Oryctodromeus

Last updated

Oryctodromeus
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, Cenomanian
Oryctodromeus cubicularis - Museum of the Rockies.jpg
Reconstructed skeleton, Museum of the Rockies
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Ornithischia
Family: Thescelosauridae
Subfamily: Orodrominae
Genus: Oryctodromeus
Varricchio et al., 2007
Type species
Oryctodromeus cubicularis
Varricchio et al., 2007

Oryctodromeus (meaning "digging runner") was a genus of small orodromine thescelosaurid dinosaur. Fossils are known from the Late Cretaceous Blackleaf Formation of southwestern Montana and the Wayan Formation of southeastern Idaho, USA, both of the Cenomanian stage, roughly 105-96 million years ago. A member of the small, presumably fast-running herbivorous family Thescelosauridae, Oryctodromeus is the first non-avian dinosaur published that shows evidence of burrowing behavior.

Contents

Description

Restoration of an individual in its burrow Oryctodromeus.jpg
Restoration of an individual in its burrow

Oryctodromeus was originally described as lacking ossified tendons in the tail. However, specimens from the Wayan Formation demonstrate the presence of a thick tendon lattice in the dorsal, sacral, and caudal columns of some specimens; perhaps indicating more flexibility in ossified tendons than has previously been supposed. [1] Adaptations in the jaws, forelimbs, and pelvis were described in the Blackleaf specimens that could have helped move and manipulate soil. [2]

The authors pointed out that Oryctodromeus had only modest forelimb modifications in comparison to dedicated burrowing animals, like moles, echidnas, and wombats. Instead, it was comparable to, but somewhat more specialized for digging than animals that both run and burrow today, like aardwolves, cavies, hyenas, and rabbits. Because it was a biped, it could have a more modified forelimb without affecting its ability to run. [2]

Discovery

Metatarsal in situ. Orycto metatarsal in situ Wayan.jpg
Metatarsal in situ.

Oryctodromeus is based on specimens from the Blackleaf Formation: MOR 1636a, a partial skeleton of an adult individual including: the premaxillae (upper beak); part of the braincase; three neck, six back, seven hip, and twenty-three tail vertebrae; ribs; the shoulder girdle; an arm (minus the hand); both tibiae and an incomplete fibula; and a metatarsal. Two additional individuals, both juveniles about 55 to 65% the size of MOR 1636a, are represented by MOR 1636b. [2] Numerous additional partial skeletons are known from the Wayan Formation. [1]

Classification

Caudal vertebrae Wayan Orycto caudal.jpg
Caudal vertebrae

Under a cladistic analysis, Oryctodromeus was found to be basal within Euornithopoda and a close relative of the hypsilophodonts Orodromeus and Zephyrosaurus , which are also known from the Cretaceous of Montana. These two animals share adaptations with Oryctodromeus that may have been used for burrowing, such as a broad snout. Additionally, Orodromeus specimens have been found preserved in a similar way, suggesting that they too were in burrows. [2] This would not be the first time that a hypsilophodont has been suggested as a burrower; Robert Bakker has informally claimed since the 1990s that Drinker , from the late Jurassic of Wyoming, lived in burrows, [3] but this has yet to be published.

Paleobiology

As a basal ornithopod, Oryctodromeus would have been a small, swift herbivore. This aspect, coupled with where it was discovered, gives it its name: Oryctodromeus cubicularis translates as "digging runner of the lair", in reference to its presumed lifestyle. The adult Oryctodromeus itself measured 2.1 m (6.9 ft) long and would have weighed about 22-32  kilograms (50-70  pounds), and the juveniles would have been about 1.3 m (4.3 ft) long. The presence of juveniles with the adult suggests parental care, and that at least one motivation for burrowing was to rear the juveniles. The size of the juveniles suggests an extended period of parental care. [2]

Burrowing behavior

Family outside their burrow Oryctodromeus family Wayan.jpg
Family outside their burrow

The three Oryctodromeus individuals were found buried within the remains of an underground den or burrow that measured about 2 meters (6.6 feet) long and 70 centimeters (2.3 feet) wide. The skeletons were densely packed and disarticulated, indicating that the animals died and decayed within the burrow. The burrow is similar to those made by hyenas and puffins today. It was filled with sand, and the resulting sandstone stands out against the surrounding mudstone and claystone.

