March 2008
Horner, J.R. and Goodwin, M.B. 2008. Ontogeny of cranial epi-ossifications in Triceratops. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 28(1): 134-144. Simplifying the names for the epi-ossifications found on skull of ceratopsians, also discussing the ontogeny and timing of the fusion of epi-ossifications [blog link]
Mateus, O. 2008. Two ornithischian dinosaurs renamed; Microceratops Bohlin 1953 and Diceratops Lull 1905. Journal of Paleontology 82(2): 423. Diceratops becomes Diceratus and Microceratops becomes Microceratus [blog post]
June 2008
Tereschenko, V.S. 2008. Adaptive features of protoceratopoids (Ornithischia, Neoceratopsia). Paleontological Journal 42(3): 273-286.
September 2008
Farke, A. 2008. Evolution and function of the supracranial sinuses in ceratopsid dinosaurs and the frontal sinuses in bovid mammals. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 28(Suppl. to 3): 76A. Andy talks a little bit about this on his blog.
Keenan, S. 2008. Taphonomy of a Triceratops bonebed from the Upper Hell Creek Formation, Garfield County, Montana. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 28(Suppl. to 3): 99A. A poster at SVP discussing the second known Triceratops bonebed, preserving a minimum of three individuals.
Mallon, J., Holmes, R., Anderson, J., Farke, A, and Ryan, M. 2008. New information on two chasmosaurine ceratopsids from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Late Cretaceous) of Alberta, Canada. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 28(Suppl. to 3): 111A. Another poster from SVP discussing undescribed cranial material attributed to Anchiceratops and Arrhinoceratops. I look forward to a publication on this one!
Miyashita, T. 2008. Two previously undescribed skeletons of Leptoceratops (Ornithischia, Neoceratopsia) from the latest Cretaceous of southern Alberta. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 28(Suppl. to 3): 117A. Articulated postcrania from the Willow Creek Formation and an associated skull and postcrania from the Scollard Formation are now added to the list of Leptoceratops specimens.
Roberts, E.M., Tapanila, L., Mijal, B. 2008 Taphonomy and sedimentology of storm-generated continental shell beds; a case example from the Cretaceous Western Interior Basin. Journal of Geology, 116(5): 462-479. The shell bed taphonomy is associated with a ceratopsian quarry from the Kaiparowits Formation in southern Utah.
Tanoue, K., You, H., and Dodson, P. 2008. Comparative morphology of basal ceratopsian dentition. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 28(Suppl. to 3): 151A.
Tumarkin-Deratzian, A. 2008. Long bone surface textures as ontogenetic markers in centrosaurine ceratopsids. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 28(Suppl. to 3): 154A. Yeaa! Another postcrania poster! Is there a textural change in long bones that can help assess increasing size/age classes, and is it consistent across taxa? Looking forward to a paper on this one as well.
Varriale, F. 2008. Dental microwear and jaw mechanics in basal Neoceratopsians. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 28(Suppl. to 3): 156A.
October 2008
Alifanov, V.R. 2008. The tiny horned dinosaur Gobiceratops minutus gen. et sp. nov. (Bagaceratopidae, Neoceratopsia) from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia. Paleontological Journal 42 (6): 621-633.
Currie, P.J., Langston, W., Jr., and Tanke, D. H. 2008. A New horned Dinosaur from an Upper Cretaceous Bone Bed in Alberta. National Research Council of Canada Research Press, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. 144 p. Includes the following papers discussing the new Pachyrhinosaurus lakustai (order your copy of this book here)-
- A new species of Pachyrhinosaurus (Dinosauria, Ceratopsidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada. by P.J. Currie, W. Langston, Jr., and D.H. Tanke
- Comments on the quarry map and preliminary taphonomic observations of the Pachyrhinosaurus (Dinosauria, Ceratopsidae) bone bed at Pipestone Creek, Alberta, Canada. by P.E. Ralrick and D.H. Tanke
- Structure of the brain cavity and inner ear of the centrosaurine ceratopsid dinosaur Pachyrhinosaurus based on CT scanning and 3D visualization. by L.M. Witmer and R.C. Ridgely
November 2008
Fricke, H.C. and Pearson, D.A. 2008. Stable isotope evidence for changes in dietary niche partitioning among hadrosaurian and ceratopsian dinosaurs of the Hell Creek Formation, North Dakota. Paleobiology 34(4): 534-552. I have not gotten a copy of this one yet, I'll have to get back to you.
