Suskityrannus

Last updated

Suskityrannus
Temporal range: Turonian
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Suskityrannus mount at Dino Kingdom 2012.jpg
Reconstructed skeleton at the Dinokingdom exhibition, Chiba
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Clade: Tyrannoraptora
Superfamily: Tyrannosauroidea
Clade: Pantyrannosauria
Genus: Suskityrannus
Species:
S. hazelae
Binomial name
Suskityrannus hazelae
Nesbitt et al., 2019

Suskityrannus (meaning "coyote tyrant", suski meaning "coyote" in Zuni) is a genus of small tyrannosauroid theropod from the Late Cretaceous in southern Laramidia. It contains a single species, Suskityrannus hazelae, and the type specimen was found in the Turonian-age Moreno Hill Formation of the Zuni Basin in western New Mexico. [2]

Contents

Discovery and naming

3D model of the holotype snout Suskityrannus skull.png
3D model of the holotype snout

First mentioned as a small dromaeosaurid by Wolfe and Kirkland in their description of Zuniceratops , [3] Suskityrannus was informally referred to as the "Zuni coelurosaur", [4] "Zuni tyrannosaur", [5] and by the 2011 documentary Planet Dinosaur "Zunityrannus" prior to its scientific description. [6] The original fossils were found by Robert Denton, a professional geologist from Virginia, and a native Mesa teen Sterling Nesbitt, who was a museum volunteer that came to a dig with paleontologist Doug Wolfe. [7] [8] [9] In 2019 Suskityrannus was formally described as a genus of primitive tyrannosauroid. [2] [10] Both the holotype specimen MSM P4754 (partially articulated skull and a few postcranial bones) and the paratype specimen MSM P6178 (partially articulated and associated remains including a few skull bones and an incomplete postcranial skeleton) are preserved in the collections of the Arizona Museum of Natural History, and they both show the phylogenetically earliest known arctometatarsalian foot in tyrannosauroids. [2]

Description

Restoration and size comparison Suskityrannus life reconstruction.png
Restoration and size comparison

Suskityrannus is a small tyrannosaur, with the skull of known specimens measuring 25–32 cm (9.8–12.6 in) long, which grew similarly to earlier tyrannosauroids like Guanlong . [2] The holotype and the paratype belong to young individuals that didn't reach skeletal maturity, but the histological analyses revealed that the bone tissues and vascularization are different from those found in young individuals of large-bodied tyrannosaurids during the Campanian-Maastrichtian age, so the adults would have been significantly smaller. [2]

Classification

Earlier reconstruction of the skeleton with more generic coelurosaurian features, Wyoming Dinosaur Center Zuni Coelurosaur.jpg
Earlier reconstruction of the skeleton with more generic coelurosaurian features, Wyoming Dinosaur Center

Suskityrannus filled the major phylogenetic, morphological and temporal gaps that researchers needed to piece together tyrannosauroid evolution. [11] Below is the phylogenetic analysis on the placement of Suskityrannus. [2]

Paleoecology

Specimens of Suskityrannus are known from the Moreno Hill Formation which documents a time of tectonic upheaval, volcanic activities, humid paleoclimate, and North American coastal margin shifts. [1] Other dinosaurs fossils recovered from this formation are Zuniceratops , Nothronychus , Jeyawati , and undescribed ankylosaur remains. [12] Three groups of turtle fossils have been reported: a baenid Edowa, a helochelydrid Naomichelys and an indeterminate trionychid. [13] Other vertebrate fossils include crocodyliform teeth, amiid teeth and gar scales. [3] [13]

Related Research Articles

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Dilong is a genus of basal tyrannosauroid dinosaur. The only species in this genus is Dilong paradoxus. It is from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation near Lujiatun, Beipiao, in the western Liaoning province of China. It lived about 126 million years ago. This theropod discovery was significant as it was one of the first tyrannosauroids with fossil evidence of simple feathers.