There are two turns in the preserved burrow section, and smaller secondary sandstone cylinders of various sizes (a few centimeters or inches in cross-section at most) that were probably made by smaller animals sharing the burrow (commensal). The burrow closely fits the probable proportions of the adult dinosaur, another indication that it was the digger. [4] [5] [6]

Related Research Articles

<i>Deinonychus</i> Genus of theropod dinosaur

Deinonychus is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur with one described species, Deinonychus antirrhopus. This species, which could grow up to 3.4 meters (11 ft) long, lived during the early Cretaceous Period, about 115–108 million years ago. Fossils have been recovered from the U.S. states of Montana, Utah, Wyoming, and Oklahoma, in rocks of the Cloverly Formation and Antlers Formation, though teeth that may belong to Deinonychus have been found much farther east in Maryland.

<i>Stenonychosaurus</i> Theropod dinosaur

Stenonychosaurus is a genus of troodontid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta, Canada, as well as possibly the Two Medicine Formation. The type and only species, S. inequalis, was named by Charles Mortram Sternberg in 1932, based on a foot, fragments of a hand, and some caudal vertebrae from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta. S. inequalis was reassigned in 1987 by Phil Currie to the genus Troodon, which was reverted by the recognition of Stenonychosaurus as a separate genus from the possibly dubious Troodon in 2017 by Evans et al. and also later in the same year by Van der Reest and Currie.

<i>Ankylosaurus</i> Ankylosaurid dinosaur genus from the Late Cretaceous Period

Ankylosaurus is a genus of armored dinosaur. Its fossils have been found in geological formations dating to the very end of the Cretaceous Period, about 68–66 million years ago, in western North America, making it among the last of the non-avian dinosaurs. It was named by Barnum Brown in 1908; it is monotypic, containing only A. magniventris. The generic name means "fused" or "bent lizard", and the specific name means "great belly". A handful of specimens have been excavated to date, but a complete skeleton has not been discovered. Though other members of Ankylosauria are represented by more extensive fossil material, Ankylosaurus is often considered the archetypal member of its group, despite having some unusual features.

<i>Dryosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

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.

<i>Bambiraptor</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Bambiraptor is a Late Cretaceous, 72-million-year-old, bird-like dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur described by scientists at the University of Kansas, Yale University, and the University of New Orleans.

<i>Thescelosaurus</i> Ornithischian dinosaur genus from Late Cretaceous US and Canada

Thescelosaurus was a genus of neornithischian dinosaur that appeared at the very end of the Late Cretaceous period in North America. It was a member of the last dinosaurian fauna before the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event around 66 million years ago. The preservation and completeness of many of its specimens indicate that it may have preferred to live near streams.

<i>Orodromeus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Orodromeus is a genus of herbivorous orodromine thescelosaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of North America. Only one species is known, the type species Orodromeus makelai.

<i>Pinacosaurus</i> Genus of ankylosaurid dinosaur from Late Cretaceous

Pinacosaurus is a genus of ankylosaurid thyreophoran dinosaur that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous, mainly in Mongolia and China.

<i>Parksosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Parksosaurus is a genus of neornithischian dinosaur from the early Maastrichtian-age Upper Cretaceous Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Alberta, Canada. It is based on most of a partially articulated skeleton and partial skull, showing it to have been a small, bipedal, herbivorous dinosaur. It is one of the few described non-hadrosaurid ornithopods from the end of the Cretaceous in North America, existing around 70 million years ago.

<i>Zephyrosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Zephyrosaurus is a genus of orodromine ornithischian dinosaur. It is based on a partial skull and postcranial fragments discovered in the Aptian-Albian-age Lower Cretaceous Cloverly Formation of Carbon County, Montana, USA. New remains are under description, and tracks from Maryland and Virginia, also in the US, have been attributed to animals similar to Zephyrosaurus. It lived approximately 113 mya.

<i>Zalmoxes</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Zalmoxes is a genus of rhabdodontid ornithopod dinosaur from the Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous in what is now Romania. The genus is known from specimens first named as the species Mochlodon robustum in 1899 by Franz Nopcsa before being reclassified as Rhabdodon robustum by him in 1915. In 1990, this name was corrected to Rhabdodon robustus by George Olshevsky and, in 2003, the species was once more reclassified as the type species Zalmoxes robustus. Zalmoxes refers to the Dacian deity Zalmoxis and robustus refers to the robustness of the remains. Also in 2003, another species was named, Zalmoxes shqiperorum, named for the Albanian name for Albanians.

<i>Gasparinisaura</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Gasparinisaura is a genus of herbivorous ornithopod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous.

