''Coronosaurus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of centrosaurine

ceratopsian Ceratopsia or Ceratopia ( or ; Greek: "horned faces") is a group of herbivorous, beaked dinosaurs that thrived in what are now North America, Asia and Europe, during the Cretaceous Period, although ancestral forms lived earlier, in the Late Ju ...

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

s which lived in the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''cre ...

, in the middle

Campanian The Campanian is the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous epoch on the geologic timescale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). In chronostratigraphy, it is the fifth of six stages in the Upper Cretaceous Series. Campa ...

stage. Its remains, two bone beds, were discovered by Phillip J. Currie in the

Oldman Formation The Oldman Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Late Cretaceous (Campanian stage) age that underlies much of southern Alberta, Canada. It consists primarily of sandstones that were deposited in fluvial channel and floodplain environments. It was ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, and its

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

and only species, ''Coronosaurus brinkmani'', was first described in 2005, as a new species within the genus ''

Centrosaurus ''Centrosaurus'' ( ; ) is a genus of centrosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur from Campanian age of Late Cretaceous Canada. Their remains have been found in the Dinosaur Park Formation, dating from 76.5 to 75.5 million years ago. Discovery and nami ...

''. Later studies questioned the presence of a direct relationship, and in 2012 it was named as a separate genus. ''Coronosaurus'' means "crowned lizard", coming from "''corona''",

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for crown, and "''sauros''",

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

for lizard; this name refers to the unique, crown-like shape of the horns on the top of its frill. Like other ceratopsids, ''Coronosaurus'' had a large frill and horns on its head. These include a small pair of brow horns over its eyes, a large nasal horn on its snout, and, unique among ceratopsians, irregular, spiky bone masses on its frill. Growing up to around long and in weight, it was mid-sized for its kind. The genus is classified as a member of the Centrosaurini, a group of derived centrosaurines which has also been found include taxa such as ''

Styracosaurus ''Styracosaurus'' ( ; meaning "spiked lizard" from the Ancient Greek / "spike at the butt-end of a spear-shaft" and / "lizard") is an extinct genus of herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian stage) of North America. ...

'', '' Spinops'', '' Rubeosaurus'', and ''

'', the genus it was originally placed within.

Discovery and naming

''Coronosaurus'' is known from two

bone bed A bone bed is any Geology, geological stratum or deposition (geology), deposit that contains bones of whatever kind. Inevitably, such deposits are Sedimentary rock, sedimentary in nature. Not a formal term, it tends to be used more to describe esp ...

s, BB 138 and MRR BB, located in the upper unit of the

, of the Belly River Group, excavated by Philip Currie between 1996 and 2000.M.J. Ryan and A.P. Russell, 2003, "New centrosaurine ceratopsids from the late Campanian of Alberta and Montana and a review of contemporaneous and regional patterns of centrosaurine evolution", ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 23(3): 91A Most of the ceratopsid material, if not all, from BB 138 in

Dinosaur Provincial Park Dinosaur Provincial Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site situated 220 kilometres (137 mi) east of Calgary, Alberta, Canada; or northeast of Brooks. The park is situated in the Red Deer River valley, which is noted for its striking badland topo ...

, and the MRR BB near Warner, Alberta, was referred to ''C. brinkmani''. Bone bed 138 is located approximately from

Brooks, Alberta Brooks is a city in southeast Alberta, Canada in the County of Newell. It is on Highway 1 (Trans-Canada Highway) and the Canadian Pacific Kansas City railway, approximately southeast of Calgary, and northwest of Medicine Hat. The city has an e ...

, in the

and below the contact with the

Dinosaur Park Formation The Dinosaur Park Formation is the uppermost member of the Belly River Group (also known as the Judith River Group), a major geologic unit in southern Alberta. It was deposited during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous, between about 7 ...

. The MRR BB located approximately southwest of BB 138, is also from the Oldman Formation. These bone beds date to the middle

stage of the

period Period may refer to: Common uses * Period (punctuation) * Era, a length or span of time *Menstruation, commonly referred to as a "period" Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (o ...

. Both the specimens and the precise localities are archived at the

Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology (RTMP; often referred to as the Royal Tyrrell Museum) is a palaeontology museum and research facility in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada. The museum was named in honour of Joseph Burr Tyrrell, and is situate ...

