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From the Late Cretaceous of North America

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From the Late Cretaceous of North America A microraptorine (Dinosauria–Dromaeosauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of North America Nicholas R. Longricha,1 and Philip J. Currieb aDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB, Canada T2N 1N4; and bDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2E9 Edited by James P. Kennett, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, and approved January 30, 2009 (received for review November 17, 2008) The fossil assemblages of the Late Cretaceous of North America are Europe, Asia, and Gondwana (17–28). This raises the question dominated by large-bodied dinosaur species. Associated skeletons of whether small-bodied, endothermic carnivores were truly rare of small dinosaurs are exceedingly rare, and small (<10 kg) car- in these assemblages, or whether our picture of these ecosystems nivorous theropods have not previously been reported from these is incomplete. beds. Here, we describe a small dromaeosaurid from the 75-million- Recently, study of museum collections resulted in the identi- year-old Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta, Canada. Hesperony- fication of a specimen of a previously unknown dinosaur from chus elizabethae gen. et sp. nov. is represented by a pelvic girdle the Upper Cretaceous (upper Campanian) Dinosaur Park For- Ϸ from an animal weighing 1,900 g. Despite its size, the pubes and mation (29) of Alberta, Canada. The specimen was collected in ilia are coossified, indicating that the animal was somatically 1982 but lay unstudied for 25 years. Preparation of the fossil mature. This is the smallest carnivorous, nonavian dinosaur known revealed that it represents a new genus of the clade Dromaeo- from North America. Phylogenetic analysis of Hesperonychus re- sauridae, a group of birdlike, carnivorous theropods (30). veals that it is not closely related to previously described North This animal, Hesperonychus elizabethae, gen. et sp. nov., is American dromaeosaurids. Instead, Hesperonychus is a member of almost an order of magnitude smaller than any other carnivorous the dromaeosaurid clade Microraptorinae, a group containing the dinosaur known from the Dinosaur Park Formation (see Dino- 4-winged Microraptor and the feathered Sinornithosaurus, both saur Mass Data and Equations in SI Appendix) or any North from the Lower Cretaceous Jehol Group of China. Hesperonychus GEOLOGY is the youngest known member of this lineage, extending the American Cretaceous assemblage. This find demonstrates that in temporal range of the clade by 45 million years, and it is the first the Late Cretaceous of North America, dromaeosaurids ex- microraptorine known from North America, providing further ploited the small-carnivore niche. evidence for an affinity between the dinosaur faunas of North Surprisingly, Hesperonychus does not appear to be related to America and Asia. Study of fossil collections from the Dinosaur Park previously known North American dromaeosaurids, such as and Oldman formations of Alberta has revealed numerous isolated Dromaeosaurus albertensis (31) and Saurornitholestes langstoni bones of small, basal dromaeosaurids, which are tentatively re- (32). Instead, it shares features with the Microraptorinae, a clade ferred to Hesperonychus. These fossils suggest that small of small, basal dromaeosaurids that includes the feathered ECOLOGY dromaeosaurids were a significant component of the carnivore Sinornithosaurus and the bizarre ‘‘4-winged’’ Microraptor, both community in this Late Cretaceous biota. from the Lower Cretaceous Jehol Group of China (20–22, 24). Campanian ͉ Dinosaur Park Formation ͉ microraptorinae ͉ theropoda Systematic Paleontology Systematics are as follows: Theropoda Marsh, 1881; Coeluro- he vast majority of known nonavian dinosaurs are medium- sauria von Huene, 1914; Maniraptora Gauthier, 1986; Dromaeo- Tand large-bodied forms, ranging in size from tens to thou- sauridae Matthew and Brown, 1922; Microraptorinae Senter et sands of kilograms (1). This pattern is especially evident in the al., 2004; Hesperonychus elizabethae gen. et sp. nov. Late Cretaceous of North America (2–8). Here, large-bodied (Ͼ1,000 kg) dinosaurs dominate fossil assemblages in terms of Holotype number of skeletons (2, 3, 7) and number of species (4–6, 8). UALVP (University of Alberta Laboratory for Vertebrate Small-bodied (Ͻ10 kg) carnivorous dinosaurs have not previ- Palaeontology, Edmonton) 48778, a partial pelvic girdle com- ously been described from these assemblages. prising the pubes and ilia (Fig. 1). Until now, the smallest carnivorous dinosaur known from the Late Cretaceous of North America was the dromaeosaurid Referred Material Saurornitholestes langstoni, which weighed Ϸ10 kg [see