| Title |
A New Horned Dinosaur Reveals Convergent Evolution in Cranial Ornamentation in Ceratopsidae
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Current Biology, June 2015
|
| DOI | 10.1016/j.cub.2015.04.041 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Caleb M. Brown, Donald M. Henderson |
| Abstract |
Ceratopsid (horned) dinosaurs are an iconic group of large-bodied, quadrupedal, herbivorous dinosaurs that evolved in the Late Cretaceous and were largely restricted to western North America [1-5]. Ceratopsids are easily recognized by their cranial ornamentation in the form of nasal and postorbital horns and frill (capped by epiossifications); these structures show high morphological disparity and also represent the largest cranial display structures known to have evolved [2, 4]. Despite their restricted occurrence in time and space, this group has one of the best fossil records within Dinosauria, showing a rapid diversification in horn and frill morphology [1]. Here a new genus and species of chasmosaurine ceratopsid is described based on a nearly complete and three-dimensionally preserved cranium recovered from the uppermost St. Mary River Formation (Maastrichtian) of southwestern Alberta. Regaliceratops peterhewsi gen. et sp. nov. exhibits many unique characters of the frill and is characterized by a large nasal horncore, small postorbital horncores, and massive parietal epiossifications. Cranial morphology, particularly the epiossifications, suggests close affinity with the late Campanian/early Maastrichian taxon Anchiceratops, as well as with the late Maastrichtian taxon Triceratops. A median epiparietal necessitates a reassessment of epiossification homology and results in a more resolved phylogeny. Most surprisingly, Regaliceratops exhibits a suite of cranial ornamentations that are superficially similar to Campanian centrosaurines, indicating both exploration of novel display morphospace in Chasmosaurinae, especially Maastrichtian forms, and convergent evolution in horn morphology with the recently extinct Centrosaurinae. This marks the first time that evolutionary convergence in horn-like display structures has been demonstrated between dinosaur clades, similar to those seen in fossil and extant mammals [6]. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 940 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 112 | 12% |
| United Kingdom | 102 | 11% |
| Japan | 79 | 8% |
| Canada | 30 | 3% |
| Spain | 19 | 2% |
| Australia | 17 | 2% |
| France | 16 | 2% |
| Germany | 15 | 2% |
| Turkey | 15 | 2% |
| Other | 104 | 11% |
| Unknown | 431 | 46% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 657 | 70% |
| Scientists | 220 | 23% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 37 | 4% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 26 | 3% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 146 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Japan | 3 | 2% |
| United States | 1 | <1% |
| Canada | 1 | <1% |
| Brazil | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 140 | 96% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Researcher | 36 | 25% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 24 | 16% |
| Student > Bachelor | 22 | 15% |
| Student > Master | 18 | 12% |
| Professor > Associate Professor | 7 | 5% |
| Other | 22 | 15% |
| Unknown | 17 | 12% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 45 | 31% |
| Earth and Planetary Sciences | 36 | 25% |
| Chemistry | 8 | 5% |
| Environmental Science | 7 | 5% |
| Materials Science | 5 | 3% |
| Other | 25 | 17% |
| Unknown | 20 | 14% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1472. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 22 April 2024.
All research outputs
#8,305
of 25,782,917 outputs
Outputs from Current Biology
#87
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Outputs of similar age
#50
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Outputs of similar age from Current Biology
#1
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