A juvenile cf. Edmontosaurus annectens (Ornithischia, Hadrosauridae) femur documents a poorly represented growth stage for this taxon
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18435/vamp29347Keywords:
Edmontosaurus, ontogeny, femur, Hadrosauridae, Dinosauria, Hell Creek Formation, OrnithischiaAbstract
A nearly complete, but isolated, femur of a small hadrosaurid from the Hell Creek Formation of Montana is tentatively referred to Edmontosaurus annectens. At 28 cm long, the element can be classified as that from an “early juvenile” individual, approximately 24 percent of the maximum known femur length for this species. Specimens from this size range and age class have not been described previously for E. annectens. Notable trends with increasing body size include increasingly distinct separation of the femoral head and greater trochanter, relative increase in the size of the cranial trochanter, a slight reduction in the relative breadth of the fourth trochanter, and a relative increase in the prominence of the cranial intercondylar groove. The gross profile of the femoral shaft is fairly consistent between the smallest and largest individuals. Although an ontogenetic change from relatively symmetrical to an asymmetrical shape in the fourth trochanter has been suggested previously, the new juvenile specimen shows an asymmetric fourth trochanter. Thus, there may not be a consistent ontogenetic pattern in trochanteric morphology. An isometric relationship between femoral circumference and femoral length is confirmed for Edmontosaurus. Overall ontogenetic trends in the femur of Edmontosaurus are concordant with patterns seen in other Hadrosauridae, supporting a fairly conserved pattern of development for this element within the clade.
Downloads
References
Baert, M., M. E. Burns, and P. J. Currie. 2014. Quantitative diagenetic analyses of Edmontosaurus regalis (Dinosauria: Hadrosauridae) postcranial elements from the Danek Bonebed, Upper Cretaceous Horseshoe Canyon Formation, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: implications for allometric studies of fossil organisms. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 51:1007–1016.
Bell, P. R. 2011. Cranial osteology and ontogeny of Saurolophus angustirostris from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia with comments on Saurolophus osborni from Canada. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 56:703–722.
Brett-Surman, M. K., and J. R. Wagner. 2006. Discussion of character analysis of the appendicular anatomy in Campanian and Maastrichtian North American hadrosaurids--variation and ontogeny. Pp. 135–169 in K. Carpenter (ed.). Horns and Beaks: Ceratopsian and Ornithopod Dinosaurs. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Campione, N. E. 2014. Postcranial anatomy of Edmontosaurus regalis (Hadrosauridae) from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation, Alberta, Canada. Pp. 208–244 in Eberth, David A. and D. C. Evans (eds.). Hadrosaurs: Proceedings of the International Hadrosaur Symposium. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Campione, N. E., and D. C. Evans. 2011. Cranial growth and variation in edmontosaurs (Dinosauria: Hadrosauridae): implications for latest Cretaceous megaherbivore diversity in North America. PLOS ONE 6:e25186.
Colson, M. C., R. O. Colson, and R. Nellermoe. 2004. Stratigraphy and depositional environments of the upper Fox Hills and lower Hell Creek Formations at the Concordia Hadrosaur Site in northwestern South Dakota. Rocky Mountain Geology 39:93–111.
Dewaele, L., K. Tsogtbaatar, R. Barsbold, G. Garcia, K. Stein, F. Escuillié, and P. Godefroit. 2015. Perinatal specimens of Saurolophus angustirostris (Dinosauria: Hadrosauridae), from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia. PLOS ONE 10:e0138806.
Dilkes, D. W. 2001. An ontogenetic perspective on locomotion in the Late Cretaceous dinosaur Maiasaura peeblesorum (Ornithischia: Hadrosauridae). Canadian Journal of Earth Science 38:1205–1227.
Erickson, G. M., and T. A. Tumanova. 2000. Growth curve of Psittacosaurus mongoliensis Osborn (Ceratopsia: Psittacosauridae) inferred from long bone histology. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 130:551–566.