Dinosaur A number of isolated pedal phalanges are tentatively referred to Mass Data and Equations in supporting information (SI) Appen- Hesperonychus (see Specimen Data in SI Appendix and Fig. 2). dix]. Other animals are unlikely to have filled the small-carnivore Phalanx II-1 is represented by TMP (Royal Tyrrell Museum of niche. The alvarezsaurid theropod Albertonykus (9, 10) appears Palaeontology, Drumheller, AB, Canada) 1989.116.65, TMP to have been a specialized insectivore (10) rather than a carni- 1966.19.22, and UALVP 50687. Phalanx II-2 is represented by vore in the strict sense, and the stagodont marsupials were highly TMP 1992.36.61 and TMP 1983.67.7. Phalanx II-3 is represented specialized durophages (11, 12) that may have fed on aquatic by TMP 1979.10.6, TMP 1980.16.1880, TMP 1990.107.15, TMP invertebrates rather than terrestrial prey. 1995.092.0009, TMP 2000.12.100, and UALVP 50686. The apparent absence of small, endothermic (or, in the case of dinosaurs, presumably endothermic) carnivores in these Late Cretaceous ecosystems is remarkable: In modern, mammal- Author contributions: N.R.L. designed research; N.R.L. and P.J.C. performed research; N.R.L. dominated terrestrial communities, small-bodied animals out- analyzed data; and N.R.L. and P.J.C. wrote the paper. number large-bodied animals, both in terms of the number of The authors declare no conflict of interest. individuals in a given area (13, 14) and number of species (15, This article is a PNAS Direct Submission. 16). That dinosaurs might have left the small-carnivore niche 1To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: [email protected]. vacant in North America is still more perplexing when one This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/ considers that many small carnivorous dinosaurs are known from 0811664106/DCSupplemental. www.pnas.org͞cgi͞doi͞10.1073͞pnas.0811664106 PNAS Early Edition ͉ 1of6 Downloaded by guest on October 2, 2021 Fig. 1. Holotype pelvic girdle (UALVP 48778) of Hesperonychus elizabethae from the late Campanian Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta, Canada. (A) Ventral view. (B) Anterior view. (C) Right lateral view. (D) Posterior view. (E) Dorsal view. ace, acetabulum; apr, pubic apron; fen, fenestra; il, ilium; ldp, lateral depression; lpr, lateral process; msb, medial shelf of brevis fossa; pat, pathology; pbt, pubic boot; pub, pubis. Etymology medially and may have contacted each other dorsally along the The name Hesperonychus derives from hesperus (Latin, west) and midline. Unlike the situation in Velociraptor, in which the ilia onychos (Greek, claw). The specific epithet elizabethae honors diverge posteriorly and the dorsal margin is laterally everted (30, the late Dr. Elizabeth Nicholls, who discovered the holotype. 33, 34), the posterior alae of the ilia would have been approxi- mately parallel, and the postacetabular blade projects vertically. Horizon and Locality As in basal paravians (23, 35–37), the posterior wing of the ilium The holotype was collected from exposures of the Dinosaur Park is tapered and curved ventrally in lateral view. Along the dorsal Formation located on the south side of the Red Deer River, Ϸ20 edge of the posterior ala, there is a distinct tubercle, a common km east of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. The Dinosaur maniraptoran feature (36). The brevis shelf projects ventrolat- Park Formation was deposited during the middle of the late erally away from the posterior blade of the ilium. Medially, the Campanian, between 76.5 and 74.8 Ma (29). Referred material medial shelf of the brevis fossa is split into separate anterior and was collected from Dinosaur Provincial Park and surrounding posterior processes, a condition unique to Hesperonychus. The badlands and other locations in southern Alberta, including acetabulum is similar to those of other dromaeosaurids in that Devil’s Coulee, Manyberries, Onefour, Irvine, and Sandy Point it lacks a prominent supracetabular crest (30, 36). However, (Specimen Data in SI Appendix); all are within 200 km of the type anteriorly, the contribution of the ilium to the acetabulum is locality. All specimens for which precise stratigraphic data are broad, and the anterior rim projects strongly laterally, as it does available come from a narrow chronostratigraphic interval that in Unenlagia (36). The medial opening of the acetabulum is encompasses the Dinosaur Park Formation and coeval beds of partially closed, as it is in other Dromaeosauridae (36). The the uppermost Oldman Formation (Specimen Data in SI Appen- acetabulum opens dorsolaterally rather than laterally, as is the dix). This interval represents no more than 1.7 million years of case in Velociraptor (38), suggesting the ability to partially abduct time (29). the hindlimbs. This morphology is of interest in
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