Hypsibema Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, | |
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H. crassicauda vertebra from North Carolina | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | † Ornithischia |
Clade: | † Neornithischia |
Clade: | † Ornithopoda |
Superfamily: | † Hadrosauroidea |
Genus: | † Hypsibema |
Type species | |
†Hypsibema crassicauda Cope, 1869 | |
Species | |
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Synonyms | |
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Hypsibema is an extinct genus of very large basal hadrosauroid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) of eastern North America. The type species is H. crassicauda, with a potential second species in H. missouriensis (now generally placed in its own genus, Parrosaurus). Most remains of H. crassicauda, including the type specimen, are known from the Tar Heel Formation of North Carolina, in addition to some remains known from the Marshalltown Formation of New Jersey. [1]
The type species, Hypsibema crassicauda, was described by Edward Drinker Cope, and was found in Sampson County, North Carolina in 1869. [2] The generic name is derived from Greek υψι/hypsi, "high", and βεμα/bema, "step", as Cope believed that the species walked particularly erect on its toes. The specific name means "with a fat tail" in Latin. The syntypic series, USNM 7189, originally consisted of a caudal vertebra, a metatarsal, and two femoral fragments that were originally identified as humeral and tibial fragments, all found in 1869 by North Carolina state geologist professor Washington Carruthers Kerr in the Black Creek Group of North Carolina. A second vertebra referred to the species, USNM 6136, was later discovered by Edward Wilber Berry and referred to H. crassicauda in 1942. [3] In their 1979 review of dinosaur remains from the Black Creek Group, Baird and Horner (1979) noted that the femoral fragments come from a tyrannosauroid similar to Dryptosaurus , and made the caudal vertebra included in the syntype series of H. crassicauda the lectotype, while stating that the metatarsal could not belong to the same individual as the caudal. [4] Remains assignable to H. crassicauda have also been reported from the Ellisdale Fossil Site of New Jersey. [1]
A second species, initially placed into the genus Parrosaurus in 1945 was considered a species of Hypsibema, H. missouriensis by Donald Baird and Jack Horner in 1979, [4] and since 2004 the official state dinosaur of Missouri. It was considered dubious in both editions of the Dinosauria, [5] [6] although Chase Brownstein considers Parrosaurus valid and distinct from Hypsibema based on new discoveries at the holotype site. [1]
It has sometimes been theorized that Hypsibema represents an adult Hadrosaurus , which it coexisted with at the sites where it is known, but morphological differences, especially in the vertebrae, support both being distinct taxa. [1]
Though known from fragmentary remains, Hypsibema appears to have been a gigantic hadrosauroid, based on the proportions of its vertebrae and humeri compared to those of better-known hadrosaurs. A very large partial humerus described from North Carolina by Baird & Horner has been estimated to belong to an individual at least 12 metres (39 ft) in length, and the species overall may have reached lengths of 12 to 17 metres (39 to 56 ft). Alongside Parrosaurus, it is unique for its massively constructed tail, which the specific epithet derives from. [1]
Based on its occurrence in both North Carolina and New Jersey, Hypsibema appears to have had a wide distribution across the landmass of Appalachia, a trait shared by many other dinosaurs known from eastern North America. In both regions, it co-occurred with the hadrosaurid Hadrosaurus , the tyrannosauroid Dryptosaurus , and an ornithomimosaur (with the New Jersey specimens assigned to Coelosaurus ). In North Carolina, it also occurred with the hadrosauroid Lophorhothon , the tyrannosauroid Appalachiosaurus , the dromaeosaurid Saurornitholestes , and an indeterminate leptoceratopsid, while in New Jersey, it co-occurred with indeterminate nodosaurids. All these dinosaurs coexisted with the gigantic alligatoroid Deinosuchus , which may have replaced large-sized theropods as the top predator of the Appalachian coastal plains. [1]
The very large size achieved by Hypsibema and its relative/junior synonym, Parrosaurus, may owe to the lack of sauropod dinosaurs on Appalachia from the Late Cretaceous onwards, allowing for hadrosauroids to evolve gigantic sizes and fill in their ecological niche. [1]
Trachodon is a dubious genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur based on teeth from the Campanian-age Upper Cretaceous Judith River Formation of Montana, U.S. It is a historically important genus with a convoluted taxonomy that has been all but abandoned by modern dinosaur paleontologists.
Hadrosaurus is a genus of hadrosaurid ornithopod dinosaurs that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous Period in what is now the Woodbury Formation in New Jersey about 78-80 Ma. The holotype specimen was found in fluvial marine sedimentation, meaning that the corpse of the animal was transported by a river and washed out to sea.
Hadrosaurids, or duck-billed dinosaurs, are members of the ornithischian family Hadrosauridae. This group is known as the duck-billed dinosaurs for the flat duck-bill appearance of the bones in their snouts. The ornithopod family, which includes genera such as Edmontosaurus and Parasaurolophus, was a common group of herbivores during the Late Cretaceous Period. Hadrosaurids are descendants of the Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous iguanodontian dinosaurs and had a similar body layout. Hadrosaurs were among the most dominant herbivores during the Late Cretaceous in Asia and North America, and during the close of the Cretaceous several lineages dispersed into Europe, Africa, and South America.
Claosaurus is a genus of hadrosauroid dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous Period (Santonian-Campanian).
