A High-Latitude Dromaeosaurid, 'Boreonykus Certekorum', Gen. Et Sp. Nov. (Theropoda) from the Upper Campanian Wapiti Formation, West-Central Alberta

Author(s)
Bell, Phil
Currie, Philip J
Publication Date
2016
Abstract
Dromaeosaurids were rare components of most Late Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystems and are poorly known from high palaeolatitudes. New dromaeosaurid material, including a frontal and associated postcranial elements, is described from a dense monodominant ceratopsid bonebed on Pipestone Creek, near the city of Grande Prairie (Unit 3, Wapiti Formation, upper Campanian), central-western Alberta, Canada. This stratigraphic interval is significant because it records a period of terrestrial deposition at a time when much of the western interior of Canada and the United States was inundated by the Bearpaw Sea. A phylogenetic analysis recovers 'Boreonykus certekorum', gen. et sp. nov., as a derived eudromaeosaur, possibly within Velociraptorinae. The identification of a new dromaeosaurid from the Wapiti Formation simultaneously helps fill an important gap in the record of late Campanian dromaeosaurids, bolsters support for a partly endemic fauna within the Wapiti Formation, and potentially adds to the North American record of a predominantly Asian Velociraptorinae.
Citation
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 36(1), p. 1-9
ISSN
1937-2809
0272-4634
Link
Language
en
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Inc
Title
A High-Latitude Dromaeosaurid, 'Boreonykus Certekorum', Gen. Et Sp. Nov. (Theropoda) from the Upper Campanian Wapiti Formation, West-Central Alberta
Type of document
Journal Article
Entity Type
Publication

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