Fruitadens Temporal range: Late Jurassic, | |
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Lower jaw and limb bones (LACM 128258 and LACM 120478), Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | † Ornithischia |
Family: | † Heterodontosauridae |
Genus: | † Fruitadens Butler et al., 2010 |
Species: | †F. haagarorum |
Binomial name | |
†Fruitadens haagarorum Butler et al., 2010 | |
Fruitadens is a genus of heterodontosaurid dinosaur. The name means "Fruita teeth", in reference to Fruita, Colorado (USA), where its fossils were first found. It is known from partial skulls and skeletons from at least four individuals of differing biological ages, found in Tithonian (Late Jurassic) rocks of the Morrison Formation in Colorado. Fruitadens is one of the smallest known ornithischian dinosaur, with young adults estimated at 65 to 75 cm (26 to 30 in) in length and 0.5 to 0.75 kg (1.1 to 1.7 lb) in weight. It is interpreted as an omnivore and represents one of the latest-surviving heterodontosaurids.
Fruitadens is known from fossils recovered under a valid paleontological permit in the 1970s and 1980s by teams led by George Callison, for the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (LACM). The discovery area, on lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, is known as the Fruita Paleontological Area; the specimens were found there in sandstones of the Brushy Basin Member. Roughly equivalent beds have been dated to 150.3 ± 0.3 million years old and 150.2 ± 0.5 million years old, indicating an early Tithonian age. [1]
The fossils now named Fruitadens were first thought to belong to a fabrosaurid similar to Echinodon , [2] a genus from the Early Cretaceous of England; Fabrosauridae at the time was considered a general group of primitive ornithopods, and Echinodon itself had not yet been reclassified as a heterodontosaurid. Fruitadens, although not formally described for a number of years, was briefly described in several works, usually as a relative of Echinodon or a new species of the genus. [3] [4] [5] [6] Formal description came in January 2010, by Richard Butler and colleagues (though the paper was published online before print in late 2009). The type species is F. haagarorum, in recognition of support provided by Paul Haaga Jr., Heather Haaga, Blythe Haaga, Paul Haaga III, and Catalina Haaga for the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. [7]
Fruitadens is based on LACM 115747, consisting of incomplete jaws, a number of vertebrae, and partial hind limbs, of a nearly fully grown individual. At least three other individuals have been found. LACM 115727 is another nearly fully grown individual, known from vertebrae and hind limb bones. This individual was about the same size as LACM 115747, and was five years old at death. LACM 120478 consists of the upper arm and most of the left leg of a juvenile, in its second year. Finally, LACM 128258 includes partial jaws and vertebrae of another juvenile. The largest individuals are estimated to have been about 65 to 75 cm (26 to 30 in) long and 0.5 to 0.75 kg (1.1 to 1.7 lb) in weight. This makes Fruitadens the smallest known ornithischian and comparable in size to the smallest known dinosaurs, outside of birds. Known material of Echinodon and Tianyulong , related heterodontosaurids, comes from similar-sized individuals, but it is not known how old they were upon death. [7]
Fruitadens was similar to Heterodontosaurus in anatomy, with relatively short arms and long distal sections of the legs (feet and shins). The lower jaws had an enlarged canine-like tooth, with a corresponding gap in the upper jaw. Unlike Echinodon, there wasn't an enlarged tooth in the upper jaw. Uniquely, a small peg-like tooth was present in front of the canine-like tooth. Replacement teeth were present in the jaws, unlike most other heterodontosaurids. The hind limb bones were hollow, like those of small theropod dinosaurs. Fruitadens seems to have been more closely related to Heterodontosaurus than Echinodon, which was closer in time. [7]
The cladogram below follows the analysis by Butler et al., 2011: [8]
Heterodontosauridae |
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The four individuals were found in localities at the base of the Morrison Formation's Brushy Basin Member, in crevasse splay sandstones deposited in floodplains. The Fruita localities preserved a contemporaneous fauna including snails, clams, crayfish, various insects (represented by trace fossils), the lungfish Ceratodus , ray–finned fish, the turtle Glyptops , rhynchocephalian reptiles Eilenodon and Opisthias , several genera of lizards, a mesosuchian crocodylomorph, and the mammals Fruitafossor , Glirodon , and Priacodon . Disarticulated dinosaur fossils are common in the area. [1]
