Serendipaceratops Temporal range: Early Cretaceous | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | † Ornithischia |
Clade: | † Genasauria |
Genus: | † Serendipaceratops Rich & Vickers-Rich, 2003 |
Species: | †S. arthurcclarkei |
Binomial name | |
†Serendipaceratops arthurcclarkei Rich and Vickers-Rich, 2003 | |
Serendipaceratops (meaning "serendipitous horned face") is a genus of herbivorous ornithischian dinosaur, possibly an ankylosaur, from the early Cretaceous Period of Australia. The type species, S. arthurcclarkei, was named in 2003. [1]
The first known bone from Serendipaceratops, an ulna (lower arm bone), was in 1993 discovered in Australia near Kilcunda, on the south-east coast of Victoria. The find took place during the "Dinosaur Cove" project, uncovering remains at the basis of a cliff face at the shoreline; the fossil was excavated in the "Arch", a small area of sea-floor protected from the waves by a dam.
In 2003, the type species Serendipaceratops arthurcclarkei was named and described by Tom Rich and Patricia Vickers-Rich. [1] Initially, the discoverers had not considered the possibility that the fossil might have been ceratopsian in nature as at this would have been the last group of dinosaurs one would have expected to find evidence of in Australia. Instead they had tried to convince themselves it was a theropod bone. Some months later, however, on a visit to the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Alberta, Canada, colleague Dale Russell pointed out its striking similarity to the ulna of Leptoceratops . Hence the genus name, referring to serendipity and combining this reference with ~ceratops, a common suffix in ceratopsian generic names. [2] The specific name honours science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke. A personal friend of the couple and author of books such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Rendezvous with Rama , Clarke first became interested in science as a child because he became fascinated by dinosaurs. Perhaps coincidentally, "Serendip" is a former name for Sri Lanka, Clarke's adoptive country.
Serendipaceratops is known only from its holotype NMV P186385, a single left ulna found in the Wonthaggi Formation, dating from the early Aptian, in 2003 considered to have been about 115 million years old.
The holotype ulna has a preserved length of about sixteen centimetres. At the rear top, its olecranon process has broken off. The shaft is rather flattened.
Serendipaceratops was originally described as a member of the Neoceratopsia and one of the earliest known ceratopsian dinosaurs, and the only one known from the southern hemisphere, with the possible exception of the dubious South American genus Notoceratops , which also may be another kind of ornithischian dinosaur. In addition to the holotype ulna, another supposed ceratopsian ulna was found at Dinosaur Cove, in south-west Victoria. It is a little younger at 106 million years old, having been found in the Eumeralla Formation. The scientists who first studied the ulnae said that they most closely resembled those of Leptoceratops, [2] but subsequent studies have shown that this interpretation is likely incorrect.
In a comprehensive survey of the dinosaurs from Australia and New Zealand, Federico Angolin and colleagues in 2010 found that the ulna did not especially resemble that of a basal ceratopsian any more than of any other quadruped genasaurian ornithischian, lacking ceratopsian synapomorphies, and that in fact it was more generally similar to the ulna of the Australian ankylosaur Minmi . [3] It could thus not be confidently referred to any ornithischian group, and should be considered a nomen dubium . [3] However, in 2014 Rich et al. published a statistical study showing that the proportions of the holotype ulna fell within ceratopsian morphospace and found the taxon to be valid based on a unique combination of characters. [4] Most recently, Rozadilla et al. in 2021 found that while the taxon was valid, the ulna of Serendipaceratops was deformed, making Rich et al's conclusions about its classification invalid. Instead, Rozadilla et al. classified Serendipaceratops as an ankylosaur, because of the ulna's robust proportions. [5]
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 "bird", and ischion (ἴσχιον), meaning "hip". 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.
Qantassaurus is a genus of basal two-legged, plant-eating elasmarian ornithischian dinosaur that lived in Australia about 125-112 million years ago, when the continent was still partly south of the Antarctic Circle. It was described by Patricia Vickers-Rich and her husband Tom Rich in 1999 after a find near Inverloch, and named after Qantas, the Australian airline.
Ceratopsia or Ceratopia is a group of herbivorous, beaked dinosaurs that thrived in what are now North America, Europe, and Asia, during the Cretaceous Period, although ancestral forms lived earlier, in the Jurassic. The earliest known ceratopsian, Yinlong downsi, lived between 161.2 and 155.7 million years ago. The last ceratopsian species, Triceratops prorsus, became extinct during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, 66 million years ago.