Hunt, R.K. and Lehman, T.L. 2008. Attributes of the ceratopsian dinosaur Torosaurus, and new material from the Javelina Formation (Maastrichtian) of Texas. Journal of Paleontology 82(6): 1127-1138. Yes, this is my paper. I guess I have not wanted to write to much about this, even if I am proud of it, for fear of sounding like I am a arrogant jerk (or something like that). You can read the abstract at the link to the right. I will try to write some about it soon. [blog link]
Look forward to a FLOOD of new ceratopsian papers next year with the publication of a new book, the results of 2007's Ceratopsian Symposium that was held at the Royal Tyrrell Museum (September 22-23, 2007). You can still see a list of the talks from that meeting here. Something to look forward too!!
11 comments:
Sounds like some good stuff. I would love to see that paper on the triceratops bonebed. Meh, it'll probably show up on the internet someday. And that book containing the stuff from the symposium sounds exciting, judging from the list you linked to.
From what I understand there is going to be a paper on the first Triceratops bonebed in Journal of Vert Paleo sometime in the future. I am not sure when a publication on the second one will come out.
A few others that at least mention neoceratopsians:
Balanoff, A.M., Norell, M.A., Grellet-Tinner, G., and Lewin, M.R. 2008. Digital preparation of a probable neoceratopsian preserved within an egg, with comments on microstructural anatomy of ornithischian eggshells. Naturwissenschaften 95(6):493-500. doi: 10.1007/s00114-008-0347-2. ABSTRACT: We describe the first known embryo of a neoceratopsian dinosaur, perhaps the most ubiquitous Laurasian group of Cretaceous dinosaurs, which is preserved completely enclosed within an egg. This specimen was collected from Late Cretaceous beds of southern Mongolia, which commonly preserve fossils of the neoceratopsian, Yamaceratops dorngobiensis. The small egg was scanned using high-resolution X-ray computed tomography and digitally prepared from the matrix. The preserved and imaged elements support a diagnosis of the embryo to Neoceratopsia and allow preliminary observations of ontogenetic transformations within this group. The addition of an embryo also adds another important data point to the already impressive postnatal ontogenetic series that are available for this clade.
Bell, P.R., and Snively, E. 2008. Polar dinosaurs on parade: a review of dinosaur migration. Alcheringa 32(3):271-284. doi: 10.1080/03115510802096101. ABSTRACT: Cretaceous polar dinosaur faunas were taxonomically diverse, which suggests varied strategies for coping with the climatic stress of high latitudes. Some polar dinosaurs, particularly larger taxa such as the duckbill Edmontosaurus Lambe, 1917, were biomechanically and energetically capable of migrating over long distances, up to 2600 km. However, current evidence strongly suggests many polar dinosaurs (including sauropods, large and small theropods, and ankylosaurs of New Zealand) overwintered in preference to migration. Certain groups also appear more predisposed to overwintering based on their physical inability (related to biomechanics, natural history, or absolute size) to migrate, such as ankylosaurs and many small taxa, including hypsilophodontids and troodontids. Low-nutrient subsistence is found to be the best overwintering method overall, although the likelihood that other taxa employed alternative means remains plausible. Despite wide distribution of some genera, species-level identification is required to assess the applicability of such distributions to migration distances. Presently, such resolution is not available or contradicts the migration hypothesis.
