Drinker

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Drinker
Temporal occurrence
Upper Jurassic ( Tithonian )
152.1 to 145 million years
Locations
Systematics
Dinosaur (dinosauria)
Pelvic dinosaur (Ornithischia)
Cerapoda
Ornithopoda
Drinker
Scientific name
Drinker
Bakker et al. , 1990
Art
  • Drinker nisti

Drinker is a genus of very small, herbivorous ornithopic dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic of North America. Fossils come from Como Bluff , a famous dinosaur cemetery of the Morrison Formation in the US state of Wyoming , and are dated to the Tithonian .

Drinker was scientifically described in 1990 by Robert Bakker and colleagues with the only species Drinker nisti , since the first description only a few further research results on this genus have been published. Peter Galton (2007) classifies Drinker as a representative of the Euornithopoda .

features

Bakker described Drinker as a small, two-legged herbivore, most closely related to Othnielia (now Othnielosaurus ). Adult animals were no longer than 30 centimeters and weighed little more than a large chicken, making it one of the smallest bird pool dinosaurs known. In contrast to Othnielosaurus , Drinker showed more complex tooth crowns.

Finds

All fossils are from Como Bluff , a famous Morrison Formation dinosaur cemetery in Albany County , Wyoming. The holotype specimen (specimen number CPS 106) consists of a fragmentary skeleton that belonged to a subadult (not yet adult) individual. It includes parts or jaws, various vertebrae, and parts of the arms and legs. In the first description of the genus, Bakker assigned a number of other finds to this genus in addition to the holotype specimen: These include fragmentary remains of a very young individual that was only a quarter of the size of adult animals (CPS 107). Other finds belong to a half-adult individual (CPS 108) and an adult individual (CPS 197). There are also some isolated bones.

In 1996 Bakker reported on numerous other drinker finds from Como Bluff. Thus, the remains of 30 were Drinker -Exemplaren within an oval, a meter in diameter measured Pelitmasse found. Bakker interprets this mass gathering as residential building. Furthermore, were the remains of several dozen additional Drinker recovered -Exemplaren from Como Bluff.

Paleobiology

Bakker interprets a mass grave in which 30 Drinker copies were found in a confined space as a possible residential building. The animals could have lived sociable in underground structures. This hypothesis is supported by the lack of fossils of other animals and the absence of scavenger bite marks. The claws on the outer toes of the feet were long, which Bakker suggests as an adaptation to digging.

Bakker suspects that Drinker lived in swamps because the toes of the hind legs were very long, which would have reduced sagging when running.

Naming

Drinker was named by Robert Bakker and colleagues in 1990 in honor of the well-known dinosaur researcher Edward Drinker Cope (1840-1897). Cope had a long-standing, " Bone Wars " called dispute with Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-1899), an equally well-known and successful paleontologist . The genus Othnielia (or Othnielosaurus ), related to Drinker , was named after him in 1977 . The second part of the species name, nisti , points to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gregory S. Paul : The Princeton Field Guide To Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 2010, ISBN 978-0-691-13720-9 , p. 124, online .
  2. a b c d e Robert T. Bakker , Peter M. Galton , James Siegwarth, James Filla: A new latest Jurassic vertebrate fauna, from the highest levels of the Morrison Formation at Como Bluff, Wyoming. Part IV. The dinosaurs: A new Othnielia-like hypsilophodontoid. In: Hunteria. Vol. 2, No. 6, 1990, ZDB -ID 1251702-1 , pp. 8-14.
  3. ^ Peter M. Galton, Teeth of ornithischian dinosaurs (mostly Ornithopoda) from the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic) of the western United States. In: Kenneth Carpenter (Ed.): Horns and Beaks. Ceratopsian and Ornithopod Dinosaurs. Indiana University Press, Bloomington IN 2007, ISBN 978-0-253-34817-3 , pp. 17-47.
  4. ^ A b c d Robert T. Bakker: The Real Jurassic: Dinosaurs and Habitats at Como Bluff, Wyoming. In: Michael Morales (Ed.): The continental Jurassic. Transactions of the Continental Jurassic Symposium, October 21-23, 1996, Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, Arizona (= Museum of Northern Arizona. Bulletin Series. Vol. 60). Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff AZ 1996, ISBN 0-89734-119-8 , pp. 35-49.