Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-07T01:57:05.418Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Attributes of the ceratopsian dinosaur Torosaurus, and new material from the Javelina Formation (Maastrichtian) of Texas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

Rebecca K. Hunt  and
Thomas M. Lehman
Rebecca K. Hunt
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Augustana College, 639 38th Street, Rock Island, Illinois 61201-2296,
Thomas M. Lehman
Affiliation:
Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409-1053,
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A bone bed in the middle part of the Javelina Formation (Maastrichtian) in Texas yielded parts of about 37 identifiable ceratopsid dinosaur bones, mostly appendicular and limb girdle elements belonging to one juvenile and two adult individuals of Torosaurus cf. utahensis. The bone bed is a lag assemblage comprising large immobile parts of the skeletons accumulated in an abandoned stream channel. In general form and proportions the postcranial bones are similar to those in Pentaceratops sternbergi and are not as robust as those in Torosaurus latus or Triceratops horridus. A few cranial elements are preserved, including parts of a parietal, squamosal, maxilla, and two dentaries. The form of the parietal fragment is comparable to that of a more nearly complete specimen of Torosaurus cf. utahensis collected nearby at about the same stratigraphic level. The bone bed material provides a basis for the first skeletal reconstruction of this enigmatic horned dinosaur. Most characters used in diagnoses of T. utahensis and T. latus are inadequate. Only the raised bar along the squamosal/parietal suture, present in T. latus; and the midline epiparietal, absent in T. latus, may discriminate the two species.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 82 , Issue 6 , November 2008 , pp. 1127 - 1138
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alexander, R. M. 1989. Dynamics of Dinosaurs and other Extinct Giants. Columbia University Press, New York, 167 p.Google Scholar
Anderson, J. F., Hall-Martin, A., and Russell, D. A. 1985. Long-bone circumference and weight in mammals, birds, and dinosaurs. Journal of the Zoological Society of London, 207:53–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carpenter, K. 1990. Variation in Tyrannosaurus rex, p. 141–145. In Carpenter, K. and Currie, P. J. (eds.), Dinosaur Systematics, Approaches and Perspectives. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carpenter, K. and Young, D. B. 2002. Late Cretaceous dinosaurs from the Denver Basin, Colorado. Rocky Mountain Geology, 37:237–254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chinnery, B. 2004. Morphometric analysis of evolutionary trends in the Ceratopsian postcranial skeleton. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 24:591–609.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colbert, E. H. and Bump, J. D. 1947. A skull of Torosaurus from South Dakota and a revision of the genus. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 99:93–106.Google Scholar
Dodson, P. and Currie, P. J. 1990. Ceratopsidae, p. 593–618. In Weishampel, D. B., Dodson, P., and Osmolska, H. (eds.), The Dinosauria. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Eberth, D. A. and Currie, P. J. 2005. Vertebrate taphonomy and taphonomic modes, p. 453–477. In Currie, P. J. and Koppelhus, E. B. (eds.), Dinosaur Provincial Park: A Spectacular Ancient Ecosystem Revealed. Indiana University Press, Bloomington.Google Scholar
Eberth, D. A. and Getty, M. A. 2005. Ceratopsian bonebeds: occurrence, origins, and significance, p. 501–536. In Currie, P. J. and Koppelhus, E. B. (eds.), Dinosaur Provincial Park: A Spectacular Ancient Ecosystem Revealed. Indiana University Press, Bloomington.Google Scholar
Farke, A. 2002. A review of Torosaurus (Dinosauria: Ceratopsidae) specimens from Texas and New Mexico. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 22:52A.Google Scholar
Farke, A. 2006. Morphology and ontogeny of the cornual sinuses in chasmosaurine dinosaurs (Ornithischia: Ceratopsidae). Journal of Paleontology, 80:780–785.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farke, A. 2007. Cranial osteology and phylogenetic relationships of the chasmosaurine ceratopsid Torosaurus latus, p. 235–257. In Carpenter, K. (ed.), Horns and Beaks. Indiana University Press, Bloomington.Google Scholar
Farke, A. and Williamson, T. 2006. A ceratopsid dinosaur parietal New Mexico and its implications for ceratopsid biogeography and systematics. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 26:1018–1020.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fiorillo, A. R. 1991. Taphonomy and depositional setting of Careless Creek Quarry (Judith River Formation), Wheatland County, Montana, U.S.A. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 81:281–311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forster, C. A. 1996. Species resolution in Triceratops: Cladistic and morphometric approaches. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 16:259–270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Getty, M., Roberts, E., and Lowen, M., 2003. Taphonomy of a chasmosaurine ceratopsian skeleton from the Campanian Kaiparowits Formation, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 23:54A.Google Scholar
