Kaitlin Lindblad who completed her master’s degree working on crocodyliforms from Saskatchewan has had her paleoart featured in a new article, the ontogenetically youngest known pachycephalosaur (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) postcranium, in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Researchers Bryan R. S. Moore, David C. Evans, Michael J. Ryan, R. Timothy Patterson, and Jordan C. Mallon found disarticulated pachycephalosaur remains including vertebral, hindlimb, pelvic and postcranium material in uppermost Maastrichtian Frenchman Formation in southern Saskatchewan. Given the lack of diagnostic material, they do not assign the fossil (CMNFV 22039) a taxonomic identity, however Sphaerotholus buchholtzae is considered the most likely candidate given the stratigraphic age and geographic location of the specimen. Morphometric analysis of CMNFV 22039 suggests that the skeleton is that of an early-stage juvenile and very likely the youngest pachycephalosaur ever recorded. This is supported by the sample’s small size and histological analysis showing a rapidly growing woven bone of the tibia and fibula. This research is key for understanding the growth and development of pachycephalosaurs.

Check out the research in JVP here.

Written by Zane Gabriel Goodell