurischia
- taxonomy
- Tetrapoda
- Theropoda
- Upper Cretaceous
- Vertebrata
- Western Canada
- Stenonychosaurus inequalis
- Maniraptora
- Troodontidae
- Troodontinae
- Latenivenatrix mcmasterae
Latitude & Longitude
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