Suskityrannus Explained

Suskityrannus (meaning "coyote tyrant", suski meaning "coyote" in Zuni) is a genus of small tyrannosauroid theropod from the Late Cretaceous in southern Laramidia. It contains a single species, Suskityrannus hazelae, and the type specimen was found in the Turonian-age Moreno Hill Formation of the Zuni Basin in western New Mexico.

Discovery and naming

First mentioned as a small dromaeosaurid by Wolfe and Kirkland in their description of Zuniceratops,[1] Suskityrannus was informally referred to as the "Zuni coelurosaur",[2] "Zuni tyrannosaur",[3] and by the 2011 documentary Planet Dinosaur "Zunityrannus" prior to its scientific description.[4] The original fossils were found by Robert Denton, a professional geologist from Virginia, and a native Mesa teen Sterling Nesbitt, who was a museum volunteer that came to a dig with paleontologist Doug Wolfe.[5] [6] [7] In 2019 Suskityrannus was formally described as a genus of primitive tyrannosauroid.[8] [9] Both the holotype specimen MSM P4754 (partially articulated skull and a few postcranial bones) and the paratype specimen MSM P6178 (partially articulated and associated remains including a few skull bones and an incomplete postcranial skeleton) are preserved in the collections of the Arizona Museum of Natural History, and they both show the phylogenetically earliest known arctometatarsalian foot in tyrannosauroids.

Description

Suskityrannus is a small tyrannosaur, with the skull of known specimens measuring long, which grew similarly to earlier tyrannosauroids like Guanlong. The holotype and the paratype belong to young individuals that didn't reach skeletal maturity, but the histological analyses revealed that the bone tissues and vascularization are different from those found in young individuals of large-bodied tyrannosaurids during the Campanian-Maastrichtian age, so the adults would have been significantly smaller than mature tyrannosaurids.

Classification

Suskityrannus filled the major phylogenetic, morphological and temporal gaps that researchers needed to piece together tyrannosauroid evolution.[10] Below is the phylogenetic analysis on the placement of Suskityrannus.[8]

Paleoenvironment

Specimens of Suskityrannus are known from the Moreno Hill Formation which documents a time of tectonic upheaval, volcanic activities, humid paleoclimate, and North American coastal margin shifts. Other dinosaurs fossils recovered from this formation are Zuniceratops, Nothronychus, Jeyawati, and undescribed ankylosaur remains.[11] Three groups of turtle fossils have been reported: a baenid Edowa, a helochelydrid Naomichelys and an indeterminate trionychid.[12] Other vertebrate fossils include crocodyliform teeth, amiid teeth and gar scales.[1] [12]

Notes and References

  1. Wolfe. D.E.. Kirkland. J.I.. Smith. D.. Poole. K.. Chinnery-Allgeier. B.. McDonald. A.. 1998. Zuniceratops christopheri n. gen. & n. sp., a ceratopsian dinosaur from the Moreno Hill Formation (Cretaceous, Turonian) of west-central New Mexico. Lower and Middle Cretaceous Terrestrial Ecosystems. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin. 14. 307–318. Academia.
  2. Web site: When Dinosaurs Roamed America . Discovery channel.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20010801151342/http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/dinos/video/video.html . 2001-08-01 .
  3. Web site: Zuni Tyrannosaur Skull with base . Gaston design, Inc. https://web.archive.org/web/20180920134016/https://www.gastondesign.com/product/zuni-tyrannosaur-skull-base/ . 2018-09-20 .
  4. Web site: Mortimer . M. . Coelurosauria . theropoddatabase.com . 9 May 2019.
  5. Web site: Found in New Mexico: A tiny cousin of the T-Rex. Berman. R.. Big Think. 13 May 2019 . 13 May 2019.
  6. Web site: Teen's fossil find leads to discovery of new dinosaur, a tiny relative of T. rex. Collom. L.. 8 May 2019. Arizona Republic.
  7. Web site: Zuni Tyrannosaur Skeleton . Gaston Design, Inc. . 9 May 2019.
  8. Wolfe. D.G.. McDonald. A.T.. Kirkland. J.I.. Turner. A.H.. Smith. N.D.. Brusatte. S.L.. Loewen. M.A.. Denton. R.K.. Nesbitt. S.J.. 6 May 2019. A mid-Cretaceous tyrannosauroid and the origin of North American end-Cretaceous dinosaur assemblages. Nature Ecology & Evolution. 3. 6. 892–899. 10.1038/s41559-019-0888-0. 31061476. 2019NatEE...3..892N . 20.500.11820/a6709b34-e3ab-416e-a866-03ba1162b23d. free. Supplementary Information
  9. McDonald. A.T.. Wolfe. D.G.. Kirkland. J.I.. May 2010. A New Basal Hadrosauroid (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from the Turonian of New Mexico. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 30. 3. 799–812. 10.1080/02724631003763516. 2010JVPal..30..799M . ResearchGate.
  10. News: Tiny Tyrannosaur trod lightly 92 million years ago. Cosmos. 7 May 2019.
  11. Sterling J. Nesbitt . Robert K. Denton Jr . Mark A. Loewen . Stephen L. Brusatte . Nathan D. Smith . Alan H. Turner . James I. Kirkland . Andrew T. McDonald . Douglas G. Wolfe . 2019 . Supplementary information for: A mid-Cretaceous tyrannosauroid and the origin of North American end-Cretaceous dinosaur assemblages . Nature Ecology & Evolution . 3 . 6. 892–899. 10.1038/s41559-019-0888-0 . 31061476 . 2019NatEE...3..892N . 20.500.11820/a6709b34-e3ab-416e-a866-03ba1162b23d . free .
  12. Adrian . Brent . Smith . Heather F. . Kelley . Kara . Wolfe . Douglas G. . 2022-11-23 . A new baenid, Edowa zuniensis gen. et sp. nov., and other fossil turtles from the Upper Cretaceous Moreno Hill Formation (Turonian), New Mexico, USA . Cretaceous Research . 144 . en . 105422 . 10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105422 . 253905727 . 0195-6671.

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