It will be assigned to a new ICHNOSPECIES Ruopodasaurus clava the footprints of these dinosaurs found in northeastern British Columbia and northwest Alberta confirm the presence of antirosaurus antirosaurus during the Middle North American period.
Cast specimen of Ruopodasaurus clava From the Murray River, British Columbia, Canada. Image credits: Arbor et al. , doi: 10.1080/02724634.2025.2451319.
“There are two major groups in Ankylosaurus,” says Dr. Victoria Arbor, an evolutionary biologist and vertebrate paleontologist at the Royal BC Museum and the University of Victoria.
“The Nodosaurid Ankylosaurs have a flexible tail and four toes, while the Ankylosaurs have a tail club like the Sledgehammer, with only three legs.”
“Unlike the well-known Ichnospecies of the Ankylosaurus. Tetrapodosaurus borealis These new tracks found in North America with four toes – Name Ruopodasaurus clava – There are only three, so anywhere in the world makes the first known example of antirosaurus footprints.”
“Ruopodasaurus clava means “falling lizards with clubs/maces,” referring to both the mountainous areas where these tracks were discovered and the distinctive tail clubs of these dinosaurs.
They don’t know exactly what the dinosaurs made, but Ruopodasaurus clava Although it looks like a footprint, paleontologists know it was about 5-6m long, thorny, armored, and had a stiff or full tail club.
“Ankylosaurus is my favorite group of dinosaurs, so it’s really exciting for me to be able to identify new examples of these dinosaurs in British Columbia,” Dr. Arbor said.
Newly discovered Ruopodasaurus clava The footprint dates back to the mid-Cretaceous period, approximately 100 million to 94 million years ago.
No bones of Ankilosauride were found in North America about 100-84 million years ago, leading to speculation that antirosauride disappeared from North America at this time.
These footprints show that during this gap in the skeletal fossil record, tailed ankylosauruses were alive and well in North America.
This finding also shows that two major ankylosaurus of Nodosaurus – Nodosaurus and Ankylosaurus groups coexist in the same region during this time, including this new three indirect species.
“We’ve seen a lot of experience in the world,” said Dr. Charles Helm, scientific advisor at the Tumbler Ridge Museum.
“It’s really exciting to know that through this research there are two types of Ankylosaurus that call this area home. Ruopodasaurus clava It has been identified only in this region of Canada.”
“The study also highlights how important the Peace Region in northeastern British Columbia is to understand the evolution of dinosaurs in North America.
“This discovery gives us a new part of the puzzle about ancient creatures that once roamed Canadian stuff.”
Findings are reported in a paper in Journal of VertebratePaleontology.
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Victoria M. Arbor et al. Ichnotaxon, a new tyrophoran from British Columbia, Canada, confirms the existence of antirosaurus dinosaurs in the central Cretaceous period of North America. Journal of VertebratePaleontologyPublished online on April 14th, 2025. doi:10.1080/02724634.2025.2451319
Source: www.sci.news
