Nevadadromeus

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Nevadadromeus
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
Cenomanian
Nevadadromeus reconstruction.jpg
Life reconstruction of Nevadadromeus
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Ornithischia
Family: Thescelosauridae
Subfamily: Thescelosaurinae
Genus: Nevadadromeus
Bonde et al., 2022
Type species
Nevadadromeus schmitti
Bonde et al., 2022

Nevadadromeus (meaning "Nevada runner") is an extinct genus of small thescelosaurine ornithischian dinosaur, from the Willow Tank Formation of Nevada, United States. The genus contains a single species, N. schmitti, which represents the first non-avian dinosaur named from Nevada. [1] [2]

Contents

Discovery and naming

The Nevadadromeus holotype specimen, NSC 2008-002 was discovered near the Valley of Fire in 2008 and the bones were prepared for an event in Henderson, Nevada in 2021. [3] A second ornithopod from Nevada, a hadrosaur, was also leaked during the event, but it was not ready for public view until 2022. Nevadadromeus was formally published in October 2022. [2] [1]

In 2022, Bonde et al. described Nevadadromeus as a new genus and species of thescelosaurine. The generic name, "Nevadadromeus", combines a reference to the Nevada, the state the holotype was discovered in, with the Greek "dromeus", meaning "runner". The specific name, "schmitti", honors geologist James G. Schmitt, who initially described the geology of the Willow Tank Formation. [1]

Classification

The fossil remains of Nevadadromeus contain features of both thescelosaurines and orodromines, but the describers find it more likely to be a thescelosaurine. This makes it the oldest member of its subfamily from North America, as all other thescelosaurines date to the Maastrichtian. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Bonde, Joshua W.; Hall, Rebecca L.; Krumenacker, L. J.; Varricchio, David J. (2022). "Nevadadromeus schmitti (gen. et sp. nov.), a New Basal Neornithischian with Affinities to the Thescelosaurinae, from the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian) Willow Tank Formation of Southern Nevada". Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science. 50 (1): 1–8. doi:10.2181/036.050.0101. ISSN   0193-8509. S2CID   252931645.
  2. 1 2 Domol, John (24 September 2021). "Nevada's first unique dinosaur discovery unveiled in Henderson". KTNV.
  3. Longhi, Lorraine (7 June 2022). "Meet Nevadadromeus, the first dinosaur unique to the Silver State". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 15 October 2022.