Euoplocephalus Research Articles

Divergent strategies in cranial biomechanics and feeding ecology of the ankylosaurian dinosaurs

Ankylosaurs were important megaherbivores of Jurassic and Cretaceous ecosystems. Their distinctive craniodental anatomy and mechanics differentiated them from coexisting hadrosaurs and ceratopsians, and morphological evidence suggests dietary niche partitioning between sympatric ankylosaurids and nodosaurids. Here, we investigate the skull biomechanics of ankylosaurs relative to feeding function. First, we compare feeding functional performance between nodosaurids and ankylosaurids applying finite element analysis and lever mechanics to the skulls of Panoplosaurus mirus (Nodosauridae) and Euoplocephalus tutus (Ankylosauridae). We also compare jaw performance across a wider sample of ankylosaurs through lever mechanics and phylogenetic comparative methods. Mandibular stress levels are higher in Euoplocephalus, supporting the view that Panoplosaurus consumed tougher foodstuffs. Bite force and mechanical advantage (MA) estimates indicate that Panoplosaurus had a relatively more forceful and efficient bite than Euoplocephalus. There is little support for a role of the secondary palate in resisting feeding loads in the two ankylosaur clades. Several ankylosaurs converged on similar jaw mechanics, while some nodosaurids specialised towards high MA and some ankylosaurids evolved low MA jaws. Our study supports the hypothesis that ankylosaurs partitioned dietary niches in Late Cretaceous ecosystems and reveals that the two main ankylosaur clades evolved divergent evolutionary pathways in skull biomechanics and feeding habits.

Convoluted nasal passages function as efficient heat exchangers in ankylosaurs (Dinosauria: Ornithischia: Thyreophora).

Convoluted nasal passages are an enigmatic hallmark of Ankylosauria. Previous research suggested that these convoluted nasal passages functioned as heat exchangers analogous to the respiratory turbinates of mammals and birds. We tested this hypothesis by performing a computational fluid dynamic analysis on the nasal passages of two ankylosaurs: Panoplosaurus mirus and Euoplocephalus tutus. Our models predicted that Panoplosaurus and Euoplocephalus would have required 833 and 1568 thermal calories, respectively, to warm a single breath of air by 20°C. Heat recovery during exhalation resulted in energy savings of 65% for Panoplosaurus and 84% for Euoplocephalus. Our results fell well within the range of values for heat and water savings observed in extant terrestrial amniotes. We further tested alternate airway reconstructions that removed nasal passage convolutions or reduced nasal vestibule length. Our results revealed that the extensive elaboration observed in the nasal vestibules of ankylosaurs was a viable alternative to respiratory turbinates with regards to air conditioning. Of the two dinosaurs tested, Euoplocephalus repeatedly exhibited a more efficient nasal passage than Panoplosaurus. We suggest that the higher heat loads associated with the larger body mass of Euoplocephalus necessitated these more efficient nasal passages. Our findings further indicate that the evolution of complicated airways in dinosaurs may have been driven by the thermal requirements of maintaining cerebral thermal homeostasis.

A new southern Laramidian ankylosaurid, Akainacephalus johnsoni gen. et sp. nov., from the upper Campanian Kaiparowits Formation of southern Utah, USA.

A partial ankylosaurid skeleton from the upper Campanian Kaiparowits Formation of southern Utah is recognized as a new taxon, Akainacephalus johnsoni, gen. et sp. nov. The new taxon documents the first record of an associated ankylosaurid skull and postcranial skeleton from the Kaiparowits Formation. Preserved material includes a complete skull, much of the vertebral column, including a complete tail club, a nearly complete synsacrum, several fore- and hind limb elements, and a suite of postcranial osteoderms, making Akainacephalus johnsoni the most complete ankylosaurid from the Late Cretaceous of southern Laramidia. Arrangement and morphology of cranial ornamentation in Akainacephalus johnsoni is strikingly similar to Nodocephalosaurus kirtlandensis and some Asian ankylosaurids (e.g., Saichania chulsanensis, Pinacosaurus grangeri, and Minotaurasaurus ramachandrani); the cranium is densely ornamented with symmetrically arranged and distinctly raised ossified caputegulae which are predominantly distributed across the dorsal and dorsolateral regions of the nasals, frontals, and orbitals. Cranial caputegulae display smooth surface textures with minor pitting and possess a distinct conical to pyramidal morphology which terminates in a sharp apex. Character analysis suggests a close phylogenetic relationship with N. kirtlandensis, M. ramachandrani, Tarchia teresae, and S. chulsanensis, rather than with Late Cretaceous northern Laramidian ankylosaurids (e.g., Euoplocephalus tutus, Anodontosaurus lambei, and Ankylosaurus magniventris). These new data are consistent with evidence for distinct northern and southern biogeographic provinces in Laramidia during the late Campanian. The addition of this new ankylosaurid taxon from southern Utah enhances our understanding of ankylosaurid diversity and evolutionary relationships. Potential implications for the geographical distribution of Late Cretaceous ankylosaurid dinosaurs throughout the Western Interior suggest multiple time-transgressive biogeographic dispersal events from Asia into Laramidia.

