''Cedrorestes'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

iguanodontia Iguanodontia (the iguanodonts) is a clade of herbivorous dinosaurs that lived from the Middle Jurassic to Late Cretaceous. Some members include ''Camptosaurus'', '' Dryosaurus'', '' Iguanodon'', '' Tenontosaurus'', and the hadrosaurids or "duck- ...

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

from the

Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous (geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous ( chronostratigraphic name), is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 145 Ma to 100.5 Ma. Geology Pr ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

. It is based on an incomplete skeleton which was found in the

Valanginian In the geologic timescale, the Valanginian is an age or stage of the Early or Lower Cretaceous. It spans between 139.8 ± 3.0 Ma and 132.9 ± 2.0 Ma (million years ago). The Valanginian Stage succeeds the Berriasian Stage of the Lower Cretac ...

-age Yellow Cat Member of the

Cedar Mountain Formation The Cedar Mountain Formation is the name given to a distinctive sedimentary geologic formation in eastern Utah, spanning most of the early and mid-Cretaceous. The formation was named for Cedar Mountain in northern Emery County, Utah, where Willia ...

Discovery and history

''Cedrorestes'' is based on

DMNH The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is a municipal natural history and science museum in Denver, Colorado. It is a resource for informal science education in the Rocky Mountain region. A variety of exhibitions, programs, and activities help mus ...

47994, a partial skeleton including rib fragments, a

sacrum The sacrum (plural: ''sacra'' or ''sacrums''), in human anatomy, is a large, triangular bone at the base of the spine that forms by the fusing of the sacral vertebrae (S1S5) between ages 18 and 30. The sacrum situates at the upper, back part ...

, the left

ilium Ilium or Ileum may refer to: Places and jurisdictions * Ilion (Asia Minor), former name of Troy * Ilium (Epirus), an ancient city in Epirus, Greece * Ilium, ancient name of Cestria (Epirus), an ancient city in Epirus, Greece * Ilium Building, a ...

and a portion of the right, a right

thighbone The femur (; ), or thigh bone, is the proximal bone of the hindlimb in tetrapod vertebrates. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum in the pelvic bone forming the hip joint, while the distal part of the femur articulates with t ...

, the right third

metatarsal The metatarsal bones, or metatarsus, are a group of five long bones in the foot, located between the tarsal bones of the hind- and mid-foot and the phalanges of the toes. Lacking individual names, the metatarsal bones are numbered from the med ...

, and fragments of

ossified 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 ...

tendons A tendon or sinew is a tough, high-tensile-strength band of dense fibrous connective tissue that connects muscle to bone. It is able to transmit the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system without sacrificing its ability ...

. These remains were in 2001 recovered from near the top of the Yellow Cat Member of the

, in east-central Utah. They were found scattered in a

calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcareous'' is used as an a ...

mudstone, and showed evidence of pre-burial damage, from weathering or trampling. This genus can be told apart from other

ornithopod Ornithopoda () is a clade of ornithischian dinosaurs, called ornithopods (), that started out as small, bipedal running grazers and grew in size and numbers until they became one of the most successful groups of herbivores in the Cretaceous worl ...

s by its combination of a tall ilium, as is present in ''

Iguanodon ''Iguanodon'' ( ; meaning 'iguana-tooth'), named in 1825, is a genus of iguanodontian dinosaur. While many species have been classified in the genus ''Iguanodon'', dating from the late Jurassic Period to the early Cretaceous Period of Asia, ...

''-like ornithopods, with a large

lateral Lateral is a geometric term of location which may refer to: Healthcare *Lateral (anatomy), an anatomical direction * Lateral cricoarytenoid muscle * Lateral release (surgery), a surgical procedure on the side of a kneecap Phonetics *Lateral co ...

bony process above and behind the

acetabulum The acetabulum (), also called the cotyloid cavity, is a concave surface of the pelvis. The head of the femur meets with the pelvis at the acetabulum, forming the hip joint. Structure There are three bones of the ''os coxae'' (hip bone) tha ...

and joint surface for the

ischium The ischium () form ...

, as is seen in hadrosaurids. David Gilpin and his coauthors, who described the specimen, noted that the lateral process has been considered diagnostic for hadrosaurids, and interpreted the combination of anatomical characteristics in ''Cedrorestes'' as evidence that the genus was close to the division between hadrosaurids and iguanodontids. They placed their new genus in Hadrosauridae, as the earliest known hadrosaurid. The etymology of the generic name is, from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

, ''cedrus'' (''cedr-''); "cedar" +

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece 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 ...

''oros-''; "mountain", after the Cedar Mountain formation, where the fossil was found + Greek suffix ending ''-etes''; "dweller". The specific epithet ''crichtoni'' is after

Michael Crichton John Michael Crichton (; October 23, 1942 – November 4, 2008) was an American author and filmmaker. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and over a dozen have been adapted into films. His literary works heavily feature tech ...

, author of ''

Jurassic Park ''Jurassic Park'', later also referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton and centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of cloned dinosaurs. It began in 1990 whe ...