Butler, R.J., and Barrett, P.M. 2008. Palaeoenvironmental controls on the distribution of Cretaceous herbivorous dinosaurs. Naturwissenschaften 95(11):1027-1032. doi: 10.1007/s00114-008-0417-5. ABSTRACT: Previous attempts to determine palaeoenvironmental preferences in dinosaurs have generally been qualitative assessments based upon data from restricted geographical areas. Here, we use a global database of Cretaceous herbivorous dinosaurs to identify significant associations between clades and broad palaeoenvironmental categories (‘terrestrial’, ‘coastal’, ‘marine’). Nodosaurid ankylosaurs and hadrosaurids show significant positive associations with marine sediments, while marginocephalians (Ceratopsia, Pachycephalosauria), saurischians (herbivorous theropods, Sauropoda) and ankylosaurid ankylosaurs are significantly positively associated with terrestrial sediments. These results provide quantitative support for the hypothesis that some clades (Nodosauridae, Hadrosauridae) were more abundant in coastal and/or fluvial environments, while others (e.g. Marginocephalia, Ankylosauridae) preferentially inhabited more distal environments.
DeMar, D.G., Jr., and Breithaupt, B.H. 2008. Terrestrial and aquatic vertebrate paleocommunities of the Mesaverde Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Campanian) of the Wind River and Bighorn basins, Wyoming, USA; pp. 78-103 in Sankey, J.T. and Baszio, S. (eds.), Vertebrate Microfossil Assemblages: Their Role in Paleoecology and Paleobiogeography. Indiana University Press, Bloomington.
Fiorillo, A.R. 2008. Dinosaurs of Alaska: implications for the Cretaceous origin of Beringia; pp. 313-326 in Blodgett, R.B. and Stanley, G.D., Jr. (eds.), The Terrane Puzzle: New Perspectives on Paleontology and Stratigraphy from the North American Cordillera. Geological Society of America Special Paper 442. ABSTRACT: Fossils within accreted terranes are typically used to describe the age or origin of the exotic geologic blocks. However, accretion may also provide new pathways for faunal exchange between previously disconnected landmasses. One such landmass, the result of accretion, is Beringia, that entity encompassing northeastern Asia and northwestern North America and the surmised land connection between the two regions.
The present concept of Beringia as a Quaternary subcontinent includes a climatic component in the form of glacial advances and retreats driving changes in sea level. These changes may have facilitated exchanges of marine biota between the Pacific Ocean and Arctic Basin, or exchanges of terrestrial faunas and floras between Asia and North America. The Beringian ecosystem includes specializations of the fl ora and fauna, especially in the vertebrate fauna.
A review of tectonic reconstructions and the striking taxon-free parallel patterns in data on the Cretaceous and Quaternary fauna and flora suggest that a generalized concept of Beringia should be formally extended back in time to the Cretaceous. A significant shift in emphasis of defining variables occurs with this extension. Climate, in the form of meteorological phenomena, and geologic history are important variables in the previously recognized definition of Beringia. The extension of Beringia into the
Cretaceous implies that Beringia is rooted in its accretionary rather than its climatic history; in other words, the geographic pattern as the result of tectonics is the defining parameter for Beringia.
Gierliński, G.D., and Sabath, K. 2008. Stegosaurian footprints from the Morrison Formation of Utah and their implications for interpreting other ornithischian tracks. Oryctos 8:29-46. ABSTRACT: The supposed stegosaurian track Deltapodus Whyte & Romano, 1994 (Middle Jurassic of England) is sauropod-like, elongate and plantigrade, but many blunt-toed, digitigrade, large ornithopod-like footprints (including pedal print cast associated with the manus of Stegopodus Lockley & Hunt, 1998) from the Upper Jurassic of Utah, better fit the stegosaurian foot pattern. The Morrison Formation of Utah yielded other tracks fitting the dryomorph (camptosaur) foot pattern (Dinehichnus Lockley et al., 1998) much better than Stegopodus. If the Stegopodus pedal specimen (we propose to shift the emphasis from the manus to the pes in the revised diagnosis of this ichnotaxon) and similar ichnites are proper stegosaur footprints, Deltapodus must have been left by another thyreophoran trackmaker. Other Deltapodus-like (possibly ankylosaurian) tracks include Navahopus Baird,1980 and Apulosauripus Nicosia et al., 1999. Heel-dominated, short-toed forms within the Navahopus-Deltapodus-Apulosauripus plexus differ from the gracile, relatively long-toed Tetrapodosaurus Sternberg, 1932, traditionally regarded as an ankylosaurian track. Thus, the original interpretation of the latter as a ceratopsian track might be correct, supporting early (Aptian) appearance of ceratopsians in North America.