<i>Nanosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

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.

<i>Albertonykus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Albertonykus is an alvarezsaurid dinosaur from the Maastrichtian-age rocks of the Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Alberta, Canada. It is known from forelimb and hindlimb remains from multiple individuals. All but two of the specimens come from a bonebed dominated by Albertosaurus, located at the top of Unit 4 of the Horseshoe Canyon Formation, dating to ~68.5 million years ago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wayan Formation</span> Stratigraphic Unit in Idaho

The Wayan Formation is a geological formation in Idaho whose strata date back to the latest Early Cretaceous and the earliest Late Cretaceous. Dinosaur, other reptile, mammal, and micro and macro-floral remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation. The lack of extensive outcrops, limited geographic extent, and extreme structural deformation have limited paleontological explorations of the Wayan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thescelosauridae</span> Extinct family of dinosaurs

Thescelosauridae is a clade of neornithischians from the Cretaceous of Asia, North America and possibly South America. The group was originally used as a name by Charles M. Sternberg in 1937, but was not formally defined until 2013, where it was used by Brown and colleagues as the group uniting Thescelosaurus and Orodromeus, based on their phylogenetic results. During a phylogenetic revision of neornithischians by Clint Boyd in 2015, the authorship of Thescelosauridae was given to Brown and colleagues, which meant that the similar name Parksosauridae, informally defined in 2002 by Buchholz, would have had priority over Thescelosauridae. The two clades had slightly different definitions, with Parksosauridae referring to all animals closer to Parksosaurus than Hypsilophodon, but they contained the same taxa so Boyd used Parksosauridae under the assumption it had priority. However, in formalizing the clade following the regulations of the PhyloCode, Madzia, Boyd, and colleagues identified in 2021 that Sternberg was the proper authority for Thescelosauridae, giving it priority over Parksosauridae. As well, they gave Thescelosauridae the definition of the largest clade containing Thescelosaurus neglectus but not Iguanodon bernissartensis, as long as Hypsilophodon foxii was not in the group, modifying previous definitions for Thescelosauridae in order to maintain its modern use, so that the clade was not applied if Thescelosaurus fell within Hypsilophodontidae, a family that has not been recently used but may be revived if the systematic position of Hypsilophodon was solidified at some point in the future. Madzia et al. identified the analysis of Madzia et al. in 2018 as the reference analysis for the name Thescelosauridae, an analysis based on a revised version of the 2015 Boyd analysis.

<i>Koreanosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Koreanosaurus is a genus of orodromine neornithischian dinosaur. One species has been described, Koreanosaurus boseongensis.

<i>Albertadromeus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Albertadromeus is an extinct genus of orodromine thescelosaurid dinosaur known from the upper part of the Late Cretaceous Oldman Formation of Alberta, Canada. It contains a single species, Albertadromeus syntarsus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orodrominae</span> Extinct subfamily of dinosaurs

Orodrominae is a subfamily of thescelosaurid dinosaurs known from the Cretaceous of North America and Asia.

<i>Changmiania</i> Genus of reptiles (fossil)

Changmiania is a genus of basal ornithopod dinosaur that lived in what is now China during the Early Cretaceous. It contains a single species, Changmiania liaoningensis.

References

  1. 1 2 Krumenacker, L. J., 2010. Chronostratigraphy and paleontology of the mid-Cretaceous Wayan Formation of eastern Idaho, with a description of the first Oryctodromeus specimens from Idaho. BYU MS thesis."
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Varricchio, David J.; Martin, Anthony J.; Katsura, Yoshihiro (2007). "First trace and body fossil evidence of a burrowing, denning dinosaur". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 274 (1616): 1361–8. doi:10.1098/rspb.2006.0443. PMC   2176205 . PMID   17374596.
  3. Buchholz, Peter (1998-03-16). "Drinker and burrowing" . Retrieved 2007-03-22.
  4. Hecht, Jeff; Jeff Hecht (2007-03-21). "Dinosaur digger found in its own burrow". News Service. New Scientist.com. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  5. Owen, James; James Owen (2007-03-21). "Digging Dinosaur Discovered Inside Fossil Den". National Geographic News. National Geographic. Archived from the original on March 27, 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  6. "Asteroid may have forced dinosaur to dig". Science & Nature. The Australian: Keeping the Nation Informed. 2007-03-22. Archived from the original on 2007-03-29. Retrieved 2007-03-23.