, in

Drumheller Drumheller is a town on the Red Deer River in the badlands of east-central Alberta, Canada. It is located northeast of Calgary and south of Stettler. The Drumheller portion of the Red Deer River valley, often referred to as Dinosaur Vall ...

. Michael J. Ryan and Anthony P. Russell described and named the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

, then as ''

brinkmani'', in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

. Later studies, however, did not recover a monophyletic clade with the genus' type species ''Centrosaurus apertus'' in

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

analyses. Due to this, Ryan,

David C. Evans David, Dave, or Dai Evans may refer to: Academics * Sir David Emrys Evans (1891–1966), Welsh classicist and university principal * David Evans (microbiologist) (1909–1984), British microbiologist * David Stanley Evans (1916–2004), Britis ...

and Kieran M. Shepherd erected the genus ''Coronosaurus'' for the species in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. The generic name is derived from the

''corona'', meaning "crown" in reference to the multiple occurrences of extra epiparietals that cover the posterior margin of its parietal, giving it a crown-like appearance, and ''saurus'' (Latinized from

''sauros''), meaning "lizard". The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''brinkmani'' honors Donald Brinkman, for his research in palaeoecology of the Late Cretaceous environments of Alberta. In 2020, in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Ryan was asked about the naming of the dinosaur, and stated he came up with it because its frill ornamentation made him think of the corona of the sun. He also stated his fellow students at the time had jokingly called it ‘broccoli-ceratops’. The

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

of ''Coronosaurus'' is

TMP TMP may refer to: Arts and media * Tickle Me Pink, a rock band from Colorado, US (2005–2011) * Tiny Moving Parts, an emo band from Minnesota, US * Tom Malone Prize, an Australian glass art prize * Tsukuyomi -Moon Phase-, a 2000–2008 anime ...

2002.68.1. It is a large adult-sized parietal with an almost complete midline bar and a partial posterior bar with left P1–P3 processes and the partially eroded right P1-P2. The specimen lacks the extreme anterior margin of the midline bar that forms the posterior wall of the frontal fontanelle and the paper-thin lateral margins that define the medial margins of the supraorbital foramina. Other significant specimens according to Ryan & Russell (2005) include TMP 2002.68.3 (a parietal), TMP 2002.68.10 (a

postorbital The ''postorbital'' is one of the bones in vertebrate skulls which forms a portion of the dermal skull roof and, sometimes, a ring about the orbit. Generally, it is located behind the postfrontal and posteriorly to the orbital fenestra. In some ve ...

), and TMP 2002.68.5 ( supraorbitals).

Description

''Coronosaurus'' is a medium-sized centrosaurine ceratopsid.

Gregory S. Paul Gregory Scott Paul (born December 24, 1954) is an American freelance researcher, author and illustrator who works in paleontology. He is best known for his work and research on theropoda, theropod dinosaurs and his detailed illustrations, both l ...

in 2010 estimated its body length at and its weight at .Paul, G.S., 2010, ''The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs'', Princeton University Press p. 260 It had as an adult inflated supraorbital horncores — the "brow horns" above the eye sockets — but not elongated as in ''

Zuniceratops ''Zuniceratops'' ('Zuni-horned face') is a genus of ceratopsian dinosaurs that lived during the Turonian stage of the Late Cretaceous in what is now New Mexico, United States. Only a single species is known, ''Zuniceratops christopheri''. Histor ...

'',

chasmosaurine Chasmosaurinae is a subfamily of ceratopsid dinosaurs. They were one of the most successful groups of herbivores of their time. Chasmosaurines appeared in the early Campanian, and became extinct, along with all other non- avian dinosaurs, during ...

s, and more basal centrosaurines (like '' Albertaceratops'' and '' Diabloceratops''), that project laterally (to the sides) over the orbit. As a sub-adult its postorbital horncores are pyramidal in shape with a slight lateral inflection of the distal, upper, one half. Uniquely among ceratopsians, ''Coronosaurus'' possesses a number of accessory epiparietal

ossification Ossification (also called osteogenesis or bone mineralization) in bone remodeling is the process of laying down new bone material by cells named osteoblasts. It is synonymous with bone tissue formation. There are two processes resulting in t ...

s rear parietal frill of the skull that fuse to the posterior and dorsal frill surface. They develop through

ontogeny Ontogeny (also ontogenesis) is the origination and development of an organism (both physical and psychological, e.g., moral development), usually from the time of fertilization of the ovum, egg to adult. The term can also be used to refer to t ...

