Niobrarasaurus: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia


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{{Short description|Genus of nodosaurid dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous period}}

{{italictitle}}{{speciesbox

{{Speciesbox

| name = ''Niobrarasaurus''

| fossil_range = [[Late Cretaceous]], {{Fossil range|87|82}}

| imagetaxon = Niobrarasaurus femur.jpgcoleii

| parent_authority = [[Kenneth Carpenter|Carpenter]] ''et al.'', [[1995 in paleontology|1995]]<ref name="carpenter1995"/>▼

| image_caption = Femur

| authority = ([[Maurice Mehl|Mehl]], [[1936 in paleontology|1936]])

| display_parents = 3

| synonyms =

| genus = Niobrarasaurus

*'''''Hierosaurus coleii''''' <small>Mehl, 1936</small><ref name="mehl1936"/>

▲| parent_authority = Carpenter ''et al.'', [[1995 in paleontology|1995]]

*'''''Nodosaurus coleii''''' <small>(Mehl, 1936) Vickaryous et al., [[2004 in paleontology|2004]]</small><ref name="vickaryous2004"/>

| species = coleii

| authority = Carpenter ''et al.'', 1995

}}

'''''Niobrarasaurus''''' (meaning "Niobrara lizard") is an [[extinct]] [[genus]] of [[Nodosauridae|nodosaurid]] [[ankylosaur]] which lived during the [[Cretaceous]] 87 to 82 million years ago. Its fossils were found in the [[Smoky Hill Chalk|Smoky Hill Chalk Member]] of the [[Niobrara Formation]], in western Kansas, which would have been near the middle of Western Interior Sea during the Late Cretaceous. It was a [[nodosaurid]], an [[ankylosaur]] without a clubbed tail. It was closely related to ''[[Nodosaurus]]''.

The [[type species]], ''Niobrarasaurus coleii'', was discovered and collected in 1930 by a geologist named Virgil Cole. It was originally described by Mehl in 1936 and named ''Hierosaurus coleii''. It was then re-described as a new genus by Carpenter ''et al.'' in 1995. In 2002 the type specimen was transferred to the Sternberg Museum of Natural History, Hays, Kansas. It has been estimated to be 5 meters (16 feet) in length and around 227–453&nbsp;kg (500–1.000&nbsp;lbs) according to [[Thomas R. Holtz Jr.|Thomas Holtz]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/dinoappendix/HoltzappendixWinter2011.pdf|title=Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages|last=Holtz|first=Thomas R.|date=2012}}</ref> [[Gregory S. Paul|Paul]] gave a higher estimation of 6.5 meters (21.3&nbsp;ft) and 4 tonnes (8.800&nbsp;lbs).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Paul|first=Gregory S.|title=The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2010|location=New Jersey|pages=230}}</ref>

==Discovery and naming==

==References==▼

The first remains of dinosaurs were discovered in the [[Niobrara Formation]] of [[Kansas]] by the excavations of American paleontologist [[Othniel Charles Marsh]], who worked in the area from 1870 to 1872. The first of these dinosaur remains were collected and returned to the [[Yale Peabody Museum]] where they were named ''[[Hadrosaurus agilis]]'' by Marsh in 1872, before being given the [[genus (biology)|generic name]] ''[[Claosaurus]]'' in 1890. An ankylosaur was then discovered in 1905 by Canadian paleontologist [[Charles H. Sternberg]], though they were originally identified as the [[scutes]] of a turtle. These scutes, and additional material of the [[skeleton]], were identified as the remains of an ankylosaur by American paleontologist George Wieland, who named them ''[[Hierosaurus sternbergii]]'' in 1909.<ref name="carpenter1995"/> The third discovery of dinosaurs in the Niobrara were found in the spring of 1930, where Virgil B. Cole excavated a large collection of bones and fragments, which were sent to the [[University of Missouri]] and accessioned as MU 650 VP.<ref name="carpenter1995"/><ref name="mehl1936"/> Cole wrote to American paleontologist [[Maurice Mehl]] about the finds on {{date|25 February 1930}}, where he described the discovery as a baby due to its small size.<ref name="carpenter1995"/> Many portions of the skeleton were [[articulated]], and while most was weathered and broken into pieces, the ability to reassemble fragments led Mehl to believe that missing portions were scattered before burial.<ref name="carpenter1995"/><ref name="mehl1936"/>