Gilmore, C. W. 1946. Reptilian fauna of the North Horn Formation of central Utah: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 210C:29–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Godfrey, S. J. and Holmes, R. 1995. Cranial morphology and systematics of Chasmosaurus (Dinosauria: Ceratopsidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of western Canada. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 15:726–742.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodwin, M. B., Clemens, W. A., Horner, J. R., and Padian, K. 2006. The smallest known Triceratops skull: New observations on ceratopsid cranial anatomy and ontogeny. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 26:103–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hatcher, J. B., Marsh, O. C., and Lull, R. S. 1907. The Ceratopsia. U.S. Geological Survey Monograph 49, 300 p.Google Scholar
Horner, J. R. and Goodwin, M. B. 2006. Major cranial changes during Triceratops ontogeny. Proceedings of the Royal Society, Biological Sciences 273:2757–2761.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Horner, J. R. and Goodwin, M. B. 2008. Ontogeny of cranial epi-ossifications in Triceratops . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 28:134–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunt, R. K., 2005. Ceratopsid dinosaurs from the Javelina Formation (Maastrichtian), Big Bend National Park, Texas. Unpublished M.S. thesis, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, 104 p.Google Scholar
Johnson, R. E. and Ostrom, J. H. 1995. The forelimb of Torosaurus and an analysis of the posture and gait of ceratopsians, p. 205–218. In Thomason, J. (ed.), Functional Morphology in Vertebrate Paleontology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Lambe, L. M. 1915. On Eoceratops canadensis, gen. nov., with remarks on other genera of Cretaceous horned dinosaurs. Canada Geological Survey Museum Bulletin 12, Geology Series Number 24, 49 p.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawson, D. A. 1975. Pterosaur from the latest Cretaceous of West Texas, discovery of the largest flying creature. Science, 187:947–948.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lawson, D. A. 1976. Tyrannosaurus and Torosaurus, Maastrichtian dinosaurs from Trans-Pecos, Texas. Journal of Paleontology, 50:158–164.Google Scholar
Lehman, T. M. 1981. The Alamo Wash local fauna: A new look at the old Ojo Alamo Fauna, p. 189–221. In Lucas, S., Rigby, K., and Kues, B. (eds.), Advances in San Juan Basin Paleontology, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Lehman, T. M. 1982. A ceratopsian bone bed from the Aguja formation (Upper Cretaceous), Big Bend National Park, Texas. Unpublished M.S. thesis, University of Texas at Austin, 209 p.Google Scholar
Lehman, T. M. 1985. Depositional environments of the Naashoibito Member of the Kirtland Shale, Upper Cretaceous, San Juan Basin, New Mexico. New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources Circular, 19:55–79.Google Scholar
Lehman, T. M. 1987. Late Maastrichtian paleoenvironments and dinosaur biogeography in the western interior of North America. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 60:189–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lehman, T. M. 1989. Chasmosaurus mariscalensis sp. nov., a new ceratopsian dinosaur from Texas. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 9:137–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lehman, T. M. 1990. Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) paleosols in Trans-Pecos Texas. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 101:188–203.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lehman, T. M. 1996. A horned dinosaur from the El Picacho Formation of West Texas, and review of ceratopsian dinosaurs from the American southwest. Journal of Paleontology, 70:494–508.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lehman, T. M. 1998. A gigantic skull and skeleton of the horned dinosaur Pentaceratops sternbergi from New Mexico. Journal of Paleontology, 72:894–906.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lehman, T. M. 2001. Late Cretaceous dinosaur provinciality, p. 310–328. In Carpenter, K. and Tanke, D. (eds.), Mesozoic Vertebrate Life. Indiana University Press, Bloomington.Google Scholar
Lehman, T. M. 2007. Growth and population age structure in the horned dinosaur Chasmosaurus , p. 259–317. In Carpenter, K. (ed.), Horns and Beaks. Indiana University Press, Bloomington.Google Scholar
