Buffalo Paleontologists Discover a New Dinosaur
Uncovering a Never-Before-Seen Species of Anklyosaur
Nov 2, 2009
The Buffalo Museum of Science announced on October 30, 2009 that two of its research associates, Bill and Kris Parsons, have discovered a skull of a new species of dinosaur that lived in the early Cretaceous period in what is now Montana.
Their discovery, which is detailed in the October 2009 issue of the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, was made in 1997, when they found a well-preserved skull that was about 90 percent intact. This anklyosaur, which has been named Tatankacephalus cooneyorum, has been identified as separate from other known anklyosaurs thanks to the integrity of the skull.
The New Anklyosaur
No anklyosaur had previously been discovered at this point in the Mesozoic Era, which encompassses the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods. Bill Parson explains that “This is the first member of Ankylosauridae to be found within the Early Cretaceous Cloverly Geologic Formation,” and he believes the Tatankacephalus to be an evolutionarily transitional species between the Jurassic anklyosaurs and the more widely known, late Cretaceous variety.
Because the Tatankacephalus skull was so well preserved on the hillside on which it was discovered, it was easier for Bill Parsons to illustrate a possible vision of the new anklyosaur (which can be seen below). The skull, on which was preserved a similar keratinous sheathing to that of modern turtles and bird beaks, allowed Parsons to deduce the likeliness that the anklyosaur was quite possibly diversely colored.
The dinosaur’s skull, which is protected by two lateral horns, has two thick domes at the back, and “[h]eavy ornamentation and horn-like plates would have covered most of the dorsal surface of this dinosaur,” according to Bill Parsons.
The Significance of the New Dinosaur Discovery
Little is known about anklyosaurs outside of the commonly known late Cretaceous period species, but thanks to this discovery, Parsons and other paleontologists have been given a significant glimpse into the evolution of armored dinosaurs.
Professor of paleontology at Ohio University Lawrence Witmer is hopeful about the future of armored dinosaur evolution research: “[This] is just the first; I’m sure, of what will be a series of important discoveries from this team.”
Considering that most of the larger dinosaurs are believed to be, as of yet, undiscovered, the unearthing of evolutionary transitions is an exciting one indeed. Filling in the gaps, so to speak, is important at this point in order to better understand the evolution of the dinosaurs, and the tank-like Tatankacephalus is doing just that for the Parsons of Buffalo, New York.
For more detailed information, visit Bill and Kris Parson's full article, "A new anklyosaur (Dinosauria: Anklyosauria) from the Lower Cretaceous Cloverly Formation of Cental Montana," in the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, Vol. 46, 2009.
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