Probrachylophosaurus
Name:
Probrachylophosaurus
(Before Brachylophosaurus).
Phonetic: Pro-brak-e-lo-fo-sore-us.
Named By: Elizabeth A. Friedman Fowler &
John R. Horner - 2015.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Ornithischia, Ornithopoda, Hadrosauroidea, Hadrosauridae,
Saurolophinae.
Species: P. bergei (type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Holotype Estimated at up to 9 meters
long. Possibly slightly larger when fully grown.
Known locations: USA, Montana - Judith River
Formation.
Time period: Campanian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial skull and post
cranial remains.
When
described in 2015, Probrachylophosaurus made
headlines around the
world, when it was often dubbed ‘superduck’. This was because
Probrachylophosaurus was proposed to be the
transitional link between
the non-crested genus Acristavus,
and the later Brachylophosaurus
which has a flat paddle shaped bony crest. Probrachylophosaurus
itself has a much smaller triangular crest which shows us how the crest
of Brachylophosaurus developed. The name Probrachylophosaurus
can be
broken down to simply mean ‘Before Brachylophosaurus’.
Brachylophosaurus itself means ‘’short crested
lizard’, so an
alternate translation for Probrachylophosaurus can
be ‘before short
crested lizard’.
Probrachylophosaurus
is classed as a saurolophine hadrosaurid
dinosaur, a kind typified by
solid crests of bone, usually small, and sometimes absent in some
genera. The crest in Probrachylophosaurus was
comparatively small
when compared to the later Brachylophosaurus, but
while we know the
extent of the bony part, we don’t yet know if this was a support for
a larger fleshy display structure. This question has now been raised
for many saurolphine hadrosaurs ever since it was confirmed that at
least one species of the saurolophine hadrosaur Edmontosaurus
had a
fleshy comb on top of its head where other genera have bony crests.
Analysis
of the growth patterns in the bones of the holotype have indicated
that this individual was about fourteen years old when if died.
Further analysis however also shows that this individual was not fully
grown, and that while the holotype individual has been estimated to
be about nine meters long, even older animals might possibly slightly
larger.
Further reading
- A New Brachylophosaurin Hadrosaur (Dinosauria: Ornithischia)
with an Intermediate Nasal Crest from the Campanian Judith River
Formation of Northcentral Montana. - PLOS ONE, 2015; 10
(11). - Elizabeth A. Friedman Fowler & John R.
Horner - 2015.
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