, the growth of the individual, as short spines that may fuse along their adjacent margins into larger, irregular bone masses. They are located close to the midline of the frill in a closely packed bunch above the base of the first epiparietal (P1), the bone spur that at each side growths downwards over the large opening in each frill half. They contribute to the substance of P1 and, through fusion, form a composite epiparietal, that is equivalent to the second epiparietal (P2) normally formed in a more lateral position. The P1 bases can thus be considered the growth positions of the second epiparietals, the P2 loci. ''Coronosaurus'' has also a uniquely shaped P3 epiparietal. It is variably developed as a short tongue-like hook or tapered spike that is oriented dorsolaterally, following the curve of the frill. Otherwise, as far as is known ''Coronosaurus'' resembles its relatives ''

'' and ''

'' in its morphology. For example, the

nasal Nasal is an adjective referring to the nose, part of human or animal anatomy. It may also be shorthand for the following uses in combination: * With reference to the human nose: ** Nasal administration, a method of pharmaceutical drug delivery * ...

of ''Coronosaurus'' closely resembles that of ''Centrosaurus apertus'' in its unfused juvenile or subadult and fused adult forms and appears to have undergone a similar ontogenetic changes. Its erect, laterally compressed nasal horn core has a blunt tip that is formed from the fusion of the opposing nasals. It sits over the posterior portion of the external nares, as it does in all centrosaurines. All juvenile and most adult specimens have gently recurved anterior and posterior margins resulting in most horns having an apex that is oriented at least slightly caudally (backwards).

Classification

In its original description, Ryan & Russell (2005) considered ''Coronosaurus'' to represent a new

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of ''Centrosaurus'' on the basis of a small

analysis. It included seventeen characters and nine taxa. ''Coronosaurus'' (as ''Centrosaurus brinkmani'') and ''C. apertus'' grouped at the base of the Centrosaurinae, while ''Styracosaurus'' was found to be more closely related to '' Pachyrhinosaurus'', and other derived centrosaurines, than to ''Centrosaurus''. In 2011, Anthony R. Fiorillo and Ronald S. Tykoski modified the analysis of Currie ''et al.'' (2008), with 54 characters, to include more taxa, such as ''C. brinkmani''. They found ''C. brinkmani'' to be the

sister taxon In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

of the

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

of ''Styracosaurus'' and ''C. apertus'', while '' Pachyrhinosaurus'' and other derived centrosaurines were in a separate lineage. Thus, this analysis found no support for the

monophyly In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent comm ...

of ''Centrosaurus''. Later, Farke ''et al.'' (2011) used 97 morphological characters to assess the phylogenetic position of a new

taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

which they named '' Spinops''. ''Spinops'' was found to be in a

polytomy An internal node of a phylogenetic tree is described as a polytomy or multifurcation if (i) it is in a rooted tree and is linked to three or more child subtrees or (ii) it is in an unrooted tree and is attached to four or more branches. A tree ...

with ''Centrosaurus apertus'', ''C. brinkmani'' and ''Styracosaurus'', and therefore ''C. brinkmani'' was excluded from the analysis to increase the resolution. Finally, Ryan, Evans & Shepherd (2012) used the data matrix of Farke ''et al.'' (2011) to assess the phylogenetic position of '' Xenoceratops''. Their revised analysis had significantly better resolution than that presented by Farke ''et al.'' (2011), due in part to the additional scoring of missing characters for some taxa based on direct observation of their specimens. For example, five additional characters were scored for ''C. brinkmani''. In the resultant tree, it was found to be in more advanced position than ''Spinops'' and ''C. apertus'', as the sister taxon of ''Styracosaurus''. Thus the new generic name, ''Coronosaurus'', was given to it. The

cladogram A cladogram (from Greek language, Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an Phylogenetic tree, evolutionary tree because it does not s ...

presented below follows a phylogenetic analysis by Chiba ''et al.'' (2017): Yehuecauhceratops-1

Paleoecology

Studies suggest that the

paleoenvironment Paleoecology (also spelled palaeoecology) is the study of interactions between organisms and/or interactions between organisms and their environments across geologic timescales. As a discipline, paleoecology interacts with, depends on and informs ...

of the

was an ancient

coastal plain A coastal plain (also coastal plains, coastal lowland, coastal lowlands) is an area of flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and an upland area. Formation Coastal plains can f ...