The skeleton of MU 650 VP includes most of the skeleton and armor, with parts of the [[skull]] and [[teeth]], [[vertebrae]] from the {{dinogloss|cervical}}, {{dinogloss|dorsal}}, {{dinogloss|sacral}}, and {{dinogloss|caudal}} regions and their ribs, parts of the {{dinogloss|scapula}} and {{dinogloss|ilium}}, and bones from the {{dinogloss|forelimb}} and {{dinogloss|hindlimb}}. It was discovered in [[Gove County]], around {{convert|11|mi|km|abbr=on}} south of [[Hackberry, Kansas]], around {{convert|195|ft|m|abbr=on}} above the base of the Niobrara Formation within the Smoky Hill Chalk Member.<ref name="carpenter1995"/><ref name="mehl1936"/> When originally described, Mehl considered the material to represent a new species of ankylosaur, giving it the name ''Hierosaurus coleii''. It was referred only tentatively to ''Hierosaurus'', as while there were both similarities and differences between the two species of the genus, until additional material of ankylosaur showing clearly that more than one genus was present within the Niobrara Formation, considering all ankylosaurs from to represent a single genus was advisable.<ref name="mehl1936"/> Revisions of the ankylosaurs by American paleontologist Walter P. Coombs found ''Hierosaurus'' to be either an undiagnostic nodosaurid or a [[junior synonym]] of ''[[Nodosaurus]]'', with his 1971 thesis renaming ''H. coleii'' as "Nodosaurus coleii" as ''H. sternbergii'' was considered [[nomen dubium|dubious]], and his 1978 revision of ankylosaur families simply listing ''Hierosaurus'' as a synonym of ''Nodosaurus''.<ref name="coombs1971"/><ref name="coombs1978"/> Coombs and Polish paleontologist [[Teresa Maryańska]] then considered ''Hierosaurus coleii'' to be a junior synonym of ''Nodosaurus textilis'' in 1990, with ''H. sternbergii'' as a dubious taxon.<ref name="coombs1990"/> American paleontologist [[Kenneth Carpenter]] and colleagues reviewed ''Hierosaurus'' in 1995, finding the type species ''H. sternbergii'' to be a dubious taxon based on inadequate material. As ''H. coleii'' was diagnostic, and lacked any features unique to it and ''Nodosaurus'', Carpenter and colleagues named the new genus ''Niobrarasaurus'' for the species, with the genus named after the Niobrara Formation it was found in.<ref name="carpenter1995"/>

Carpenter, K., D. Dilkes, and D. B. Weishampel. 1995. The dinosaurs of the Niobrara Chalk Formation (upper Cretaceous, Kansas), Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 15(2): 275-297.

==See also==

Carpenter, K. and Everhart, M. J. 2007. Skull of the ankylosaur ''Niobrarasaurus coleii'' (Ankylosauria: Nodosauridae) from the Smoky Hill Chalk (Coniacian) of western Kansas. Kansas Academy of Science, Transactions, 110(1/2): 1-9▼

{{Portal|Dinosaurs}}▼

* [[Timeline of ankylosaur research]]

▲==References==

Cole, V. B. 2007. Field notes regarding the 1930 discovery of the type specimen of ''Niobrarasaurus coleii'', Gove County, Kansas. Kansas Academy of Science, Transactions 110(1/2): 132-134.▼

{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name="mehl1936">{{cite journal|last=Mehl|first=M.G.|year=1936|title=''Hierosaurus coleii'': a new aquatic dinosaur from the Niobrara Cretaceous of Kansas|journal=Journal of the Scientific Laboratories of Denison University|volume=31|issue=1–2|pages=1–20}}</ref>

Everhart, M. J. 2004. Notice of the transfer of the holotype specimen of ''Niobrarasaurus coleii'' (Ankylosauria; Nodosauridae) to the Sternberg Museum of Natural History. Kansas Academy of Science, Transactions 107(3-4): 173-174.▼

<ref name="coombs1971">{{cite journal|last=Coombs|first=W.P.|year=1971|title=The Ankylosauria|journal=Columbia University, Ph.D., 1972, Paleoecology|pages=487}}</ref>