Isolated pedal ichnites from the Morrison Formation (with a single tentatively associated manus print, and another one from Poland) and the only known trackways with similar footprints (Upper Jurassic of Asturias, Spain) imply bipedal gait of their trackmakers. Thus, problems with stegosaur tracks possibly stem from the expectation of their quadrupedality. Massive but short stegosaur forelimbs suggest primarily bipedal locomotion, and quadrupedal defense posture.
Gierliński, G.D., Lockley, M.G., Singer, T., and Niedzwiedzki, G. 2008. Protoceratopsid skeleton and track association from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia; pp. 45 in Uchman, A. (ed.), Second International Congress on Ichnology Abstract Book. Polish Geological Institute, Warszawa. ABSTRACT: The articulated protoceratopsid skeleton, the specimen ZPAL Mg D-II/3 (Fig.1A), was collected by the Polish-Mongolian Expedition of 1965, in the Djadokhta Formation of Flaming Cliffs. The natural cast of tetradactyl digitigrade footprint (Fig. lB), was found underneath the pelvic girdle by two of us (TS and GN), while the skeleton and matrix were being recently prepared. The footprint size (9.1 cm wide and 7.8 cm long) fits the supposed pes size of the associated individual. Toes are slightly projected above the hypex. They are relatively broad and well patted with no discrete phalangeal pads. Footprint morphology strongly resembles three times larger ceratopsian footprint, the specimen CU-MWC 227.1, from the Iron Springs Formation of Utah (Milner et al., 2006).
Godefroit, P., Goloneva, L., Shchepetov, S., Garcia, G., and Alekseev, P. 2008. The last polar dinosaurs: high diversity of latest Cretaceous arctic dinosaurs in Russia. Naturwissenschaften. doi: 10.1007/s00114-008-0499-0. ABSTRACT: A latest Cretaceous (68 to 65 million years ago) vertebrate microfossil assemblage discovered at Kakanaut in northeastern Russia reveals that dinosaurs were still highly diversified in Arctic regions just before the Cretaceous–Tertiary mass extinction event. Dinosaur eggshell fragments, belonging to hadrosaurids and non-avian theropods, indicate that at least several latest Cretaceous dinosaur taxa could reproduce in polar region and were probably year-round residents of high latitudes. Palaeobotanical data suggest that these polar dinosaurs lived in a temperate climate (mean annual temperature about 10°C), but the climate was apparently too cold for amphibians and ectothermic reptiles. The high diversity of Late Maastrichtian dinosaurs in high latitudes, where ectotherms are absent, strongly questions hypotheses according to which dinosaur extinction was a result of temperature decline, caused or not by the Chicxulub impact.
Happ, J. 2008. An analysis of predator-prey behavior in a head-to-head encounter between Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops; pp. 355-368 in Larson, P. and Carpenter, K. (eds.), Tyrannosaurus rex: the Tyrant King. Indiana University Press, Bloomington.
