Nanuqsaurus
| Nanuqsaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
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|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Family: | †Tyrannosauridae |
| Subfamily: | †Tyrannosaurinae |
| Genus: | †Nanuqsaurus Fiorillo & Tykoski, 2014 |
| Type species | |
| †Nanuqsaurus hoglundi Fiorillo & Tykoski, 2014
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Nanuqsaurus (meaning "polar bear lizard") is an extinct genus of carnivorous tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur known from the Late Cretaceous (early Late Maastrichtian stage) Prince Creek Formation of the North Slope of Alaska. It contains a single species, Nanuqsaurus hoglundi, known only from a partial skull.[1]
Discovery
In 2006, at the Kikak-Tegoseak Quarry, in North Slope Borough in the north of Alaska, fossils were found of a medium-sized theropod, with an estimated skull length of 600–700 mm (24–28 in). These were first referred to Gorgosaurus and later to Albertosaurus. After preparation in the Perot Museum of Nature and Science (Dallas Museum of Natural History) it was recognised these represented a species new to science.[1]
Nanuqsaurus was first described and named by Anthony R. Fiorillo and Ronald S. Tykoski in 2014. The type species is Nanuqsaurus hoglundi. The generic name is derived from Iñupiaq nanuq, "polar bear". The specific name honours the philanthropist Forrest Hoglund.[1]
The holotype, DMNH 21461, has been found in a layer of the Prince Creek Formation, dated at 69.1 million years. It consists of a partial skull with a lower jaw. It contains the nasal branch of the right maxilla; a partial skull roof including partial parietals, frontals and a right laterosphenoid; and the front of the left dentary.[1]
Size and Distinctive Features
Nanuqsaurus has been estimated to have been about six meters (twenty feet) long, about half the length of Tyrannosaurus rex.[2]
Nanuqsaurus bears a particularly shaped ridge on its head indicating the carnivore was related to Tyrannosaurus rex.
Paleobiology
According to paleontologists, about 70 million years ago northern Alaska was apart of an ancient subcontinent called Laramidia and experienced cold weather and long periods of darkness and light, in addition to seasons in which food was not readily available. Prey availability likely would have increased suddenly during the summer, but then declined in the dark winter, leaving predators with little to eat.
Fiorillo in his study, which appeared on 12 March 2014 in the journal PloS ONE,[3] stated that this lack of food might explain Nanuqsaurus hoglundi's unusually small size, as a large animal cannot survive on scarce resources.[4]
The shape of its skull suggested it had an inflated area of its brain devoted to smell, which suggests the animal relied heavily on scent to hunt its prey, like Tyrannosaurus rex.
It is likely, due to size and its cool environment, that Nanuqsaurus hoglundi was covered in a fuzzy mass of feathers, like some other tyrannosaurs.
References
- ^ a b c d Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0091287 , please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with
|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0091287instead. - ^ http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/03/140313-new-species-dinosaurs-tyrannosaurus-rex-animals-science/
- ^ http://www.plos.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/pone-9-3-fiorillo.pdf
- ^ http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/101-videos/dinosaurs-101-sci
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