Hell Creek fauna - short introduction

Recently there was, and still is, a lot of debate regarding the taxonomic status of some dinosaur genera from late Maastrichtian stage (sometimes called Lancian, after the Lance formation, Wyoming) of North america. Basically, as most of you probably know, Jack Horner, David Evans and some other prominent paleontologists basically proposed that all Pachycephalosaurids (well not all, but I´ll get to that), Hadrosaurs and Ceratopsids of the Hell Creek, Lance and other contemporaneous formations could be lumped into three genera : Pachycephalsoaurus, Edmontosaurus and Triceratops.This wasn't, and still for the most part isn't, univerasally accepted. Then there is also Thomas Carr, who sixteen years ago synonymized Nanotyrannus lancensis with Tyrannosaurus rex. Also, some other taxa and groups from HC formation seem to be a mess, for instance ornithomimids and nodosaurids. And it's not only the big dinsoaurs; most of the small theropods from the HC formation are based on teeth or very fragmentary remains, so indetification can sometimes be very difficult.

My point is that the whole Hell Creek taxonomy is a mess right now. Taxonomy is important, because it has direct impact on the possible reason why dinosaurs went extinct. If dinosaur biodiversity was geting reduced at the end of the Cretaceous, then something was probably happening with their environment just before the K/Pg mass extinction, and that something might have been a reason why that extinction was so devastating. On the other hand, if dinosaurs still flurished during the Lancian in simmilar numbers as during, for instance, Campanian, then the factors that led to their extinction might be very diffirent. Late Maastrichtian dinosaur taxonomy needs to be revalueted, looked more into detail in one big or series of smaller documents. And I would like to do something similar. I was reading about this subject for quite some time, and I find it very frustrating that there is no source that sums up this issue clearly, yet at the same time not to vaguely. Which is why I intended to make a series of post that discuss this particular topic. My goal would be to make it so that if someone is interested in this topic, they could just open my blog and find a lot of information in a single place. I also intend to put as many refferences to my sources as possible. I am not a paleontologist (although I have intentions of becoming one), so most of this should be taken as my oppinion, but I will try to make it as accurate and as educational as possible.

I will start with the taxonomy of ceratopsians, then Pachycephalosaurs, Hadrosaurs and Ankylosaurs. After that, I will write about Tyrannosaurs, then small bird-like therpods and I will end with a single post about Oviraptosaurs, Alvarezsaurs and Ornithomimids. I should note that this is a list of strictly non-avian dinosaur, as I lack apropriate knowledge in Maastrichtian birds. I will try to stick with specimens that are held in public institutions.

I hope that you will find my posts educational and helpful, and that you will enjoy reading them. I would also like to encurage disscusion in the coments.

What is this all about ?

You can call me Frank.

When I was a kid, dad gave me a book he bought in Germany. It was an old book about prehistoric mammals. I can not remember the title, but it is probably still sitting somewhere on my shelf, collecting dust. I was blown away by it. Creatures like Uintatherium, Paracaratherium, Platybelodon, wooly rhinoceros and Smilodn amazed me and made my imagination work overtime. But then I stumbled upon a chapter dedicated to geochronology and one particular age caught my attention. On the timeline, on that particular age, were drawn large, fierce reptiles, some with long necks, others with mouth full with sharp teeth, others with large horns on their face. The age was titled Mesozoische and creatures were labeled der Dinosaurier. The Mesozoic and the dinosaurs. That day I felt in love with these animals.

As I grew older, my hands got a grasp on more and more books, documentaries and internet websites. As I read more, I asked more and more questions. What started as ilustrated books for children quickly became encyclopedias of ancient life, paleontology text books and even mildly written scientific papers. By third grade I have set my self a primary life goal: to become a dinosaur paleontologist. Curently I am battling my way through highschool, hoping to achieve my childhood dream.

Recently, I felt a strong need to tell somebody about what I find interesting in the world of dinosaurs.

Most of my friend are willing to listen to me, but are not very interested in dinosaurs. Same thing with my parents and family. And that is alright, not everyone's interests are the same. Then I found out about blogs. Guys like Saurian, SV-POW, When Pigs Fly Returns, Brian Switek and Tetrapod Zoology, just to name a few, were huge inspirations to me (and still are). So I decided to start this blog and share my stories with those who are willing to read. Palontology, at least to me, is like a novel. It tells us the greatest story: the history of life on our planet, the Earth. It is like a chronicle of evolution, and the epilogue is life as we see it today. And I want to share the part of that story that I am most interested in: those terrible reptiles that the famous English anatomist Richard Owen named dinosaurs!

Welcome to Cretaceous Chronicles !