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

Nothronychus is a genus of therizinosaurid theropod dinosaurs that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous period. The type species, Nothronychus mckinleyi, was described by James Kirkland and Douglas G. Wolfe in 2001. It was recovered near New Mexico's border with Arizona, in an area known as the Zuni Basin, from rocks assigned to the Moreno Hill Formation, dating to the Turonian stage of the Late Cretaceous. A second specimen, described in 2009 as a second species, Nothronychus graffami, was found in the Tropic Shale of Utah, dating between one million and a half million years older than N. mckinleyi.

<i>Zuniceratops</i> Extinct genus of ceratopsian

Zuniceratops is a genus of ceratopsian dinosaurs that lived during the Turonian stage of the Late Cretaceous in what is now New Mexico, United States. Only a single species is known, Zuniceratops christopheri.

<i>Alioramus</i> Tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur genus from the Late Cretaceous period

Alioramus is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous period of Asia. It currently contains two species. The type species, A. remotus is known from a partial skull and three foot bones recovered from the Mongolian Nemegt Formation, which was deposited in a humid floodplain about 70 million years ago. These remains were named and described by Soviet paleontologist Sergei Kurzanov in 1976. A second species, A. altai, known from a much more complete skeleton also from the Nemegt Formation, was named and described by Stephen L. Brusatte and colleagues in 2009. Its relationships to other tyrannosaurid genera were at first unclear, with some evidence supporting a hypothesis that Alioramus was closely related to the contemporary species Tarbosaurus bataar. However, the discovery of Qianzhousaurus indicates that it belongs to a distinct branch of tyrannosaurs, namely the tribe Alioramini.

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

Stokesosaurus is a genus of small, carnivorous early tyrannosauroid theropod dinosaurs from the late Jurassic period of Utah, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyrannosauroidea</span> Extinct superfamily of dinosaurs

Tyrannosauroidea is a superfamily of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs that includes the family Tyrannosauridae as well as more basal relatives. Tyrannosauroids lived on the Laurasian supercontinent beginning in the Jurassic Period. By the end of the Cretaceous Period, tyrannosauroids were the dominant large predators in the Northern Hemisphere, culminating in the gigantic Tyrannosaurus. Fossils of tyrannosauroids have been recovered on what are now the continents of North America, Europe and Asia, with fragmentary remains possibly attributable to tyrannosaurs also known from South America and Australia.

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

Dryptosaurus is a genus of basal eotyrannosaurian theropod dinosaur that lived on the island continent of Appalachia approximately 67 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 very first theropod dinosaurs ever known to science.

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.

The Moreno Hill Formation is a geological formation in western New Mexico whose strata were deposited in the Late Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation. The age of the formation is dated between approximately 90.9 to 88.6 million years ago based on detrital zircons.

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

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Sterling Nesbitt is an American paleontologist best known for his work on the origin and early evolutionary patterns of archosaurs. He is currently an associate professor at Virginia Tech in the Department of Geosciences.

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

Bistahieversor, also known as the "Bisti Beast", is a genus of basal eutyrannosaurian theropod dinosaur. The genus contains only a single known species, B. sealeyi, described in 2010, from the Late Cretaceous of New Mexico. The holotype and a juvenile were found in the Hunter Wash Member of the Kirtland Formation, while other specimens came from the underlying Fossil Forest member of the Fruitland Formation. This dates Bistahieversor approximately 75.5 to 74.5 million years ago during the Campanian age, found in sediments spanning a million years.

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

Kileskus is a genus of tyrannosauroid dinosaur known from partial remains found in Middle Jurassic Itat Formation of Sharypovsky District, Krasnoyarsk Krai (Russia). Fossils recovered include the holotype maxilla, a premaxilla, a surangular, and a few bones from the hand and foot. Additional remains referred to the species include cervical and caudal vertebrae, as well as a fibula. The skull bones are similar to those of Proceratosaurus. The type species is K. aristotocus. Kileskus was named in 2010 by Averianov and colleagues. Its size has been estimated at 5.2 meters in length and 700 kg in weight.

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

Jeyawati is a genus of hadrosauroid dinosaur which lived during the Turonian stage of the Late Cretaceous. The type species, J. rugoculus, was described in 2010, based on fossils recovered in the U.S. state of New Mexico.

