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Description

The Dinosaur Park Formation, is one of the richest, if not the richest dinosaur fossil bed in North America, easily outshining Hell Creek with it's number of dinosaur species, all of which roamed the forest and fern plain of Alberta 77 to 73 million years ago, but yet like Hell Creek this age old fossil gold mine is still getting new additions to it's roster of megafauna, and funny enough just like Hell Creeks newest find (Dakotaraptor, 2012) this one is also an impressively large paravian.

It's fossils have actually been discovered as far back as 1969, by Dale Alan Russell , however their true significance has only been recently put in the forefront, originally these fossils were attributed to Stenonychosaurus and subsequently sunk into the genus Troodon, however a 2017 study has put the validity of this famous genus into question.

Following this study, done by Aaron J. van der Reest and Currie Philip J. Currie, the larger of the two initially recognized species ( T.inequalis) has reclaimed it's pre-Reneessance title of Stenonychosaurus inequalis, while the smaller Troodon formosus is currently in a taxonomic flux, while younger, Maastrichtian aged troodont species, who were previously often lumped into the well known genus, are now starting to be recognized as distinct genera, like Albertavenator curriei of Horseshoe Canyon (73-68 mya) and Pectinodon bakkeri of Lance Creek (68-66 mya)

Things have started to look bleak for the iconic Troodon, but then again paleo taxonomy has always been a massive bitch.

But going back to the Russell specimen, the 2017 study not only brought it into the limelight by billing it as it's own genus called Latenivenatrix mcmasterae, but it also revealed how this 75 million year old stem-bird was the largest troodont yet discovered, with an estimated length of 3.5 to 4 m and a body as big as a grown man.

Latenivenatrix was a standard troodont, a feathered, very bird-like, opportunistic and omnivorous predator, but it's large size truly made it stand out among it's contemporary kin. Since pretty much all of Dinosaur Park`s troodonts and dromeosaurs were coyote sized runts, this feathered hunter would have towered over them.

Between it, Dakotaraptor, Austroraptor and the recent boost in Utahraptor fossils, it seems that 2008 onwards is representing the start of a new age of paleontological discoveries, the age of giant, Cretaceous killer stem-birds, especially ones from the very late Cretaceous, maybe we are now on the verge of finding one that walked alongsides Tarbosaurus.

Other animals featured in the drawing : Daspletosaurus and Ornithomimus.

Description

The Dinosaur Park Formation, is one of the richest, if not the richest dinosaur fossil bed in North America, easily outshining Hell Creek with it's number of dinosaur species, all of which roamed the forest and fern plain of Alberta 77 to 73 million years ago, but yet like Hell Creek this age old fossil gold mine is still getting new additions to it's roster of megafauna, and funny enough just like Hell Creeks newest find (Dakotaraptor, 2012) this one is also an impressively large paravian.

It's fossils have actually been discovered as far back as 1969, by Dale Alan Russell , however their true significance has only been recently put in the forefront, originally these fossils were attributed to Stenonychosaurus and subsequently sunk into the genus Troodon, however a 2017 study has put the validity of this famous genus into question.

Following this study, done by Aaron J. van der Reest and Currie Philip J. Currie, the larger of the two initially recognized species ( T.inequalis) has reclaimed it's pre-Reneessance title of Stenonychosaurus inequalis, while the smaller Troodon formosus is currently in a taxonomic flux, while younger, Maastrichtian aged troodont species, who were previously often lumped into the well known genus, are now starting to be recognized as distinct genera, like Albertavenator curriei of Horseshoe Canyon (73-68 mya) and Pectinodon bakkeri of Lance Creek (68-66 mya)

Things have started to look bleak for the iconic Troodon, but then again paleo taxonomy has always been a massive bitch.

But going back to the Russell specimen, the 2017 study not only brought it into the limelight by billing it as it's own genus called Latenivenatrix mcmasterae, but it also revealed how this 75 million year old stem-bird was the largest troodont yet discovered, with an estimated length of 3.5 to 4 m and a body as big as a grown man.

Latenivenatrix was a standard troodont, a feathered, very bird-like, opportunistic and omnivorous predator, but it's large size truly made it stand out among it's contemporary kin. Since pretty much all of Dinosaur Park`s troodonts and dromeosaurs were coyote sized runts, this feathered hunter would have towered over them.

Between it, Dakotaraptor, Austroraptor and the recent boost in Utahraptor fossils, it seems that 2008 onwards is representing the start of a new age of paleontological discoveries, the age of giant, Cretaceous killer stem-birds, especially ones from the very late Cretaceous, maybe we are now on the verge of finding one that walked alongsides Tarbosaurus.

Other animals featured in the drawing : Daspletosaurus and Ornithomimus.