Revised systematics of the armoured dinosaur Euoplocephalus and its allies

Revised systematics of the armoured dinosaur Euoplocephalus and its allies

Neuroanatomy of the ankylosaurid dinosaurs Tarchia teresae and Talarurus plicatospineus from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia, with comments on endocranial variability among ankylosaurs

Ankylosaur braincase and endocranial morphologies are poorly known. Furthermore, cranial endocasts have been described for fewer than ten taxa so far. The complete inner ear morphology is known for only three species – Euoplocephalus tutus, Kunbarrasaurus ieversi, and Pawpawsaurus campbelli. Here, the first cranial endocast morphologies are presented for the Mongolian Cretaceous ankylosaurids Talarurus plicatospineus and Tarchia teresae. The study of paleoneurological features of these Mongolian taxa adds novel anatomical information to both species allowing the first comparison with ankylosaurids from North America. The development of a cerebellar flocculus that leaves an impression on the vestibular eminence – floccular recess – is observed in Euoplocephalus, Talarurus and T. teresae. Because this structure hasn't been identified in any nodosaurid so far, its presence in ankylosaurid cranial endocasts may represent a possible synapomorphy with unknown paleobiological implications.

Scolosaurus cutleri (Ornithischia: Ankylosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta, Canada

The synonymy of the ankylosaurid dinosaur Scolosaurus with Euoplocephalus has been widely accepted since the 1970s. However, Scolosaurus cutleri exhibits differences which separate it from Euoplocephalus tutus and Dyoplosaurus acutosquameus. Although the holotype of Euoplocephalus is fragmentary, several other specimens can be reliably referred to this taxon and thus used for comparison. Scolosaurus differs from Euoplocephalus in cervical half-ring, osteoderm, and forelimb morphology. Scolosaurus differs from Dyoplosaurus primarily in pelvic morphology and osteoderm shape. Recognition of Scolosaurus as a valid taxon adds to the growing concept that the Upper Cretaceous ankylosaurid fauna of North America was more diverse than previously thought.

A new ankylosaurid from the late Cretaceous Two Medicine Formation of Montana, USA

Oohkotokia horneri gen. et sp. nov. is described based on a specimen in the collections of the Museum of the Rockies, Montana, USA. Oohkotokia exhibits a unique combination of characters not seen in other late Campanian North American ankylosaurids: prominent, horn-like, trihedral squamosal bosses, a small, undistinguished median nasal plate on the dorsal surface of the rostrum, a relatively small occipital condyle, a smooth, finely pitted osteoderm external texture, and triangular lateral osteoderms. Other specimens from the Two Medicine Formation are referable to Oohkotokia. O. horneri, Euoplocephalus tutus, Dyoplosaurus acutosquameus, and Scolosaurus cutleri separate stratigraphically.

Analyzing Taphonomic Deformation of Ankylosaur Skulls Using Retrodeformation and Finite Element Analysis

Taphonomic deformation can make the interpretation of vertebrate fossil morphology difficult. The effects of taphonomic deformation are investigated in two ankylosaurid dinosaur taxa, Euoplocephalus tutus (to investigate effects on our understanding of intraspecific variation) and Minotaurasaurus ramachandrani (to investigate the validity of this genus). The ratio of orbit maximum rostrocaudal length to perpendicular height is used as a strain ellipse, which can be used to determine if ankylosaur skull fossils have been dorsoventrally compacted during fossilization and diagenesis. The software program Geomagic is used to retrodeform three-dimensional (3D) digital models of the ankylosaur skulls. The effects of sediment compaction are modeled using finite element analysis, and the resulting strain distributions are compared with the retrodeformed models as a test of the retrodeformation method. Taphonomic deformation can account for a large amount of intraspecific variation in Euoplocephalus, but finite element analysis and retrodeformation of Minotaurasaurus shows that many of its diagnostic features are unlikely to result from deformation.

A redescription of the ankylosaurid dinosaur Dyoplosaurus acutosquameus Parks, 1924 (Ornithischia: Ankylosauria) and a revision of the genus

ABSTRACT The holotype of Dyoplosaurus acutosquameus Parks, 1924 (=Euoplocephalus tutus Lambe, 1910), represents one of the most complete ankylosaurid specimens collected to date. It consists of a partial skull roof, four mandible fragments with two teeth in situ, portions of postcranial armor (some in situ), skin impressions, articulated post-thoracic vertebrae, ten partial thoracic ribs, a partial left ilium, both ischia, and tail club, and associated right radius, left metacarpal IV, femur, tibia, fibula, and pes. We provide a detailed redescription of this material as well as comparisons with other ankylosaurid specimens referred to E. tutus. The synonymy of the genus with Euoplocephalus is not supported, and Dyoplosaurus is a valid taxon. It is possible that the fragmentary nature of the holotype of Euoplocephalus leads to the inference that the diversity of Late Cretaceous North American ankylosaurids is lower than it actually is. As such, it might be necessary to look beyond traditional cranial characters in order to accurately appraise the number and nature of various ankylosaurid taxa.