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New Horned Dinosaur Species Found in Prehistoric Graveyard in the Badlands of Alberta, Canada.


CLEVELAND -- A new species of horned dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous Period Cretaceous period (krĭtā`shəs), third and last period of the Mesozoic era of geologic time (see Geologic Timescale, table), lasting from approximately 144 to 65 million years ago. The Cretaceous was marked, in both North America and Europe, by extensive submergences of the continents., about 76 million years ago, was found in a fossil bed at a prehistoric graveyard in the badlands Badlands National Park, 242,756 acres (98,316 hectares), (authorized as a national monument in 1929, designated a national park in 1978) occupies most of the region. The park is noted for its scenery, its fossils of prehistoric animals, and its varied wildlife, including bison, bighorn

Bighorn, river, United States

Bighorn, river, 461 mi (741 km) long, formed in W central Wyo. by the confluence of the Wind and Pop Agie rivers and flowing north to join the Yellowstone River in S Mont. The Bighorn basin, part of the Missouri River basin project, has several dams that provide for flood control, irrigation, hydroelectricity, and recreation.
 sheep, deer, antelope, and prairie dogs. See National Parks and Monuments (table).
 of Alberta, Canada.

Dr. Michael J. Ryan, curator and head of the Department of Vertebrate
1. having a spinal column (vertebrae).
2. an animal with a vertebral column; any member of the Vertebrata.


ver·te·brate (vûrt
 Paleontology paleontology (pā'lēəntŏl`əjē) [Gr.,= study of early beings], science of the life of past geologic periods based on fossil remains. Knowledge of the existence of fossils dates back at least to the ancient Greeks, who appear to have regarded them as the remains of various mythological creatures. for The Cleveland Museum of Natural History made the announcement today to coincide with the publication on the new species in the latest volume of the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences.

The new species, named Centrosaurus brinkmani, belongs to the group of dinosaurs related to the well-known Triceratops Triceratops (trīsĕr`ətŏps) [Gr., = three-horn face], genus of ornithischian quadruped dinosaurs of the late Cretaceous period. Because of some variations in sample fossils, it was thought at one time that there were as many as 16 different species, but only one species, Triceratops horridus, but lived about 10 million years earlier. Remains of the dinosaur were discovered in bone beds in southern Alberta, the largest of which is in Dinosaur Provincial Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Ceratopsian (horned) dinosaurs can be distinguished from one another by the ornamentation on their frills that extend shield-like from the back of their skulls. Distinctive hooks and "spikelets" on the frill allowed scientists to identify this dinosaur as a new species.

"It looks like someone stuck a bunch of long-spined sea anemones anemone (ənĕm`ənē) or windflower, any of the perennial herbs, wild or cultivated, of the genus Anemone of the family Ranunculaceae (buttercup family). A rich legendary history has gained the anemone many names and attributes. all around the margin of the frill," Ryan said.

"The ornamentation on the frill was probably not used as defensive weaponry -- the clusters of spikes would have been too small," said co-author Dr. Tony Russell, professor of Zoology zoology /zo·ol·o·gy/ (zo-ol´o-je) the biology of animals. at the University of Calgary.

"The spikes were probably more important in signaling sexual maturity to others in the group," said Russell. "The centrosaurus may have even used them to push each other around in battles over females just as Bighorn sheep rams do today."

"These bone beds are good evidence that Centrosaurus brinkmani lived and moved in large herds for at least part of the year," said Ryan. "Whatever killed them deposited their bodies together, where they decayed and fell apart before they were fossilized. Because all the bones had come apart it took us a couple of years of excavation to recover enough pieces to realize that we had something new."

The species is named in honor of Dr. Donald Brinkman, a paleontologist at the Royal Tyrrell Museum and long-time colleague of Ryan. "Don's been a great supporter of vertebrate paleontology in Alberta and helping students, so it's a pleasure to tip my field cap to him in this way," said Ryan.

Centrosaurus brinkmani is one of the few new dinosaurs to be named from Alberta in the past few decades, and the first new dinosaur to be named based on complete skeletal material from Dinosaur Provincial Park since the 1970's.

The Royal Tyrrell Museum is 6 km northwest of Drumheller Drumheller (drŭm`hĕl'ər), city (1991 pop. 6,277), SE Alta., Canada, on the Red Deer River. Once a coal mining town, it is now an agricultural area. It is the site of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology, which houses the largest display of complete dinosaur skeletons in the world.. Call (403) 823-7707. Call The Cleveland Museum of Natural History at (216) 231-4600 or 800-317-9155. Artwork is available at the Museum's web site www.cmnh.org.
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Publication:Business Wire
Date:Nov 17, 2005
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