Lehman, T. M. and Coulson, A. B. 2002. A juvenile specimen of the sauropod dinosaur Alamosaurus sanjuanensis from the Upper Cretaceous of Big Bend National Park, Texas. Journal of Paleontology, 76:156–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lehman, T. M., McDowell, F. W., and Connelly, J. N. 2006. First isotopic (U-Pb) age for the Late Cretaceous Alamosaurus vertebrate fauna of West Texas, and its significance as a link between two faunal provinces. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 26:922–928.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lucas, S. G., Mateer, N. J., Hunt, A. P., and O'Neill, F. M. 1987. Dinosaurs, the age of the Fruitland and Kirtland Formations, and the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in the San Juan Basin, New Mexico, p. 35–50. In Fassett, J. E. and Rigby, J. K. Jr. (eds.), The Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary in the San Juan and Raton Basins, New Mexico and Colorado. Geological Society of America Special Paper 209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lull, R. S. 1933. A revision of the Ceratopsia or horned dinosaurs. Peabody Museum of Natural History Memoir 3, 175 p.Google Scholar
Mallon, J. C. and Holmes, R. 2006. A reevaluation of sexual dimorphism in the postcranium of the chasmosaurine ceratopsid Chasmosaurus belli (Dinosauria: Ornithischia). The Canadian Field-Naturalist, 120:403–412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mallon, J. C. and Holmes, R. 2007. Reexamination of a postcranium previously assigned to Anchiceratops (Dinosauria: Ceratopsia), p. 114–115. In Braman, D. R. (ed.), Ceratopsid Symposium: Short Papers, Abstracts, and Programs. Royal Tyrrell Museum Special Publication, Drumheller, Alberta.Google Scholar
Marsh, O. C. 1888. A new family of horned Dinosauria from the Cretaceous. American Journal of Science, 36:477–478.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marsh, O. C. 1891. Notice of new vertebrate fossils. American Journal of Science, 42:265–269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mateus, O. 2008. Two ornithischian dinosaurs renamed: Microceratops Bohlin 1953 and Diceratops Lull 1905. Journal of Paleontology, 82:423.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maxwell, R. A., Lonsdale, J. T., Hazzard, R. T., and Wilson, J. A. 1967. Geology of Big Bend National Park, Brewster County, Texas. University of Texas Bureau of Economic Geology Publication 6711, 320 p.Google Scholar
Ostrom, J. H. and Wellnhofer, P. 1990. Triceratops, an example of flawed systematics, p. 245–254. In Carpenter, K. and Currie, P. (eds.), Dinosaur Systematics: Perspectives and Approaches. Cambridge University Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parks, W. A. 1925. Arrhinoceratops brachyops, a new genus and species of Ceratopsia from the Edmonton Formation of Alberta. University of Toronto Studies, Geological Series, 19:5–15.Google Scholar
Ryan, M. J. 2007. A new basal centrosaurine ceratopsid from the Oldman Formation, southeastern Alberta. Journal of Paleontology, 81:376–396.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryan, M. J., Russell, A. P., Eberth, D. A., and Currie, P. J. 2001. The taphonomy of a Centrosaurus (Ornithischia: Ceratopsidae) bone bed from the Dinosaur Park Formation (Upper Campanian), Alberta, Canada, with comments on cranial ontogeny. Palaios 16:482–506.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Standhardt, B. R. 1986. Vertebrate Paleontology of the Cretaceous/Tertiary Transition in Big Bend National Park. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, 229 p.Google Scholar
Sullivan, R. M., Boere, A. C., and Lucas, S. G. 2005. Redescription of the ceratopsid dinosaur Torosaurus utahensis (Gilmore, 1946) and a revision of the genus. Journal of Paleontology, 79:564–582.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tokaryk, T. 1986. Ceratopsian dinosaurs from the Frenchman Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of Saskatchewan. Canadian Field-Naturalist, 100:192–196.Google Scholar
Tomlinson, S. 1997. Late Cretaceous and early Tertiary turtles from the Big Bend region, Brewster County, Texas. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, 194 p.Google Scholar
Tyson, H. 1981. The structure and relationships of the horned dinosaur Arrhinoceratops Parks (Ornithischia: Ceratopsidae). Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 18:1241–1247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Voorhies, M. R. 1969. Taphonomy and population dynamics of Early Pliocene vertebrate fauna, Knox County, Nebraska. University of Wyoming, Contributions to Geology Special Paper No. 1:1–69.Google Scholar
Wagner, J. 2001. The hadrosaurian dinosaurs (Ornithischia: Hadrosauridae) of Big Bend National Park, Brewster County, Texas, with implications for Late Cretaceous paleozoogeography. Unpublished M.S. thesis, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, 417 p.Google Scholar
Wiman, C. 1930. Über Ceratopsia aus der Oberen Kreide in New Mexico. Nova Acta Regiae Societatis Scientiarum Upsaliensis series 4, 7:1–19.Google Scholar
Wu, X., Brinkman, D. B., Eberth, D. A., and Braman, D. R. 2007. A new ceratopsid dinosaur (Ornithischia) from the uppermost Horseshoe Canyon Formation (upper Maastrichtian), Alberta, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 44:1243–1265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar