| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
1 Vertebrate Morphology and Palaeontology Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada
2 Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Box 7500, Drumheller Alberta T0J 0Y0, Canada
Bone bed 43 is one of at least eight paucispecific Centrosaurus bone beds located in the Dinosaur Park Formation (Upper Campanian) in Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada. It long has been used as a case example for evidence of herding and social behavior in dinosaurs, but a detailed analysis of the site has not been presented until this study. The bone bed is dominated by the disarticulated, mostly fragmentary and slightly abraded remains of Centrosaurus apertus, with minor occurrences of other taxa, notably teeth from the large tyrannosaurid Albertosaurus libratus. Fossils occur in a stacked to amalgamated succession of lag deposits, deposited and reworked at the erosional base of a paleochannel. The most parsomonious scenerio suggests that Centrosaurus material represents part of a large aggregation of animals (possibly numbering in the thousands) that died by drowning on the alluvial plain. Disarticulation occurred at a point upriver from the bone-bed site. Scavenging by theropods, primarily Albertosaurus, at or near the original site of death is suggested by the high number of shed theropod teeth. A subsequent event prior to fossilisation moved the material to its present location removing many juvenile-sized and hydrodynamically light elements from the original death assemblage. Evidence for distinct size classes amongst the preserved elements is not supported by the data, but the size range of elements preserved are representative of living individuals that would have ranged from small juveniles to mature adults. The large data base of specimens from bone bed 43 allows for the illustration of the ontogenetic changes that occurred in the diagnostic cranial elements of Centrosaurus.
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  R. K. Hunt and T. M. Lehman Attributes of the Ceratopsian Dinosaur Torosaurus, and New Material from the Javelina Formation (Maastrichtian) of Texas Journal of Paleontology, November 1, 2008; 82(6): 1127 - 1138. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 L. E. Wilson Comparative Taphonomy and Paleoecological Reconstruction of Two Microvertebrate Accumulations from the Late Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation (Maastrichtian), Eastern Montana Palaios, May 1, 2008; 23(5): 289 - 297. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. Lauters, Y. L. Bolotsky, J. Van Itterbeeck, and P. Godefroit Taphonomy and Age Profile of a Latest Cretaceous Dinosaur Bone Bed in Far Eastern Russia Palaios, March 1, 2008; 23(3): 153 - 162. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
T. S. MYERS and G. W. STORRS TAPHONOMY OF THE MOTHER'S DAY QUARRY, UPPER JURASSIC MORRISON FORMATION, SOUTH-CENTRAL MONTANA, USA Palaios, December 1, 2007; 22(6): 651 - 666. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
C. A. SUAREZ, M. B. SUAREZ, D. O. TERRY JR., and D. E. GRANDSTAFF RARE EARTH ELEMENT GEOCHEMISTRY AND TAPHONOMY OF THE EARLY CRETACEOUS CRYSTAL GEYSER DINOSAUR QUARRY, EAST-CENTRAL UTAH Palaios, September 1, 2007; 22(5): 500 - 512. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. M. LIEBIG, K. W. FLESSA, and T.-S. A. TAYLOR TAPHONOMIC VARIATION DESPITE CATASTROPHIC MORTALITY: ANALYSIS OF A MASS STRANDING OF FALSE KILLER WHALES (PSEUDORCA CRASSIDENS), GULF OF CALIFORNIA, MEXICO Palaios, July 1, 2007; 22(4): 384 - 391. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. J. RYAN A NEW BASAL CENTROSAURINE CERATOPSID FROM THE OLDMAN FORMATION, SOUTHEASTERN ALBERTA Journal of Paleontology, March 1, 2007; 81(2): 376 - 396. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 C. M. Faux and K. Padian The opisthotonic posture of vertebrate skeletons: postmortem contraction or death throes? Paleobiology, March 1, 2007; 33(2): 201 - 226. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
