An additional hadrosaurid specimen (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the marine Maastrichtian deposits of the Maastricht area

International audienceAn isolated dinosaur vertebra from the marine deposits of the Maastrichtian type area, near the city of Maastricht (The Netherlands), collected during the 19th century and kept in the palaeontological collection of the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, is described as a caudal vertebra of a hadrosaurid ornithopod. Although it cannot be identified with greater accuracy, this specimen is an addition to the still scanty, but growing, record of non-avian dinosaurs from the Maastrichtian type area. This record is heavily dominated by hadrosaurs, which probably reflects a real abundance of this group of dinosaurs in the Late Maastrichtian of Europe

Dinosaur Fossils Predict Body Temperatures

Perhaps the greatest mystery surrounding dinosaurs concerns whether they were endotherms, ectotherms, or some unique intermediate form. Here we present a model that yields estimates of dinosaur body temperature based on ontogenetic growth trajectories obtained from fossil bones. The model predicts that dinosaur body temperatures increased with body mass from approximately 25 °C at 12 kg to approximately 41 °C at 13,000 kg. The model also successfully predicts observed increases in body temperature with body mass for extant crocodiles. These results provide direct evidence that dinosaurs were reptiles that exhibited inertial homeothermy

Un spécimen supplémentaire d'hadrosauridé (Dinosauria : Ornithischia) des dépôts marins maastrichtiens de la région de Maastricht

Une vertèbre de dinosaure isolée provenant des dépôts marins de la région type du Maastrichtien, près de la ville de Maastricht (Pays-Bas), récoltée au 19e siècle et conservés dans les collections du Museum für Naturkunde (Berlin), est décrite comme une vertèbre caudale d'un ornithopode hadrosauridé. Bien qu'il ne puisse pas être identifié plus précisément, ce spécimen s'ajoute à la liste brève, mais en augmentation, des dinosaures non-aviens de la région type du Maastrichtien. Cette liste est fortement dominée par les hadrosaures, ce qui reflète probablement une réelle abondance de ce groupe de dinosaures dans le Maastrichtien d'Europe.An isolated dinosaur vertebra from the marine deposits of the Maastrichtian type area, near the city of Maastricht (The Netherlands), collected during the 19th century and kept in the palaeontological collection of the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, is described as a caudal vertebra of a hadrosaurid ornithopod. Although it cannot be identified with greater accuracy, this specimen is an addition to the still scanty, but growing, record of non-avian dinosaurs from the Maastrichtian type area. This record is heavily dominated by hadrosaurs, which probably reflects a real abundance of this group of dinosaurs in the Late Maastrichtian of Europe