Ferrisaurus is a genus of leptoceratopsid ceratopsian dinosaur from the Sustut Basin (Tango Creek Formation) in British Columbia, Canada. The type and only species is Ferrisaurus sustutensis. It is the first non-avian dinosaur described from British Columbia.

Ferrisaurus
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
~67 Ma
Ferrisaurus sustutensis life restoration
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Ornithischia
Clade: Neornithischia
Clade: Ceratopsia
Family: Leptoceratopsidae
Genus: Ferrisaurus
Arbour & Evans, 2019
Type species
Ferrisaurus sustutensis
Arbour & Evans, 2019

Discovery and naming

edit
 
Provenance of the holotype specimen of Ferrisaurus

It was discovered in 1971 during a uranium and thorium exploration by Kenny F. Larsen and was donated to the Dalhousie University in 2004. It was described but not named in 2008;[1] by then it made its way into the collection of the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria. It was named in 2019.[2] The holotype, RBCM P900, nicknamed Buster,[3] includes portions of the pectoral girdles, left forelimb, left hindlimb, and right pes.[2]

 
Skeletal diagram of the holotype of Ferrisaurus

The name Ferrisaurus is derived from Latin ferrum (=iron) and Greek sauros (=lizard), referencing to the specimen's discovery along a railway line.[2] The epithet honours the Sustut River and Basin.[2]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Arbour, Victoria M.; Graves, Milton C. (2008). Sues, Hans-Dieter (ed.). "An ornithischian dinosaur from the Sustut Basin, north-central British Columbia, Canada". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 45 (4): 457–463. Bibcode:2008CaJES..45..457A. doi:10.1139/E08-009. ISSN 0008-4077.
  2. ^ a b c d Arbour, V. M.; Evans, D. C. (2019). "A new leptoceratopsid dinosaur from Maastrichtian-aged deposits of the Sustut Basin, northern British Columbia, Canada". PeerJ. 7: e7926. doi:10.7717/peerj.7926. PMC 6842559. PMID 31720103.
  3. ^ Grossman, Nina (November 7, 2019). "VIDEO: Victoria museum unveils 'Buster' a new unique-to-B.C. dinosaur". Victoria News.