Search

Tyrannosaurid cranial bones - including a maxilla, dentary, and pterygoid - were collected from a monodominant Edmontosaurus bonebed in the Horseshoe Canyon Formation exposed near the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The maxilla can be identified as Albertosaurus sarcophagus based on the narrow interfenestral strut and relatively deep dental pits along the length of the palatal shelf. Cranial bones are interpreted to have come from a single large individual that was incorporated into the site during, or temporally close to, the formation of the final taphocoenosis. This discovery constitutes the northernmost record of A. sarcophagus, and helps to narrow the geographic gap of latest Cretaceous tyrannosaurs between Alberta and Alaska. The geographic distribution of A. sarcophagus - eclipsed only in areal extent by Tyrannosaurus rex in North America - attests to the adaptability of this species, which endured regional changes in climate that forced extirpation of many ornithischian taxa during deposition of the Horseshoe Canyon Formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant number of fossil remains of the hadrosaurid Edmontosaurus have been recovered from the Danek Bonebed (Horseshoe Canyon Formation, Upper Cretaceous, Alberta). Bones from theropod dinosaurs are scarce in this hadrosaur-dominated bonebed, but more than 60 tyrannosaurid theropod teeth have been found. The isolated tyrannosaurid teeth include juvenile and adult specimens, although the precise ontogenetic stage has not been determined. The use of multivariate analyses helps determine the variance of the sample and verifies the initial taxonomic affinities given to these teeth, showing their high potential as a useful tool to better discriminate tyrannosaurid teeth. It also provides an insight into the tyrannosaurid intraspecific variability in the Horseshoe Canyon Formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The type series of Albertosaurus sarcophagus, consisting of a type (CMN 5600) and a paratype (CMN 5601) is inadequately established, since it has not been demonstrated that the specimens represent the same taxon. This problem has arisen because the original diagnostic characters have a wider distribution among Tyrannosauridae or they are in error, and both specimens consist of incomplete and damaged skulls. The type series was studied to test for the presence of diagnostic characters in the type specimen and, if so, to provide a rationale for referring the paratype to the taxon. Of the bones shared between the skulls, only five could be compared. One character, the enlarged posterior pneumatic recess of the palatine, is shared between the two specimens; this condition differs from the situation seen in other tyrannosaurids. This character provided the rationale for assessing the identity of the specimens collected from the Albertosaurus bonebed, from which one palatine was collected that exhibits the diagnostic recess. Isolated cranial bones from the bonebed were compared with those preserved in the type series to evaluate their referral to A. sarcophagus; additional characters shared between the type series and the specimens from the bonebed were identified in the maxilla, lacrimal, and palatine. This evidence supports the hypothesis that A. sarcophagus is the tyrannosaurid preserved in the bonebed. A hypothesis of the principal growth changes in the skull in A. sarcophagus, which includes the type series and bonebed material, is proposed. La série type d'Albertosaurus sarcophagus, qui consiste en un type (CMN 5600) et un paratype (CMN 5601), n'est pas bien établie, puisqu'il n'a pas été démontré que ces spécimens représentent le même taxon. Ce problème est dûau fait que les caractères diagnostiques définis à l'origine ont une distribution élargie au sein des tyrannosauridés ou sont erronés, et que les deux spécimens représentent des crânes endommagés et incomplets. La série type a été étudiée afin de vérifier la présence des caractères diagnostiques dans le spécimen type et, le cas échéant, de justifier l'affectation du paratype au taxon. Des os présents dans les deux spécimens, cinq seulement ont pu être comparés. Un caractère, la grande cavité pneumatique postérieure du palatin, est commun aux deux spécimens; cette condition se distingue de la situation observée chez d'autres tyrannosauridés. Ce caractère a motivé l'évaluation de l'identité des spécimens prélevés du gisement d'ossements d'Albertosaurus, duquel un palatin a été recueilli qui présente la cavité diagnostique. Des os crâniens isolés prélevés du gisement d'ossements ont été comparés à ceux préservés dans la série type afin d'évaluer leur affectation à A. sarcophagus; d'autres caractères communs à la série type et aux spécimens provenant du gisement d'ossements ont été cernés dans l'os maxillaire, l'os lacrymal et le palatin. Ces observations appuient l'hypothèse voulant qu'A. sarcophagus soit le tyrannosauridé préservé dans le gisement d'ossements. Une hypothèse est proposée concernant les principales modifications, durant la croissance, du crâne d'A. sarcophagus, qui inclut la série type et le matériel provenant du gisement d'ossements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]