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

Teratophoneus is a genus of tyrannosaurine theropod dinosaur that lived during the late Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous period, in what is now Utah. It contains a single known species, T. curriei. It is known from an incomplete skull and postcranial skeleton recovered from the Kaiparowits Formation and was specifically named T. curriei in honor of famed paleontologist Philip J. Currie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baenidae</span> Extinct family of turtles

Baenidae is an extinct family of paracryptodiran turtles known from the Early Cretaceous to Eocene of North America. While during the Early Cretaceous they are found across North America, during the Late Cretaceous they are only found in Laramidia, having disappeared from Appalachia. The majority of lineages survived the K-Pg Extinction, but the family was extinct by the latest Eocene. The name of the type genus, Baena, appears to be of Native American origin. They are primarily found in freshwater deposits, and are considered to be aquatic, with a largely generalist habit.

<i>Yutyrannus</i> Genus of proceratosaurid dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous period

Yutyrannus is a genus of proceratosaurid tyrannosauroid dinosaur which contains a single known species, Yutyrannus huali. This species lived during the early Cretaceous period in what is now northeastern China. Three fossils of Yutyrannus huali —all found in the rock beds of Liaoning Province— are currently the largest-known carnivorous dinosaur specimens that preserve direct evidence of feathers.

Melvius is a genus of vidalamiin amiid fish from the Late Cretaceous. The type species, Melvius thomasi, was described by Bryant in 1987 from Hell Creek Formation. A second species Melvius chauliodous, was named and described by Hall and Wolburg in 1989 from Kirtland Formation, and it is now considered to be one of the index taxa of the Kirtlandian land-vertebrate age. Both species of Melvius were very large at its size. A vertebral remain of M. thomasi would belongs to fish with standard length of 161 cm (5.28 ft), and there are some specimens exceeds height of that vertebra. Total length of this species would be at least 193–205 cm (6.33–6.73 ft). However, M. thomasi would be a “dwarf” compared to M. chauliodous, a specimen of M. chauliodous with abdominal centra which is 6.57 cm (2.59 in) wide would indicate standard length over 2 m (6.6 ft), and there is even larger abdominal centra which is 7.3 cm (2.9 in) wide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of tyrannosaur research</span>

This timeline of tyrannosaur research is a chronological listing of events in the history of paleontology focused on the tyrannosaurs, a group of predatory theropod dinosaurs that began as small, long-armed bird-like creatures with elaborate cranial ornamentation but achieved apex predator status during the Late Cretaceous as their arms shrank and body size expanded. Although formally trained scientists did not begin to study tyrannosaur fossils until the mid-19th century, these remains may have been discovered by Native Americans and interpreted through a mythological lens. The Montana Crow tradition about thunder birds with two claws on their feet may have been inspired by isolated tyrannosaurid forelimbs found locally. Other legends possibly inspired by tyrannosaur remains include Cheyenne stories about a mythical creature called the Ahke, and Delaware stories about smoking the bones of ancient monsters to have wishes granted.

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

Timurlengia is an extinct genus of tyrannosauroid theropod dinosaur found in Uzbekistan, in the Bissekty Formation in the Kyzylkum Desert, hailing from the Turonian age of the early Late Cretaceous. The type species is Timurlengia euotica.

References

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  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wolfe, D.G.; McDonald, A.T.; Kirkland, J.I.; Turner, A.H.; Smith, N.D.; Brusatte, S.L.; Loewen, M.A.; Denton, R.K.; Nesbitt, S.J. (6 May 2019). "A mid-Cretaceous tyrannosauroid and the origin of North American end-Cretaceous dinosaur assemblages" (PDF). Nature Ecology & Evolution. 3 (6): 892–899. Bibcode:2019NatEE...3..892N. doi:10.1038/s41559-019-0888-0. hdl: 20.500.11820/a6709b34-e3ab-416e-a866-03ba1162b23d . PMID   31061476. Supplementary Information
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