Taphonomy of the Danek Bonebed: a monodominant Edmontosaurus (Hadrosauridae) bonebed from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation, Alberta

Title
Taphonomy of the Danek Bonebed: a monodominant Edmontosaurus (Hadrosauridae) bonebed from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation, Alberta
Publication Date
2014-11
Author(s)
Bell, Phil R
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5890-8183
Email: pbell23@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:pbell23
Campione, Nicolas E
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4205-9794
Email: ncampion@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:ncampion
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Canadian Science Publishing
Place of publication
Canada
DOI
10.1139/cjes-2014-0062
UNE publication id
une:17354
Abstract
The Danek Bonebed (Horsethief Member, Horseshoe Canyon Formation, Late Campanian) is dominated by the remains of at least 12 Edmontosaurus regalis. Skeletal remains of a tyrannosaurid and ceratopsid are also known. The predominantly disarticulated remains were interred on a periodically inundated floodplain and, although the cause of death is unknown, a sudden, catastrophic death explains the demographic spread, faunal diversity, rare greenstick fractures, and homogeneous weathering/abrasion categories of the assemblage. The Danek Bonebed shares a similar taphonomic signature to the Liscomb Bonebed (Prince Creek Formation, Alaska), but it is unique among all other described hadrosaurid bonebeds in the unusually high proportion of bite-marked bones (∼30%), suggesting scavenging played a major role in the reworking of the assemblage. The highest frequency of bite marks is found on small, often unidentifiable (and commonly ignored) bone fragments, underscoring the role that such fragments can play in taphonomic interpretation. Finally, the recognition of E. regalis from central Alberta is an important datum linking contemporaneous occurrences in southern Alberta with slightly older records of this species from the Wapiti Formation in northwestern Alberta.
Link
Citation
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 51(11), p. 992-1006
ISSN
1480-3313
0008-4077
Start page
992
End page
1006

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