Читать книгу Hadrosaurs - David A. Eberth - Страница 96

The Arlington Archosaur Site represents an important addition to our knowledge of middle Cretaceous terrestrial communities, and includes new remains of a non-hadrosaurid hadrosauroid dinosaur. UTA-AASO-2003 has a complex taphonomic history, that consisted of periods of prolonged aerial exposure and low-energy hydraulic transport, early and late diagenetic distortion, followed by recent, post-fossilization weathering. Bite marks on the femur (UTA-AASO-125) suggest that individuals of this taxon were consumed by resident AAS crocodyliforms (Noto et al., 2012). This new specimen is distinguished by its mosaic combination of basal and derived traits, and will contribute to our understanding of basal hadrosauroid anatomy and evolution. Currently there are insufficient skeletal and stratigraphic data to determine whether UTA-AASO-2003 and UTA-AASO-125 belong to Protohadros, or represents a separate taxon. Because the AAS is an ongoing excavation, any additionally recovered material will further clarify the nature of the AAS specimens as well as the diversity of the Woodbine ornithopod fauna.