Leaellynasaura is a genus of small herbivorous ornithischian dinosaurs from the late Aptian to early Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous, around 118-110 million years ago. It was first discovered in Dinosaur Cove, Australia. The only known species is Leaellynasaura amicagraphica. It was described in 1989, and named after Leaellyn Rich, the daughter of the Australian palaeontologist couple Tom Rich and Patricia Vickers-Rich who discovered it. The specific name, amicagraphica, translates to "friend writing" and honours both the Friends of the Museum of Victoria and the National Geographic Society for their support of Australian paleontology.
Atlascopcosaurus is a genus of herbivorous basal iguanodont dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Eumeralla Formation of Australia.
Minmi is a genus of small herbivorous ankylosaurian dinosaur that lived during the early Cretaceous Period of Australia, about 120 to 112 million years ago.
Micropachycephalosaurus is an extinct genus of basal marginocephalian dinosaur containing only the type species, Micropachycephalosaurus hongtuyanensis. It lived in China during the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) and was found in the Jiangjunding Formation.
Notohypsilophodon is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Argentina. It was described as the only "hypsilophodont" known from South America, although this assessment is not universally supported, and Gasparinisaura is now believed to have been a basal euornithopod as well.
Fulgurotherium is a dubious genus of ornithischian dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) Griman Creek Formation. It lived in what is now Australia.
Kangnasaurus is a genus of iguanodontian ornithopod dinosaur found in supposedly Early Cretaceous rocks of South Africa. It is known from a tooth and possibly some postcranial remains found in the early-Aptian Kalahari Deposits Formation. It was probably similar to Dryosaurus.
Notoceratops is a dubious genus of extinct ornithischian dinosaur based on an incomplete, toothless left dentary from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia, probably dating to the Campanian or Maastrichtian. It was most likely a ceratopsian and it was found in the Lago Colhué Huapi Formation.
Leptoceratopsidae is an extinct family of neoceratopsian dinosaurs from Asia, North America and Europe. Leptoceratopsids resembled, and were closely related to, other neoceratopsians, such as the families Protoceratopsidae and Ceratopsidae, but they were more primitive and generally smaller.
Trinisaura is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived during the late Campanian stage of the Upper Cretaceous, around 73 to 72 million years ago in what is now James Ross Island off the coast of northern Antarctica near Patagonia. It is known from a single, incomplete postcranial skeleton that includes several vertebrae, a partial pelvis, and nearly complete right hindlimb. The fossils were collected in 2008 by paleontologists Juan Moly and Rodolfo Coria from the sandstone of the Snow Hill Island Formation. It remained undescribed in the collections of the Museo de La Plata until its description by Coria and colleagues in 2013, being the basis of the novel genus and species Trinisaura santamartaensis. The genus name is to commemorate the efforts of Argentine geologist Trinidad "Trini" Diaz and the Latin root -sauros, meaning "lizard". The species name is after Santa Marta Cove, where the fossils were collected.
Morrosaurus is an extinct genus of herbivorous elasmarian dinosaur that lived in the late Cretaceous in Antarctica. The only known species is the type Morrosaurus antarcticus.
Diluvicursor is a genus of small ornithischian from the Lower Albian of Australia. It is known from one species, the type species D. pickeringi. The two known specimens, a vertebra and a partial juvenile postcranium discovered in 2005 from the Eumeralla Formation, are known, and they were named in early 2018.
Galleonosaurus is a genus of basal ornithopod dinosaur from the Wonthaggi Formation of the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. The type and only species is Galleonosaurus dorisae.
Parankylosauria is a group of basal ankylosaurian dinosaurs known from the Cretaceous of South America, Antarctica, and Australia. It is thought the group split from other ankylosaurs during the mid-Jurassic period, despite this being unpreserved in the fossil record.
Maip is a genus of large megaraptorid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Chorrillo Formation of Santa Cruz, Argentina. The genus contains a single species, M. macrothorax, known from an incomplete, disarticulated skeleton. Maip may represent the largest megaraptorid known from South America, and possibly the world.
Patagopelta is an extinct genus of ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Allen Formation of Argentina. The genus contains a single species, P. cristata, known from a partial skeleton. While originally described as a nodosaurine, later discoveries provided support for parankylosaurian affinities for the taxon. Patagopelta is a very small ankylosaur, comparable in size to the dwarf nodosaurid Struthiosaurus, about 2 m (6.6 ft) long.
Diuqin is an extinct genus of unenlagiine theropod dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous (Santonian) Bajo de la Carpa Formation of Argentina. The genus contains a single species, Diuqin lechiguanae, known from a humerus and fragmentary vertebrae.