'' and ''

The Lost World The lost world is a subgenre of the fantasy or science fiction genres that involves the discovery of an unknown Earth civilization. It began as a subgenre of the late-Victorian adventure romance and remains popular into the 21st century. The g ...

''. Other dinosaurs named after M.Crichton are the Chinese ''

Crichtonsaurus ''Crichtonsaurus'' (meaning "Crichton's lizard") is a genus of herbivorous ankylosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous in what is now China. It was named after Michael Crichton, the author of the dinosaur novel ''Jurassic Park' ...

'' and ''

Crichtonpelta ''Crichtonpelta'' is a genus of extinct herbivorous ankylosaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of China. Discovery and naming In 2007, Lü Junchang, Ji Qiang, Gao Yubo and Li Zhixin named and described a second species of ...

''.

Paleoecology and paleobiology

The Yellow Cat Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation is commonly sub-divided into "lower" and "upper" layers, with distinct fauna being found within each. The Upper Yellow Cat Member, where ''Cedrorestes'' was found, also contains the fossils of several other dinosaur species, including the ornithopod '' Hippodraco'', an as-yet-unnamed species of sail-backed iguanodontid, the armored dinosaur '' Gastonia'', the

brachiosaurid The Brachiosauridae ("arm lizards", from Greek ''brachion'' (βραχίων) = "arm" and ''sauros'' = "lizard") are a family (biology), family or clade of herbivorous, quadrupedal sauropod dinosaurs. Brachiosaurids had long necks that enabled the ...

sauropod Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; from '' sauro-'' + '' -pod'', 'lizard-footed'), is a clade of saurischian ('lizard-hipped') dinosaurs. Sauropods had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their ...

Cedarosaurus ''Cedarosaurus'' (meaning "Cedar lizard" - named after the Cedar Mountain Formation, in which it was discovered) was a nasal-crested macronarian dinosaur genus from the Early Cretaceous Period (Valanginian). It was a sauropod which lived in what i ...

'', the turiasaurian sauropod '' Moabosaurus'', the primitive ornithomimosaur ''

Nedcolbertia ''Nedcolbertia'' is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period (geology), Period of North America. Discovery and naming Three skeletons of a theropod were discovered in 1993 by Christopher H. Whittle, Christopher Whittle near ...

'', the theropod ''

Martharaptor ''Martharaptor'' is a genus of therizinosauroid theropod dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous of the Cedar Mountain Formation in Utah. They can be distinguished from other therizinosauroids by means of several features of the skeleton (particular ...

'' (which might either be a

therizinosaur Therizinosaurs (once called segnosaurs) were large herbivorous theropod dinosaurs whose fossils have been found across the Early to Late Cretaceous deposits in Asia and North America. Various features of the forelimbs, skull and pelvis unite the ...

or an

oviraptorosaur Oviraptorosaurs ("egg thief lizards") are a group of feathered maniraptoran dinosaurs from the Cretaceous Period of what are now Asia and North America. They are distinct for their characteristically short, beaked, parrot-like skulls, with or w ...

), and the large

dromaeosaurid Dromaeosauridae () is a family of feathered theropod dinosaurs. They were generally small to medium-sized feathered carnivores that flourished in the Cretaceous Period. The name Dromaeosauridae means 'running lizards', from Greek ('), meaning ...

Utahraptor ''Utahraptor'' (meaning "Utah's thief") is a genus of large dromaeosaurid dinosaur that lived in North America during the Early Cretaceous period. It was a heavy-built, ground-dwelling, bipedal carnivore. It contains a single species, ''Utahr ...

''. Whether a basal hadrosaurid or

derived Derive may refer to: * Derive (computer algebra system), a commercial system made by Texas Instruments * ''Dérive'' (magazine), an Austrian science magazine on urbanism *Dérive, a psychogeographical concept See also * *Derivation (disambiguatio ...

non-hadrosaurid iguanodontian, ''Cedrorestes'' would have been a large

herbivore A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthp ...

capable of moving both

bipedally Bipedalism is a form of terrestrial locomotion where an organism moves by means of its two rear limbs or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a bipedal manner is known as a biped , meaning 'two feet' (from Latin ''bis'' 'double' ...

or on

all fours All Fours is a traditional English card game, once popular in pubs and taverns as well as among the gentry, that flourished as a gambling game until the end of the 19th century. It is a trick-taking card game that was originally designed for two ...

.Horner, John R.; Weishampel, David B.; and Forster, Catherine A. (2004). "Hadrosauridae". The Dinosauria, 2nd edition. 438–463. The structure of its hip indicates that it had hadrosaurid-like leg

muscle Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are Organ (biology), organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other ...

s, but the functional significance of the changes in leg muscles from the iguanodontian layout to the hadrosaurid layout, and resulting differences in movement (if any), are not yet understood. Detailed interpretations of the paleobiology of ''Cedrorestes'' must wait for the discovery of more extensive remains.

References

External links

Dinosaur Mailing List entry which announces the discovery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q545013 Early Cretaceous dinosaurs of North America Fossil taxa described in 2007 Iguanodonts Taxa named by Kenneth Carpenter Ornithischian genera