Fruitadens was probably bipedal and cursorial, and is suggested to have been omnivorous. Like Echinodon and Tianyulong, other late-surviving heterodontosaurids, Fruitadens had less specialized jaws than Early Jurassic heterodontosaurids like Heterodontosaurus, and is interpreted as a generalist. [7] A 2012 study of the skull suggested its diet was composed of select plant material and possibly insects or other invertebrates. [9]
Ornithischia is an extinct clade of mainly herbivorous dinosaurs characterized by a pelvic structure superficially similar to that of birds. The name Ornithischia, or "bird-hipped", reflects this similarity and is derived from the Greek stem ornith- (ὀρνιθ-), meaning "of a bird", and ischion (ἴσχιον), plural ischia, meaning "hip joint". However, birds are only distantly related to this group as birds are theropod dinosaurs. Ornithischians with well known anatomical adaptations include the ceratopsians or "horn-faced" dinosaurs, the pachycephalosaurs or "thick-headed" dinosaurs, the armored dinosaurs (Thyreophora) such as stegosaurs and ankylosaurs, and the ornithopods. There is strong evidence that certain groups of ornithischians lived in herds, often segregated by age group, with juveniles forming their own flocks separate from adults. Some were at least partially covered in filamentous pelts, and there is much debate over whether these filaments found in specimens of Tianyulong, Psittacosaurus, and Kulindadromeus may have been primitive feathers.
Lesothosaurus is a monospecific genus of ornithischian dinosaur that lived during the Early Jurassic in what is now South Africa and Lesotho. It was named by paleontologist Peter Galton in 1978, the name meaning "lizard from Lesotho". The genus has only one valid species, Lesothosaurus diagnosticus. Lesothosaurus is one of the most completely-known early ornithischians, based on numerous skull and postcranial fossils from the Upper Elliot Formation. It had a simpler tooth and jaw anatomy than later ornithischians, and may have been omnivorous in some parts of the year.
Dryosaurus is a genus of an ornithopod dinosaur that lived in the Late Jurassic period. It was an iguanodont. Fossils have been found in the western United States and were first discovered in the late 19th century. Valdosaurus canaliculatus and Dysalotosaurus lettowvorbecki were both formerly considered to represent species of Dryosaurus.
Abrictosaurus is a genus of heterodontosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Early Jurassic in what is now in parts of southern Africa such as Lesotho and South Africa. It was a bipedal herbivore or omnivore and was one of the most basal heterodontosaurids. It was approximately 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) long and weighed between 0.68 and 3 kilograms.
Echinodon is a genus of heterodontosaurid dinosaur that lived during the earliest Cretaceous of southern England and possibly western France in the Berriasian epoch. The first specimens were jaw bones named Echinodon becklesii by Sir Richard Owen in 1861, and since their original description only additional teeth have been discovered. The specific name honours collector Samuel Beckles who discovered the material of Echinodon and many other taxa from across England, while the genus name translates as "prickly tooth" in reference to the dental anatomy of the taxon.
Heterodontosaurus is a genus of heterodontosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Early Jurassic, 200–190 million years ago. Its only known member species, Heterodontosaurus tucki, was named in 1962 based on a skull discovered in South Africa. The genus name means "different toothed lizard", in reference to its unusual, heterodont dentition; the specific name honours G. C. Tuck, who supported the discoverers. Further specimens have since been found, including an almost complete skeleton in 1966.
Trimucrodon is a genus of ornithischian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Lourinhã Formation of Portugal. The type, and currently only, species is T. cuneatus.
Laosaurus is a genus of neornithischian dinosaur. The type species, Laosaurus celer, was first described by O.C. Marsh in 1878 from remains from the Oxfordian-Tithonian-age Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Wyoming. The validity of this genus is doubtful because it is based on fragmentary fossils. A second species from the Morrison Formation, L. gracilis, and a species from the late Cretaceous Allison Formation of Alberta, Canada, Laosaurus minimus, are also considered dubious.