Shantungosaurus is a genus of very large saurolophine hadrosaurid dinosaur found in the Late Cretaceous Wangshi Group of the Shandong Peninsula in China, containing a single species, Shantungosaurus giganteus. The stratigraphic interval of Shantungosaurus ranges from the top of the Xingezhuang Formation to the middle of the Hongtuya Formation, middle to late Campanian in age. Shantungosaurus is so far the largest hadrosauroid taxon in the world, with size estimates around 15–17 metres (49–56 ft) in length and 13–16 metric tons in body mass.
Gryposaurus was a genus of duckbilled dinosaur that lived about 80 to 75 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous of North America. Named species of Gryposaurus are known from the Dinosaur Park Formation in Alberta, Canada, and two formations in the United States: the Lower Two Medicine Formation in Montana and the Kaiparowits Formation of Utah. A possible additional species from the Javelina Formation in Texas may extend the temporal range of the genus to 66 million years ago.
Kritosaurus is an incompletely known genus of hadrosaurid (duck-billed) dinosaur. It lived about 74.5-66 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous of North America. The name means "separated lizard", but is often mistranslated as "noble lizard" in reference to the presumed "Roman nose".
Dryptosaurus is a genus of basal eutyrannosaurian theropod dinosaur that lived on the island continent of Appalachia approximately 67.6 million years ago during the end of the Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous period. Dryptosaurus was a large, bipedal, ground-dwelling carnivore that could grow up to 7.5 metres (25 ft) long and weigh up to 756–1,500 kilograms (1,667–3,307 lb). Although it is now largely unknown outside of academic circles, the famous 1897 painting of the genus by Charles R. Knight made Dryptosaurus one of the more widely known dinosaurs of its time, in spite of its poor fossil record. First described by Edward Drinker Cope in 1866 and later renamed by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1877, Dryptosaurus is among the first theropod dinosaurs ever known to science.
Lophorhothon is a genus of hadrosauroid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Alabama and North Carolina. It was the first genus of dinosaur discovered in Alabama, in the United States.
Arstanosaurus is a genus of hadrosauroid dinosaur from the Santonian-Campanian-age Upper Cretaceous Bostobe Formation, Kazakhstan. It has had a confusing history, being considered both a hadrosaurid and a ceratopsid, or both at the same time (chimeric).
Barsboldia is a genus of large hadrosaurid dinosaur from the early Maastrichtian Nemegt Formation of Ömnogöv', Mongolia. It is known from a partial vertebral column, partial pelvis, and some ribs.
Anasazisaurus is a genus of saurolophine hadrosaurid ("duckbill") ornithopod dinosaur that lived about 74 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous Period. It was found in the Farmington Member of the Kirtland Formation, in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico, United States. Only a partial skull has been found to date. It was first described as a specimen of Kritosaurus by Jack Horner, and has been intertwined with Kritosaurus since its description. It is known for its short nasal crest, which stuck out above and between its eyes for a short distance.
"Coelosaurus" antiquus is a dubious species of theropod dinosaurs. It was named by Joseph Leidy in 1865 for two tibiae found in the Navesink Formation of New Jersey.
Saurolophinae is a subfamily of hadrosaurid dinosaurs. It has since the mid-20th century generally been called the Hadrosaurinae, a group of largely non-crested hadrosaurs related to the crested sub-family Lambeosaurinae. However, the name Hadrosaurinae is based on the genus Hadrosaurus which was found in more recent studies to be more primitive than either lambeosaurines or other traditional "hadrosaurines", like Edmontosaurus and Saurolophus. As a result of this, the name Hadrosaurinae was dropped or restricted to Hadrosaurus alone, and the subfamily comprising the traditional "hadrosaurines" was renamed the Saurolophinae. Recent phylogenetic work by Hai Xing indicates that Hadrosaurus is placed within the monophyletic group containing all non-lambeosaurine hadrosaurids. Under this view, the traditional Hadrosaurinae is resurrected, with the Hadrosauridae being divided into two clades: Hadrosaurinae and Lambeosaurinae.
The Merchantville Formation is a geological formation in the northeastern United States whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous, around the time of the Santonian and Campanian age. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.
The Marshalltown Formation is a Mesozoic geologic formation. Dinosaur remains diagnostic to the genus level are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.
During most of the Late Cretaceous the eastern half of North America formed Appalachia, an island land mass separated from Laramidia to the west by the Western Interior Seaway. This seaway had split North America into two massive landmasses due to a multitude of factors such as tectonism and sea-level fluctuations for nearly 40 million years. The seaway eventually expanded, divided across the Dakotas, and by the end of the Cretaceous, it retreated towards the Gulf of Mexico and the Hudson Bay.
The Black Creek Group is a Late Cretaceous -aged geologic group in the southeastern United States, where it is known from the coastal plain of North Carolina and South Carolina. Deposited in brackish or nearshore marine conditions, it preserves fossils, including a diversity of dinosaurs and marine reptiles.
This timeline of hadrosaur research is a chronological listing of events in the history of paleontology focused on the hadrosauroids, a group of herbivorous ornithopod dinosaurs popularly known as the duck-billed dinosaurs. Scientific research on hadrosaurs began in the 1850s, when Joseph Leidy described the genera Thespesius and Trachodon based on scrappy fossils discovered in the western United States. Just two years later he published a description of the much better-preserved remains of an animal from New Jersey that he named Hadrosaurus.
Bonapartesaurus is an extinct genus of herbivorous ornithopod dinosaur belonging to Hadrosauridae, which lived in the area of modern Argentina during the Campanian and Maastrichtian stages of the Late Cretaceous.