Paleontologists have found the fossil of a previously unknown species of leptoceratopsid dinosaur that lived more than 70 million years ago in what is now Alberta, Canada.
The new dinosaur species roamed our planet during the Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous epoch, some 77 million years ago.
Named Gremlin slobodorum, the ancient beast was approximately 2 m (6.6 feet) long.
The species was a type of leptoceratopsid, a family of hornless, parrot-beaked plant-eating dinosaurs closely related to Triceratops.
These dinosaurs differed from Triceratops and other ceratopsids in lacking horns on its face and only having a small frill extending from behind its head.
“Unlike the better known ceratopsid ceratopsians, leptoceratopsids were relatively small — mostly around sheep-sized — and lacked horns,” said Carleton University dinosaur paleontologist Michael Ryan and his colleagues.
“Although it is very incompletely known, Gremlin slobodorum can be distinguished from other leptoceratopsids by the presence of a ridge running across the top of each frontal.”
The frontal bone of Gremlin slobodorum. Image credit: Ryan et al.
The fossilized frontal bone of Gremlin slobodorum was found in sediments of the Oldman Formation in southern Alberta, Canada.
The discovery fills a gap in the fossil record of leptoceratopsid dinosaurs in Alberta, being intermediate in age between two leptoceratopsids: Gryphoceratops from the Milk River Formation and Unescoceratops from the Dinosaur Park Formation.
“The description of Gremlin slobodorum, and its comparison to other leptoceratopsids allowed us to reevaluate characteristics of paired frontal bones of the skull roof that were previously considered important for classification,” the paleontologists said.
“The identification of the new species also helps to better understand the evolution of leptoceratopsids in Alberta by narrowing the temporal gap between Gryphoceratops, the oldest known leptoceratopsid, and Unescoceratops that sits stratigraphically above Gremlin slobodorum.”
The team’s article was published in the Windows into Sauropsid and Synapsid Evolution.
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Michael J. Ryan et al. 2023. A new Late Cretaceous leptoceratopsid (Dinosauria: Ceratopsia) from the Oldman Formation (Campanian) of Alberta, Canada. In Y.-N. Lee, Ed., Windows into Sauropsid and Synapsid Evolution: Essays in Honor of Prof. Louis L. Jacobs, pp. 151-165. Dinosaur Science Center Press: Hwaseong City, South Korea
