Ferrisaurus

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Ferrisaurus
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
~67  Ma
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Ferrisaurus life restoration.jpg
Ferrisaurus sustutensis life restoration
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Ornithischia
Suborder: Ceratopsia
Family: Leptoceratopsidae
Genus: Ferrisaurus
Arbour & Evans, 2019
Type species
Ferrisaurus sustutensis
Arbour & Evans, 2019

Ferrisaurus is a genus of leptoceratopsid ceratopsian dinosaur from the Sustut Basin (Tango Creek Formation) in British Columbia, Canada. The type and only species is Ferrisaurus sustutensis. It is the first non-avian dinosaur described from British Columbia.

Contents

Discovery and naming

Provenance of the holotype specimen of Ferrisaurus Ferrisaurus holotype locality.png
Provenance of the holotype specimen of Ferrisaurus

It was discovered in 1971 during a uranium and thorium exploration by Kenny F. Larsen and was donated to the Dalhousie University in 2004. It was described but not named in 2008; [1] by then it made its way into the collection of the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria. It was named in 2019. [2] The holotype, RBCM P900, nicknamed Buster, [3] includes portions of the pectoral girdles, left forelimb, left hindlimb, and right pes. [2]

Skeletal diagram of the holotype of Ferrisaurus Ferrisaurus holotype skeletal diagram.png
Skeletal diagram of the holotype of Ferrisaurus

The name Ferrisaurus is derived from Latin ferrum (=iron) and Greek sauros (=lizard), referencing to the specimen's discovery along a railway line. [2] The epithet honours the Sustut River and Basin. [2]

See also

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References

  1. Arbour, Victoria M.; Graves, Milton C. (2008). Sues, Hans-Dieter (ed.). "An ornithischian dinosaur from the Sustut Basin, north-central British Columbia, Canada". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 45 (4): 457–463. Bibcode:2008CaJES..45..457A. doi:10.1139/E08-009. ISSN   0008-4077.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Arbour, V. M.; Evans, D. C. (2019). "A new leptoceratopsid dinosaur from Maastrichtian-aged deposits of the Sustut Basin, northern British Columbia, Canada". PeerJ. 7: e7926. doi: 10.7717/peerj.7926 . PMC   6842559 . PMID   31720103.
  3. Grossman, Nina (November 7, 2019). "VIDEO: Victoria museum unveils 'Buster' a new unique-to-B.C. dinosaur". Victoria News.