.Eberth, D.A., and Hamblin, A.P., 1993 , Tectonic, stratigraphic, and sedimentologic significance of a regional discontinuity in the upper Judith River Group (Belly River wedge) of southern Alberta, Saskatchewan, and northern Montana : Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 30, 174‒200. In addition to remains of ''Coronosaurus'', this formation has produced the remains of the theropods ''

Saurornitholestes ''Saurornitholestes'' ("lizard-bird thief") is a genus of carnivorous dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur from the late Cretaceous of Canada (Alberta and Saskatchewan) and the United States (Montana, New Mexico, Alabama, and South Carolina). Two spe ...

'', ''

Daspletosaurus ''Daspletosaurus'' ( ; meaning "frightful lizard") is a genus of tyrannosaurid dinosaur that lived in Laramidia between about 77 and 74.4 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous Period. The genus ''Daspletosaurus'' contains three named ...

'', ''

Troodon ''Troodon'' ( ; ''Troödon'' in older sources) is a controversial genus of relatively small, bird-like theropod dinosaurs definitively known from the Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous period (about 77 million years ago). It includes at l ...

'', ''

Dromaeosaurus ''Dromaeosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of Dromaeosauridae, dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period (middle late Campanian and Maastrichtian), sometime between 80 and 69 million years ago, in Alberta, Canada and th ...

'' and ''

Hesperonychus ''Hesperonychus'' (meaning "western claw") is a genus of small paravian theropod dinosaur. It may be a dromaeosaurid or an avialan. There is one described species, ''Hesperonychus elizabethae''. The type species was named in honor of Dr. Eliz ...

'', the ceratopsids '' Albertaceratops'', ''

Chasmosaurus ''Chasmosaurus'' ( ) is a genus of ceratopsid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period in North America. Its given name means 'opening lizard', referring to the large openings ( fenestrae) in its frill (Greek ''chasma'', meaning 'opening', 'hol ...

'', and ''

Anchiceratops ''Anchiceratops'' ( ) is an extinct genus of chasmosaurinae, chasmosaurine ceratopsid dinosaur that lived approximately 72 to 71 million years ago during the latter part of the Cretaceous Period (geology), Period in what is now Alberta, Canada. ' ...

'', the hadrosaurids ''

Brachylophosaurus ''Brachylophosaurus'' ( or ) is a genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period of western North America. It was first named in 1953 by Charles Mortram Sternberg for a skull and skeleton he discovered in 1936 in th ...

'', ''

Gryposaurus ''Gryposaurus'' (meaning "hooked-nosed (Ancient Greek, Greek ''grypos'') lizard"; sometimes incorrectly translated as "griffin (Latin ''gryphus'') lizard") was a genus of hadrosaur, duckbilled dinosaur that lived about 80 to 75 million years ag ...

'', ''

Parasaurolophus ''Parasaurolophus'' (; meaning "beside crested lizard" in reference to ''Saurolophus'') is a genus of hadrosaurid "duck-billed" dinosaur that lived in what is now western North America and possibly Asia during the Late Cretaceous period, a ...

'', and ''

Corythosaurus ''Corythosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of hadrosaurid "duck-billed" dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period (geology), period, about 77–75.7 million years ago, in what is now Laramidia, western North America. Its name is derived from the Anci ...

'', the thescelosaurid ''

Albertadromeus ''Albertadromeus'' is an extinct genus of orodromine thescelosaurid dinosaur known from the upper part of the Late Cretaceous Oldman Formation (middle Campanian stage) of Alberta, Canada. It contains a single species, ''Albertadromeus syntarsus' ...

'' and the ankylosaurid ''

Scolosaurus ''Scolosaurus'' is an extinct genus of ankylosaurid dinosaurs within the subfamily Ankylosaurinae. It is known from the lower levels of the Dinosaur Park Formation and upper levels of the Oldman Formation in the Late Cretaceous (latest middle ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q135802 Centrosaurinae Dinosaur genera Campanian dinosaurs Oldman Formation Taxa named by David C. Evans Fossil taxa described in 2012 Dinosaurs of Canada

Discovery and naming

Description

Classification

Paleoecology

See also

References