Yaverlandia

Yaverlandia (meaning "of Yaverland Point/Yaverland Battery") is a genus of maniraptoran dinosaur. Known from a partial fossil skull (MIWG 1530) found in Lower Cretaceous strata of the Wessex Formation (Upper Silty Bed; Vectis Formation) on the Isle of Wight.[1][2][3] it was described as the earliest known member of the pachycephalosaurid family, but research by Darren Naish shows it to have actually been a theropod, seemingly a maniraptoran.[4] The type species is Y. bitholus.[5]

Yaverlandia
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous,
Replica of MIWG 1530 seen from two different angles
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Clade: Maniraptoriformes
Clade: Maniraptora
Genus: †Yaverlandia
Galton, 1971
Species:
†Y. bitholus
Binomial name
†Yaverlandia bitholus
Galton, 1971

Discovery and naming

MIWG 1530, the holotype skull, was discovered in 1930, in England and were commented upon by Watson (1930).[6][7] It was referred to as an iguanodontid of the genus Vectisaurus in 1936.[8] When Steel (1969) followed Hulke (1879)[9] in listing Vectisaurus as an iguanodontid, Peter Malcolm Galton (1971) named the fossil as Yaverlandia, which he described as a pachycephalosaurid since the skull of Yaverlandia was different than that of Vectisaurus (Mantellisaurus).[5]

In 2012 additional remains were reported, but these have not been described.[10]

Description

Yaverlandia was about 3 ft (1 m) in length and 1 ft (30 cm) in height.[11]

Classification

Before being named, Swinton (1936) had MIWG 1530 placed within Mantellisaurus,[8] which was a member of the Iguanodontidae. Galton (1971) upon describing Yaverlandia placed it within the Pachycephalosauridae.[5] Sullivan (2000), Sereno (2000)[12] Naish (2006; unpublished thesis), Sullivan (2006)[13] and Naish (2008)[4] all re-classified Yaverlandia as a maniraptoran.

Paleoecology

Yaverlandia was found in the Vectis Formation and it would have coexisted with the nodosaur Polacanthus foxii,[14] the neornithischian Hypsilophodon foxii,[14] the iguanodontid Mantellisaurus atherfieldensis,[14] an indeterminate euornithopod,[14] an indeterminate spinosaurid,[15] an indeterminate theropod,[14] the plesiosaur Vectocleidus pastorum[16] and the crocodylomorph Hylaeochampsa vectiana.[17]

References
  1. Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Early Cretaceous, Europe)". In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 556-563. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
  2. Batten, D. J. (ed.) 2011. English Wealden Fossils. The Palaeontological Association, London.
  3. "Magnetostratigraphy of the Lower Cretaceous Vectis Formation (Wealden Group) on the Isle of Wight, Southern England."
  4. Naish, Darren; Martill, David M. (2008). "Dinosaurs of Great Britain and the role of the Geological Society of London in their discovery: Ornithischia". Journal of the Geological Society, London. 165 (3): 613–623. doi:10.1144/0016-76492007-154. S2CID 129624992.
  5. Galton, P.M. (1971) "A primitive dome-headed dinosaur (Ornithischia: Pachycephalosauridae) from the Lower Cretaceous of England and the function of the dome of pachycephalosaurids". Journal of Paleontology, Vol. 45, No. 1, Pages 40–47.
  6. Watson, D.M.S (1930) Proceedings of the Isle of Wight Natural History Society. 2, 60.
  7. BBC: Dinosaurs of The Isle of Wight - Ornithischians
  8. Swinton, W.E. (1936). The dinosaurs of the Isle of Wight. Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association, 47, 204–220.
  9. Vectisaurus valdensis, a new Wealden Dinosaur (J. W. Hulke) Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, 35, 421-424, 1 February 1879, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.JGS.1879.035.01-04.27
  10. Austen, Peter A.; Batten, David J. (2018-04-01). "English Wealden fossils: an update". Proceedings of the Geologists' Association. 129 (2): 171–201. doi:10.1016/j.pgeola.2018.02.007. ISSN 0016-7878.
  11. Sullivan, R.M. 2006. A taxonomic review of the Pachycephalosauridae (Dinosauria: Ornithischia). New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 35:347-365
  12. Sereno, P. C., (2000): The fossil record, systematics and evolution of pachycephalosaurs and ceratopsians from Asia. 480-516 in Benton, M. J., Shishkin, M. A., Unvin, D. M. & Kurochkin, E. N., (eds.) 2000: The Age of Dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, xxxix-696
  13. Sullivan, R. M., 2006: A taxonomic review of the Pachycephalosauridae (Dinosauria: Ornithischia). New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletin 35: 347-365
  14. Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Early Cretaceous, Europe)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 556-563. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
  15. Barker CT, Lockwood JA, Naish D, Brown S, Hart A, Tulloch E, Gostling NJ (2022). "A European giant: a large spinosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Vectis Formation (Wealden Group, Early Cretaceous), UK". PeerJ. 10: e13543. doi:10.7717/peerj.13543. PMC 9188774. PMID 35702254.
  16. Benson, Roger B. J.; Ketchum, Hilary F.; Naish, Darren; Turner, Langan E. (11 December 2012). "A new leptocleidid (Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria) from the Vectis Formation (Early Barremian–early Aptian; Early Cretaceous) of the Isle of Wight and the evolution of Leptocleididae, a controversial clade". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 11 (2): 233–250. doi:10.1080/14772019.2011.634444. S2CID 18562271.
  17. Clark; Norell, James; Mark (January 1992). "The Early Cretaceous crocodylomorph Hylaeochampsa vectiana from the Wealden of the Isle of Wight". American Museum Novitates: 19.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)


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