Probable ankylosaur ossicles from the middle Cenomanian Dunvegan formation of northwestern Alberta, Canada.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 24816807.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0096075 and PMC identifier 4015975.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
A sample of six probable fragmentary ankylosaur ossicles, collected from Cenomanian deposits of the Dunvegan Formation along the Peace River, represent one of the first dinosaurian skeletal fossils reported from pre-Santonian deposits in Alberta. Specimens were identified as ankylosaur by means of a palaeohistological analysis. The primary tissue is composed of zonal interwoven structural fibre bundles with irregularly-shaped lacunae, unlike the elongate lacunae of the secondary lamellar bone. The locality represents the most northerly Cenomanian occurrence of ankylosaur skeletal remains. Further fieldwork in under-examined areas of the province carries potential for additional finds.
Medical subject headings
- Bone and Bones
- Dinosaurs
- Fossils
- Skeleton