<ref name="coombs1978">{{cite journal|last=Coombs|first=W.P.|year=1978|title=The families of the ornithischian dinosaur order Ankylosauria|journal=Palaeontology|volume=21|issue=1|pages=143–170}}</ref>

Everhart, M. J. and S. A. Hamm. 2005. A new nodosaur specimen (Dinosauria: Nodosauridae) from the Smoky Hill Chalk (Upper Cretaceous) of western Kansas. Kansas Academy of Science, Transactions 108(1/2): 15-21.▼

<ref name="coombs1990">{{cite book|last1=Coombs|first1=W.P.|last2=Maryańska|first2=T.|year=1990|chapter=Ankylosauria|editor-last=Weishampel|editor-first=D.B.|editor2-last=Dodson|editor2-first=P.|editor3-last=Osmólka|editor3-first=H.|title=The Dinosauria|publisher=University of California Press|pages=456–483|isbn= 0-520-25408-2}}</ref>

<ref name="carpenter1995">{{cite journal|last1=Carpenter|first1=K.|last2=Dilkes|first2=D.|last3=Weishampel|first3=D.B.|year=1995|title=The dinosaurs of the Niobrara Chalk Formation (upper Cretaceous, Kansas)|journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|volume=15|issue=2|pages=275–297}}</ref>

Liggett, G. A. 2005. A review of the dinosaurs from Kansas. Kansas Academy of Science. Transactions 108(1/2): 1-14.▼

<ref name="vickaryous2004">{{cite book |last1=Vickaryous |first1=M.K. |last2=Maryańska |first2=T. |last3=Weishampel |first3=D.B. |editor1-last=Weishampel |editor1-first=D.B. |editor2-last=Osmólska |editor2-first=H. |editor3-last=Dodson |editor3-first=P. |title=The Dinosauria |date=2004 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=0-520-24209-2 |pages=363–392 |edition=2nd |chapter=Ankylosauria}}</ref>

}}

Mehl, M. G. 1931. Aquatic dinosaur from the Niobrara of western Kansas. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America 42: 326-327.▼

▲* Carpenter, K. and Everhart, M. J. 2007. Skull of the ankylosaur ''Niobrarasaurus coleii'' (Ankylosauria: Nodosauridae) from the Smoky Hill Chalk (Coniacian) of western Kansas. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science, Transactions, 110(1/2): 1-9

▲* Cole, V. B. 2007. Field notes regarding the 1930 discovery of the type specimen of ''Niobrarasaurus coleii'', Gove County, Kansas. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science, Transactions 110(1/2): 132-134132–134.

Mehl, M. G. 1936. Hierosaurus coleii: a new aquatic dinosaur from the Niobrara Cretaceous of Kansas. Denison University Bulletin, Journal of the Scientific Laboratory 31: 1-20, 3 pls.

▲* Everhart, M. J. 2004. Notice of the transfer of the holotype specimen of ''Niobrarasaurus coleii'' (Ankylosauria; Nodosauridae) to the Sternberg Museum of Natural History. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science, Transactions 107(3-4): 173-174173–174.

▲* Everhart, M. J. and S. A. Hamm. 2005. A new nodosaur specimen (Dinosauria: Nodosauridae) from the Smoky Hill Chalk (Upper Cretaceous) of western Kansas. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science, Transactions 108(1/2): 15-2115–21.

▲* Liggett, G. A. 2005. A review of the dinosaurs from Kansas. Kansas Academy of Science. Transactions 108(1/2): 1-141–14.

▲* Mehl, M. G. 1931. Aquatic dinosaur from the Niobrara of western Kansas. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America 42: 326-327326–327.

==External links==

* [http://www.oceansofkansas.com/Dinosaur.html ''Niobrarasaurus''] from the Oceans of Kansas website

{{Thyreophora|N.}}

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{{Taxonbar|from=Q137591}}

[[Category:Nodosaurids]]

[[Category:Late Cretaceous dinosaurs of North America]]

[[Category:Dinosaurs of North America]]

[[Category:Fossil taxa described in 1995]]

[[Category:Coniacian genus first appearances]]

[[Category:Santonian genus extinctions]]

[[Category:Taxa named by Kenneth Carpenter]]

[[Category:Taxa named by David B. Weishampel]]

[[Category:Ornithischian genera]]

{{Ankylosaurian stub}}