Daspletosaurus is a genus of tyrannosaurid dinosaur that lived in western North America between about 77 and 74 million years ago. It was a multi-tonne bipedal predator equipped with dozens of large, sharp teeth. Fossils of the earlier type species, D. torosus, have been found in Alberta, while fossils of the later second species, D. horneri, are found only in Montana. A possible third species, also from Alberta, awaits formal identification.
About Daspletosaurus in brief
Daspletosaurus is a genus of tyrannosaurid dinosaur that lived in western North America between about 77 and 74 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous Period. Fossils of the earlier type species, D. torosus, have been found in Alberta, while fossils of the later second species, D. horneri, are found only in Montana. A possible third species, also from Alberta, awaits formal identification and another possible species D. degrootorum, also exists, but it may belong to the separate genus Thanatotheristes instead. Daspletosaurus was a multi-tonne bipedal predator equipped with dozens of large, sharp teeth. It is closely related to the much larger and more recent tyrannosaurusid Tyrannosaurus rex. As an apex predator, it was at the top of the food chain, probably preying on large dinosaurs like the ceratopsid Centrosaurus and the hadrosaur Hypacrosaurus. In some areas, it coexisted with Gorgosaurus, though there is some evidence of niche differentiation between the two. The type specimen is a partial skeleton including the skull, the shoulder, a forelimb, the pelvis, a femur and all of the vertebrae from the neck, torso and hip. It was discovered in 1921 near Steveville, Alberta, by Charles Mortram Sternberg, who thought it was a new species of Gorgosaurs. It has been described by Dale Russell, who made it the type of a new genus, Daspletaurus, from the Greek and σαυρous, meaning’muscular’ or ‘brawny’ There is only one other well-known specimen, RTMP 2001.
36. 1, a relatively complete skeleton discovered in 2001. Both specimens were recovered from the Oldman Formation in the Judith River Group of Alberta. The fossil dates back to the Upper Campanian, between 76 and 74 8million years ago. While Dasplet dinosaur fossils are rare, the available specimens allow some analysis of the biology of these animals, including social behavior, diet and life history. In 1914, Barnum Brown collected a nearly complete skeleton and sold it to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago for 0 million dollars. Along with the holotype, Russell designated a specimen of the hindlegs and some of the associated vertebraes as the paratype of D. torososus. This specimen consists of parts of a hindleg, pelvis and its associated vertebras. The holotype was later known as the Dinosaur Park Formation in Alberta and was mounted for display in the Chicago Natural History Museum in 1914. In the middle to upper section of the middle Campanian Formation, between 75 and 75 million years old, the fossils are known from the Middle to uppersection of the formation, between 6 and 6.5 million yearsold. The fossils are specifically from the middle section of this formation.
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This page is based on the article Daspletosaurus published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 02, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