Guenther, M. F. 2009. Influence of sequence heterochrony on hadrosaurid dinosaur postcranial development. The Anatomical Record 292:1427–1441.
Guenther, M. F. 2014. Comparative ontogenies (appendicular skeleton) for three hadrosaurids and a basal iguanodontian: divergent developmental pathways in Hadrosaurinae and Lambeosaurinae. Pp. 398–415 in Eberth, David A. and D. C. Evans (eds.). Hadrosaurs. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Hammer, Ø., D. A. T. Harper, and P. D. Ryan. 2001. Past: Paleontological Statistics Software Package for education and data analysis. Palaeontologia Electronica 4:1–9.
Hone, D. W. E., C. Sullivan, Q. Zhao, K. Wang, and X. Xu. 2014. Body size distribution in a colossal hadrosaurid death assemblage from the Upper Cretaceous of Zhucheng, Shandong Province, China. Pp. 524–531 in Eberth, David A. and D. C. Evans (eds.). Hadrosaurs. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Horner, J. R., A. de Ricqlès, and K. Padian. 2000. Long bone histology of the hadrosaurid dinosaur Maiasaura peeblesorum: growth dynamics and physiology based on an ontogenetic series of skeletal elements. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 20:115–129.
Maidment, S. C. R., K. T. Bates, and P. M. Barrett. 2014. Three-dimensional computational modeling of pelvic locomotor muscle moment arms in Edmontosaurus (Dinosauria, Hadrosauridae) and comparisons with other archosaurs. Pp. 433–448 in Eberth, David A. and D. C. Evans (eds.), Hadrosaurs. Proceedings of the International Hadrosaur Symposium. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Mori, H., P. S. Druckenmiller, and G. M. Erickson. 2015. A new Arctic hadrosaurid from the Prince Creek Formation (Lower Maastrichtian) of northern Alaska. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 61:15–32.
Prieto-Márquez, A. 2014. A juvenile Edmontosaurus from the late Maastrichtian (Cretaceous) of North America: Implications for ontogeny and phylogenetic inference in saurolophine dinosaurs. Cretaceous Research 50:282–303.
Prieto-Marquez, A., and M. F. Guenther. 2018. Perinatal specimens of Maiasaura from the Upper Cretaceous of Montana (USA): insights into the early ontogeny of saurolophine hadrosaurid dinosaurs. PeerJ 6:e4734.
Stanton Thomas, K. J., and S. J. Carlson. 2004. Microscale δ18O and δ13C isotopic analysis of an ontogenetic series of the hadrosaurid dinosaur Edmontosaurus: implications for physiology and ecology. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 206:257–287.
Vanderven, E., M. E. Burns, and P. J. Currie. 2014. Histologic growth dynamic study of Edmontosaurus regalis (Dinosauria: Hadrosauridae) from a bonebed assemblage of the Upper Cretaceous Horseshoe Canyon Formation, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 51:1023–1033.
Woodward, H. N., E. A. Freedman Fowler, J. O. Farlow, and J. R. Horner. 2015. Maiasaura, a model organism for extinct vertebrate population biology: a large sample statistical assessment of growth dynamics and survivorship. Paleobiology 41:503–527.
Wosik, M. 2018. Osteohistology and growth of Edmontosaurus and assessment of life history changes in hadrosaurid dinosaurs. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 285 pp.
Wosik, M., M. B. Goodwin, and D. C. Evans. 2018. A nestling-sized skeleton of Edmontosaurus (Ornithischia, Hadrosauridae) from the Hell Creek Formation of northeastern Montana, U.S.A., with an analysis of ontogenetic limb allometry. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 37:e1398168.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2019 Andrew Farke, Eunice Yip
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Submission of an article to Vertebrate Anatomy Morphology Palaeontology will be taken to mean that the article is an original work and not previously published or under consideration for publication elsewhere.
If the article is accepted for publication, it will be published on-line under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC By 4.0) meaning:
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
