A snapshot into the terrestrial ecosystem of an exceptionally well-preserved dinosaur (Hadrosauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous of North Dakota,USA |
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| Institution: | 1. University of Colorado Boulder, Geological Sciences, Boulder, CO 80309, USA;2. Colorado College, Department of Geology, Colorado Springs, CO 80903, USA;3. Yale University, Department of Geology and Geophysics, New Haven, CT 06520, USA;4. Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Department of Earth Sciences, 2001 Colorado Blvd., Denver, CO 80205, USA;1. Department für Geo- und Umweltwissenschaften, Paläontologie und Geobiologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, and Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie, Richard-Wagner-Straße 10, 80333 München, Germany;2. Naturmuseum Südtirol, Bindergasse 1, 39100 Bozen/Bolzano, Italy;3. Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Utrecht, The Netherlands;4. National Centre for Biodiversity ‘Naturalis’, P.O.Box 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands |
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| Abstract: | A palynological investigation of sedimentary rocks enclosing an exceptionally well-preserved fossil dinosaur (Hadrosauridae) discovered in the upper part of the Hell Creek Formation in south western North Dakota was conducted in order to document the immediate paleoenvironment of this dinosaur. The specimen, an Edmontosaurus annectens is remarkable in having exceptional three-dimensional preservation of soft tissue around the skeleton, indicating rapid burial. A well-preserved palynological assemblage dominated by fern and bryophyte spores, with lesser gymnosperm and angiosperm pollen was recovered. Sparse fresh-water algae and marine dinoflagellate cysts were also recorded. The palynofacies is dominated by wood fragments, including charcoal, with little amorphous organic matter. The presence of some typical pollen taxa of the Wodehouseia spinata Assemblage Zone including Striatellipollis striatellus, Tricolpites microreticulatus, Leptopecopites pocockii as well as a diverse suite of Aquilapollenites, is fully consistent with a Late Cretaceous (late Maastrichtian) age. The palynoflora indicates a local vegetation composed of a canopy of conifers dominated by Pinaceae and a minor sub-canopy of Taxodium and cycads, as well as an understory of hydrophilous ferns, mosses and herbaceous angiosperms, indicative of a warm and humid climate – an environment where this specific hadrosaur roamed over 66 million years ago. |
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| Keywords: | Hell Creek Maastrichtian Paleoclimate Palynology Hadrosaur Dinosaur Swamp |
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