Osteology, phylogenetic affinities and taxonomic status of the enigmatic late Maastrichtian ornithopod taxon Orthomerus dolloi (Dinosauria, Ornithischia)

Abstract

Ornithopod dinosaurs were abundant inhabitants of European islands during the Late Cretaceous. The long history of dinosaur research in Europe has led to the establishment of new taxa for numerous ornithopod specimens that received considerable attention in the literature; however, many of these remain essentially unstudied. This explains why little is known of their potential phylogenetic, ecological and biogeographical importance. Here we provide a reassessment of Orthomerus dolloi, an enigmatic ornithopod taxon that was established on the basis of isolated appendicular elements, including a left tibia, a right femur, a left femur and a metatarsal. The material originates from the uppermost Maastrichtian of southern Limburg (the Netherlands) or adjacent Belgian territory. Despite the fact that they have been known for almost 140 years, none of these elements has been evaluated in detail since their original description. Here we redescribe and illustrate the syntypes of O. dolloi, and compare them to corresponding elements in other latest Cretaceous ornithopods from Europe. The character distribution in O. dolloi is further explored by means of phylogenetic analyses, using a revised ornithopod-wide dataset. The material belongs to at least two, probably conspecific, individuals that show clear hadrosauroid affinities, although the exact placement of the taxon within the clade remains contentious, because it is likely that its elements are osteologically immature. Therefore, the common assignment of O. dolloi to hadrosaurid ornithopods is questionable. Nevertheless, our revision of the material has not identified any autapomorphies, nor a combination of characters that would be indisputably unique among Hadrosauroidea.