Nanosaurus is the name given to a genus of neornithischian dinosaur that lived about 155 to 148 million years ago, during the Late Jurassic-age. Its fossils are known from the Morrison Formation of the south-western United States. The type and only species, Nanosaurus agilis, was described and named by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1877. The taxon has a complicated taxonomic history, largely the work of Marsh and Peter M. Galton, involving the genera Laosaurus, Hallopus, Drinker, Othnielia, and Othnielosaurus, the latter three now being considered to be synonyms of Nanosaurus. It had historically been classified as a hypsilophodont or fabrosaur, types of generalized small bipedal herbivore, but more recent research has abandoned these groupings as paraphyletic and Nanosaurus is today considered a basal member of Neornithischia.
Phyllodon was a genus of small ornithischian dinosaur from the Kimmeridgian-aged Upper Jurassic Camadas de Guimarota Formation of Leiria, Portugal and possibly also the Bathonian-aged Chipping Norton Limestone of England. It may have been closely related to contemporaneous dinosaurs in North America.
Lycorhinus is a genus of heterodontosaurid ornithischian dinosaur from the Early Jurassic strata of the Elliot Formation located in the Cape Province, South Africa.
Heterodontosauridae is a family of ornithischian dinosaurs that were likely among the most basal (primitive) members of the group. Their phylogenetic placement is uncertain but they are most commonly found to be primitive, outside of the group Genasauria. Although their fossils are relatively rare and their group small in numbers, they have been found on all continents except Australia and Antarctica, with a range spanning the Early Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous.
Fruitachampsa is a genus of shartegosuchid crocodyliform from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Colorado. It is known from multiple specimens that show it to have been a relatively long-limbed terrestrial quadrupedal predator less than 1 metre (3.3 ft) long, with a short face and a prominent pair of canine-like teeth in the lower jaw. Before it was formally described in 2011, it was also known as the "Fruita form". Its type species is F. callisoni.
Tianyulong is an extinct genus of heterodontosaurid ornithischian dinosaur. The only species is T. confuciusi, whose remains were discovered in Jianchang County, Western Liaoning Province, China.
Eilenodon is an extinct genus of rhynchocephalian reptile from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation of western North America, present in stratigraphic zone 4. The only known species of this genus was Eilenodon robustus. It was a member of a group of rhynchocephalians called the eilenodontines, which were large, herbivorous members of Rhynchocephalia, the order of reptiles which contains the modern tuatara (Sphenodon). The generic name "Eilenodon" is Greek for "packed teeth", in reference to its closely packed teeth. The specific name, "robustus", refers to the strong build of the jaws.
Manidens is an extinct genus of heterodontosaurid dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of Patagonia. It is a sister taxon of the closesly related Pegomastax from South Africa. Fossils have been found in the Cañadón Asfalto Formation in Chubut Province, Argentina, dating to the Toarcian.
Pegomastax is a genus of heterodontosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Early Jurassic of South Africa. The only known specimen was discovered in a 1966-1967 expedition in Transkei District of Cape Province, but wasn't described until 2012 when Paul Sereno named it as the new taxon Pegomastax africana. The genus name is derived from the Greek for "strong jaw", and the species name describes the provenance of Africa; it was originally spelled africanus, was corrected to africana to align with the gender of the genus name.
Heterodontosaurinae is an extinct subfamily of heterodontosaurid ornithischian dinosaurs from the earliest to the mid Middle Jurassic of Africa and South America. Currently, the basalmost known heterodontosaurine is Lycorhinus angustidens from the Early Jurassic of Cape Province, South Africa. Heterodontosaurines are small-bodied ornithischians characterized by their cheek tooth crowns that are taller than wide, and jaw joint set below the axis of occlusion between maxillary and dentary teeth. Heterodontosaurinae was implicitly named in 1966 by Oskar Kuhn as he is the author of the family Heterodontosauridae. It is a stem-based taxon defined phylogenetically for the first time by Paul Sereno in 2012 as "the most inclusive clade containing Heterodontosaurus tucki but not Tianyulong confuciusi, Fruitadens haagarorum, Echinodon becklesii."