Lloyd, G.T., Davis, K.E., Pisani, D., Tarver, J.E., Ruta, M., Sakamoto, M., Hone, D.W.E., Jennings, R., and Benton, M.J. 2008. Dinosaurs and the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0715. ABSTRACT: The observed diversity of dinosaurs reached its highest peak during the mid- and Late Cretaceous, the 50 Myr that preceded their extinction, and yet this explosion of dinosaur diversity may be explained largely by sampling bias. It has long been debated whether dinosaurs were part of the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution (KTR), from 125–80 Myr ago, when flowering plants, herbivorous and social insects, squamates, birds and mammals all underwent a rapid expansion. Although an apparent explosion of dinosaur diversity occurred in the mid-Cretaceous, coinciding with the emergence of new groups (e.g. neoceratopsians, ankylosaurid ankylosaurs, hadrosaurids and pachycephalosaurs), results from the first quantitative study of diversification applied to a new supertree of dinosaurs show that this apparent burst in dinosaurian diversity in the last 18 Myr of the Cretaceous is a sampling artefact. Indeed, major diversification shifts occurred largely in the first one-third of the group’s history. Despite the appearance of new clades of medium to large herbivores and carnivores later in dinosaur history, these new originations do not correspond to significant diversification shifts. Instead, the overall geometry of the Cretaceous part of the dinosaur tree does not depart from the null hypothesis of an equal rates model of lineage branching. Furthermore, we conclude that dinosaurs did not experience a progressive decline at the end of the Cretaceous, nor was their evolution driven directly by the KTR.
Sankey, J.T. 2008. Vertebrate paleoecology from microsites, Talley Mountain, upper Aguja Formation (Late Cretaceous), Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA; pp. 61-77 in Sankey, J.T. and Baszio, S. (eds.), Vertebrate Microfossil Assemblages: Their Role in Paleoecology and Paleobiogeography. Indiana University Press, Bloomington.
You, H., and Luo, Z. 2008. Dinosaurs from the Lower Cretaceous Gongpoquan Basin in Jiuquan Area, Gansu Province, China. Acta Geologica Sinica 82(1):139-144. ABSTRACT: Dinosaurs from the Lower Cretaceous Xinminpu Group of the Gongpoquan Basin in the Jiuquan area, Gansu Province, northwestern China were mainly excavated during the course of two projects; the Sino-Japanese Silk Road Dinosaur Expedition in 1992, and the Sino-American Mazongshan Dinosaur Project during 1997-2000. A diverse dinosaur assemblage, including members of Theropoda, Sauropoda, Iguanodontoidea, and Neoceratopsia, has since been discovered. This Gongpoquan dinosaur assemblage is characterized by the coexistence of basal representatives of the diverse clades that would subsequently dominate the Late Cretaceous dinosaur faunas, such as two basal neoceratopsians Archaeoceratops oshimai and Auroraceratops rugosus, the basal hadrosauroid Equijubus normani, and the basal titanosauriform Gobititan shenzhouensis. This assemblage is also characterized by members of the Ornithomimosauria and Therizinosauroidea with unusually large body size (for this geological time interval). Comparative study shows, although closely related, all dinosaurs from the Xinminpu Group in the Gongpoquan Basin are more derived than those from the Jehol Group in the western Liaoning Province in their respectively clades. Considering the younger age of the dinosaur-bearing Xinminpu Group (Albian) in the Gongpoquan Basin than the Jehol Group in western Liaoning Province (late Hauterivian-early Aptian), the Gongpoquan dinosaur assemblage probably represents a later, more derived stage in the evolution of Early Cretaceous Psittacosaurus-fauna in northern China.
Thanks Jerry!! I figured there were a few I would have missed. I forgot the "Vertebrate Microfossil Assemblages" book came out this year too.
2008 was indeed a good year for ceratopsians. . .and I expect that, between the symposium volume and a few other announcements, 2009 will be *the* year of the ceratopsians.
Excellent! That is what I like to hear! You should do a post about your SVP talk sometime Andy (unless there is a paper in the works you are waiting for first).
Hopefully sometime in the near future. . .have to finish up the post sequence on my JEB paper first, though!
What are neoceratopsians?
It is basically the clade (or group) in Ceratopsia including the basal guys (like Auroraceratops, Archaeoceratops, Leptoceratops, Protoceratops....) and the Centrosaurines (Styracosaurus, Centrosaurus, Pachyrhinosaurus...) and Chasmosaurines (Triceratops, Torosaurus, Chasmosaurus, Pentaceratops...)..
2009: The Year that Ceratopsidae Moved To Asia...
(Or, at least, when they were reported from there...)
:D
It will be fun to see what comes of that!
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