Calvarius
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: †Ornithischia
Clade: †Ornithopoda
Clade: †Styracosterna
Genus: †Calvarius
Prieto-Márquez & Sellés, 2023
Species:
†C. rapidus
Binomial name
†Calvarius rapidus
Prieto-Márquez & Sellés, 2023

Calvarius (meaning "suffering") is a genus of styracosternan ornithopod from the Late Cretaceous Talarn Formation of Spain. The genus contains a single species, Calvarius rapidus, known from a single metatarsal.[1]

Discovery and naming

Calvarius is located in Spain
Calvarius
Calvarius was discovered in northern Spain

The holotype specimen, MCD-8734, is a single fourth metatarsal discovered in 2019 at the Pallars Jussà locality of the Talarn Formation of the Tremp Group, located in Catalonia, Spain.

It was named as the holotype of a new genus of styracosternan dinosaur in 2023 by Albert Prieto-Márquez and Albert Sellés. The genus name, "Calvarius", is Latin for "suffering" (cf. Calvary), and refers to the type locality, Serrat del Calvari, as well as the genus' proximity to the K-Pg extinction event. The specific name, "rapidus", means "rapid", and refers to its likely cursorial habits.[1]

Classification

Calvarius was in 2023 assigned by its describers to the Styracosterna. A more precise position could not be determined because a phylogenetic analysis only places it in a large polytomy of styracosternans.[1]

Paleobiology

Life restoration of the bipedal Hypsilophodon, which Calvarius was convergently similar to
Life restoration of Iguanacolossus, a more typical quadrupedal styracosternan

The highly modified metatarsal of Calvarius has no known equivalents among other ornithopods. It was convergently more similar to those of more basal ornithischians such as Hypsilophodon and Dysalotosaurus than to other styracosternans, and may have filled their niche on its island habitat.[1]

The Talarn Formation also produced the remains of the troodontid Tamarro insperatus. [2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Prieto-Márquez, A.; Sellés, A. (2023). "Evolutionary convergence in a small cursorial styracosternan ornithopod dinosaur from western Europe". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. e2210632. doi:10.1080/02724634.2023.2210632.
  2. ↑ Sellés, A. G.; Vila, B.; Brusatte, S. L.; Currie, P. J.; Galobart, A. (2021). "A fast-growing basal troodontid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the latest Cretaceous of Europe". Scientific Reports. 11: 4855. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-83745-5.
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