Dinosaur of the day: Buffalo-head-smash-o-saurs - November 26, 2007
Today’s dinosaur holds the auspicious title of “largest horned dinosaur ever discovered in Alberta”. Eotriceratops xerinsularis was discovered near the famed Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump – where Native Americans would kill buffalo by chasing them over a cliff.
Actually, in this case, re-discovered is more appropriate. According to one report, US fossil hunter Barnum Brown first noticed the partial skeleton of the 68-million year old monster, but decided it wasn’t worth his while to stop and examine it (Globe and Mail).
Eotriceratops xerinsularis is the earliest known member the Triceratops group, and shares their distinctive horns and solid frill (abstract of research paper). “Until we found Eotriceratops, there was a significant gap in our knowledge about the dinosaurs that lived in Alberta and North America from 69 to 67 million years ago. The discovery of Eotriceratops is an important step in helping us understand the history of latest Cretaceous dinosaur evolution on this continent,” says Don Brinkman, head curator at the Royal Tyrrell Museum and one of the discovery team (press release).
The thing was not in great condition when found. Dave Eberth, another researcher from the Tyrrell told the Edmonton Journal, “Basically, it’s a road kill. It looks like somebody ran over it in a Cretaceous Hummer.”
Comments
The location where the fossil was found is Dry Island Buffalo Jump, about 60 Km north of Drumheller. Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is different site about 20 Km northwest of Fort Macleod.
Posted by: Shane Leuck | December 2, 2007 06:29 AM