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The first pachycephalosaurine (Dinosauria) from the Paleo-Arctic of Alaska and its paleogeographic implications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2016

Roland A. Gangloff ,
Anthony R. Fiorillo  and
David W. Norton
Roland A. Gangloff
Affiliation:
University of Alaska Museum, 907 Yukon Drive, Fairbanks 99775-6960,
Anthony R. Fiorillo
Affiliation:
Dallas Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 150349, Dallas, Texas 75315,
David W. Norton
Affiliation:
Arctic Rim Research, 1749 Red Fox Drive, Fairbanks, Alaska 99709,
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Extract

The last 15 years of field work along the beaches and bluffs of the Colville River, on Alaska's Arctic Coastal Plain, have produced a diverse record of high-latitude dinosaurs. Seven families and eight genera are documented with several other families and genera possibly being represented by less diagnostic remains and only a few scattered elements (Table 1; Nelms, 1989; Gangloff, 1994, 1998; Fiorillo et al., 1999; Fiorillo and Gangloff, 2000, 2001). Virtually all of the common major groups of theropods and ornithopods typical of the Late Cretaceous of northern North America are present. Most of the skeletal remains are found in rocks assigned to the Prince Creek Formation of the Colville Group (Detterman et al., 1963, 1975; Phillips, 1990). The diversity of the dinosaur record in Alaska has been significantly increased with the discovery of abundant tracks and trackways along the North Slope and Arctic Coastal Plain over the last six years. The majority of the ichnofossil record is contained in various terrestrial coal-bearing rocks assigned to the Early Cretaceous Nanushuk Group (Ahlbrandt et al., 1979). The dinosaur biozone spans the upper part of the Nanushuk group and all of the Colville Group, ranging from the mid to Late Cretaceous (Albian to Maastrichtian; Mull, 1985). The already diverse and abundant record of dinosaur skeletal fossils was increased by the discovery in 1999 of the first evidence of pachycephalosaurs from this region (Fig. 1). This taxon is now represented by a nearly complete left squamosal and the contiguous, posterior, basal part of the dome. The highly thickened bone with characteristic prismatic internal structure accompanied by the distinctive ornamentation diagnostic of this group allows for an unequivocal identification to the subfamily level. The specimen (UAM # AK-493-V-001, Fig. 2.2) is most of the left squamosal and includes a portion of a thickened dome. The specimen is bounded on three sides by parted sutures interpreted as representing the contacts with the quadrate, exoccipital, and the narrow descending portion of the parietal bone (see Fig. 2.2, 2.4). The remaining margin exhibits a broken surface that reflects the polygonal prismatic internal structure of a part of the parietal-frontal dome. The sutures are well preserved and show little or no evidence of fluvial abrasion or weathering due to subaerial exposure prior to burial.

Type
Paleontological Notes
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 79 , Issue 5 , September 2005 , pp. 997 - 1001
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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