Pawpawsaurus
| Pawpawsaurus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Skull in side, top, back and bottom views | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | †Ornithischia |
| Clade: | †Thyreophora |
| Clade: | †Ankylosauria |
| Family: | †Nodosauridae |
| Subfamily: | †Nodosaurinae |
| Clade: | †Struthiosaurini |
| Genus: | †Pawpawsaurus Lee, 1996 |
| Species: | †P. campbelli
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Pawpawsaurus campbelli Lee, 1996
| |
Pawpawsaurus, meaning "Pawpaw Lizard", is a
Discovery
Pawpawsaurus was found in the
Description
Pawpawsaurus was a medium-sized nodosaur measuring 4.5 metres (15 ft) long.
The brain of Pawpawsaurus is very similar to other ankylosaurians, but along with more
Classification
Vickaryous et al. (2004) have stated that "Sauropelta edwardsorum, Silvisaurus condrayi, and Pawpawsaurus campbelli form a basal polytomy nested deep to Cedarpelta."[4] Alternatively, Pawpawsaurus has been identified as a relative of Struthiosaurus, with cladogram below showing the results of the 2018 phylogenetic analysis of Rivera-Sylva and colleagues, resolving Pawpawsaurus within the clade Struthiosaurini as labelled by Madzia et al., with relationships outside Struthiosaurini excluded for simplicity.[5][6]
| Struthiosaurini |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
However, the strict consensus tree of a phylogenetic analysis performed by Brown et al. (2017) placed Pawpawsaurus in a clade with Borealopelta markmitchelli and Europelta carbonensis. The results of the strict consensus are displayed in the phylogeny below, with taxa outside Nodosauridae being excluded.[7]
| Nodosauridae |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Palaeobiology
Pawpawsaurus was primitive in regards to its sensory abilities when compared to later ankylosaurs. CT scans of its skull and brain by Paulina-Carabajal and Louis Jacobs et al. revealed that Pawpawsaurus' hearing was on par with that of modern crocodilians, indicating that its hearing was relatively poor. Its sense of smell meanwhile, while not as advanced as that of later ankylosaurs, was still more powerful and acute than many of the theropods existent at the time thanks to its large nasal cavities. The enlarged nasal cavities of Pawpawsaurus would also likely have been useful for cooling blood that was entering the brain, finding food and potential mates, or alerting it to danger.[8]
See also
References
- ^ .
- ISBN 9780375824197.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) Genus List for Holtz 2012 Weight Information - ^ PMID 27007950.
- ^ Vickaryous, M.; Maryanska, T.; Weishampel, D.B. (2004). "Ankylosauria". In Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; Osmólska, Halzska (eds.). The Dinosauria (2nd ed.). University of California Press.
- PMID 34966571.
- S2CID 134924657.
- S2CID 5182644.
- ^ "Early armored dinosaur from Texas lacked cousin's club-tail weapon, but had a nose for danger".