Nedcolbertia Temporal range: Valanginian, | |
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Six year-old Justin Hofmann holding the hindlimb of his namesake dinosaur, Nedcolbertia justinhofmanni. | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | Saurischia |
Clade: | Theropoda |
Clade: | † Ornithomimosauria |
Genus: | † Nedcolbertia Kirkland et al., 1998 |
Type species | |
†Nedcolbertia justinhofmanni Kirkland et al., 1998 |
Nedcolbertia is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period of North America.
Three skeletons of a theropod were discovered in 1993 by Christopher Whittle near Cisco in the basal Yellow Cat Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah, dating to the Valanginian. These were subsequently studied and reported in 1995 by Kirkland, Britt, Madsen and Burge. [1] Though in 1996 it had been announced that the taxon would be named "Nedcolbertia whittlei", in 1998 it was actually described and named by Kirkland, Whittle, Britt, Madsen and Burge as the type species Nedcolbertia justinhofmanni. The generic name honours the American palaeontologist Edwin Harris Colbert, known as "Ned" to his friends. The specific name honoured Justin Hofmann, a six-year-old school boy from Newton, New Jersey, a participant of a contest for children by Discover Card, the winner having a dinosaur named after him. [2]
The holotype, CEUM 5071, is one of the specimens, a partial skeleton lacking the skull. It belonged to a juvenile individual. The paratypes are the other two specimens: CEUM 5072 and CEUM 5073, both fragmentary skeletons again lacking the skull. They represent subadult individuals. All three specimens were disarticulated and heavily eroded, having been exposed at the surface before discovery. They are part of the collection of the College of Eastern Utah Prehistoric Museum. [2]
The holotype of Nedcolbertia had a length of about 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in). The paratypes, though not yet full-grown, were about 3 metres (9.8 ft). Due to the condition of the remains, information on the species is limited. The vertebrae were not heavily pneumatised. The thumb claw was much larger than the second claw of the hand. The pubic bone carried a large "foot" with a very small or absent anterior process but a large posterior process. The thigh bone had a lesser trochanter that was clearly lower than the greater trochanter; the fourth trochanter was well-developed. The foot was not arctometatarsal. An enlarged second foot claw was lacking. [2]
The describers assigned Nedcolbertia with certainty to the Tetanurae and provisionally to the Coelurosauria. [2] A 2016 overview of ornithomimosaur material from the Arundel Formation of Maryland found Nedcolbertia to be an ornithomimosaur based on comparisons with the Arundel ornithomimosaur remains, Harpymimus , and Nqwebasaurus . [3]
Utahraptor is a genus of large dromaeosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous period from around 135 to 130 million years ago in what is now the United States. The genus was described in 1993 by American paleontologist James Kirkland and colleagues with the type species Utahraptor ostrommaysi, based on fossils that had been unearthed earlier from the Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah. Later, many additional specimens were described including those from the skull and postcranium in addition to those of younger individuals.
Falcarius is a genus of primitive therizinosaur dinosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous period in what is now North America. Its remains were first collected in the Cedar Mountain Formation in 1999, with subsequent findings made during the 2000s. The genus is known from multiple specimens ranging from immature to fully-grown individuals.
Adasaurus is a genus of dromaeosaurid dinosaur that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous period about 70 million years ago. The genus is known from two partial specimens found in the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia that were partially described in 1983 by the paleontologist Rinchen Barsbold.
Eolambia is a genus of herbivorous hadrosauroid dinosaur from the early Late Cretaceous of the United States. It contains a single species, E. caroljonesa, named by paleontologist James Kirkland in 1998. The type specimen of Eolambia was discovered by Carole and Ramal Jones in 1993; the species name honors Carole. Since then, hundreds of bones have been discovered from both adults and juveniles, representing nearly every element of the skeleton. All of the specimens have thus far been found in Emery County, Utah, in a layer of rock known as the Mussentuchit Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation.
Timimus is a genus of small coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Australia. It was originally identified as an ornithomimosaur, but now it is thought to be a different kind of theropod, possibly a tyrannosauroid.
Gastonia is a genus of herbivorous ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of North America, around 139 to 134.6 million years ago. It is often considered a nodosaurid closely related to Polacanthus. Gastonia has a sacral shield and large shoulder spikes.
Aristosuchus is a genus of small coelurosaurian dinosaur whose name was derived from the Greek ἄριστος and σουχος. It shared many characteristics with birds.
Calamospondylus is a genus of theropod dinosaur. It lived during the Early Cretaceous and its fossils were found on the Isle of Wight in southern England. The type species is C. oweni.
Calamosaurus was a genus of small theropod dinosaur from the Barremian-age Lower Cretaceous Wessex Formation of the Isle of Wight, England. It is based on two cervical vertebrae, collected by Reverend William Fox.
Sauropelta is a genus of nodosaurid dinosaur that existed in the Early Cretaceous Period of North America. One species has been named although others may have existed. Anatomically, Sauropelta is one of the most well-understood nodosaurids, with fossilized remains recovered in the U.S. states of Wyoming, Montana, and possibly Utah. It is also the earliest known genus of nodosaurid; most of its remains are found in a section of the Cloverly Formation dated to 108.5 million years ago.
Cedarpelta is an extinct genus of basal ankylosaurid dinosaur from Utah that lived during the Late Cretaceous period in what is now the Mussentuchit Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation. The type and only species, Cedarpelta bilbeyhallorum, is known from multiple specimens including partial skulls and postcranial material. It was named in 2001 by Kenneth Carpenter, James Kirkland, Don Burge, and John Bird. Cedarpelta has an estimated length of 7 metres and weight of 5 tonnes (11,023 lbs). The skull of Cedarpelta lacks extensive cranial ornamentation and is one of the only known ankylosaurs with individual skull bones that are not completely fused together.
Marshosaurus is a genus of medium-sized carnivorous theropod dinosaur, belonging to the Megalosauroidea, from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation of Utah and possibly Colorado.
James Ian Kirkland is an American paleontologist and geologist. He has worked with dinosaur remains from the south west United States of America and Mexico and has been responsible for discovering new and important genera. He named Animantarx, Cedarpelta, Eohadrosaurus, Jeyawati, Gastonia, Mymoorapelta, Nedcolbertia, Utahraptor, Zuniceratops, Europelta and Diabloceratops. At the same site where he found Gastonia and Utahraptor, Kirkland has also excavated fossils of the therizinosaur Falcarius.
Moabosaurus is a genus of turiasaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah, United States.
Chris Whittle is an educator and paleontologist who has published on a wide variety of topics including the development of paranormal beliefs, learning from popular television, museum studies, and dinosaur paleontology.
The Cedar Mountain Formation is the name given to a distinctive sedimentary geologic formation in eastern Utah, spanning most of the early and mid-Cretaceous. The formation was named for Cedar Mountain in northern Emery County, Utah, where William Lee Stokes first studied the exposures in 1944.
Beishanlong is a genus of giant ornithomimosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of China. It is the second-largest ornithomimosaur discovered, only surpassed by Deinocheirus.
Hippodraco is a genus of iguanodontian ornithopod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah, United States. The genus contains a single species, H. scutodens, known from a partial skeleton belonging to an immature individual.
Iguanacolossus is a genus of iguanodontian ornithopod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Early Cretaceous period. It is known from UMNH VP 20205, the associated holotype with a large partial skeleton of a single individual.
Yurgovuchia is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaurs that lived in North America during the Early Cretaceous period in what is now the Cedar Mountain Formation. It contains a single species, Yurgovuchia doellingi. The remains were discovered in Utah, United States.