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Tyrannosauroid dinosaurs from the Aguja Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of Big Bend National Park, Texas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 September 2013

Thomas M. Lehman  and
Steven L. Wick
Thomas M. Lehman
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409USA.
Steven L. Wick
Affiliation:
Division of Science and Resource Management, Big Bend National Park, TX 79834USA.
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Abstract

Rare remains of tyrannosauroid dinosaurs from the Aguja Formation in West Texas indicate the presence here of a relatively gracile species, comparable in form and adult size to Appalachiosaurus or subadult albertosaurines, Gorgosaurus and Albertosaurus. Histologic analysis of one of the specimens indicates that the Aguja tyrannosaur attained an adult size substantially smaller than adult albertosaurines (700 kg, 6·5 m body length). The frontal bone is narrow with a wide orbital slot and a bipartite joint for the postorbital, features thought to be diagnostic of Albertosaurinae; but there is a tall sagittal crest and reduced parietal wedge separating the frontals on the midline, features thought to be diagnostic of Tyrannosaurinae. The tall sagittal crest may be a synapomorphy of Tyrannosaurinae, and the Aguja tyrannosaur is herein referred to that clade. However, the unique combination of character states exhibited by the frontal prevents confident attribution to any known species. The Aguja tyrannosaur provides further evidence that North American Campanian tyrannosauroids were remarkably diverse for such large predators, and that each species was apparently endemic to a relatively small geographic province.

Keywords

CampanianDinosauriaTheropodaTyrannosauridae
Type
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Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh , Volume 103 , Issue 3-4: The Full Profession: A Celebration of the Life and Career of Wann Langston, Jr., Quintessential Vertebrate Palaeontologist , September 2012 , pp. 471 - 485
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Copyright © The Royal Society of Edinburgh 2013 

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