Reassessment of a juvenile Daspletosaurus from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada with implications for the identification of immature tyrannosaurids.

ABSTRACT: Daspletosaurus is a large tyrannosaurine found in upper Campanian deposits of Alberta and Montana. Although several large subadult and adult individuals of this taxon are known, only one juvenile individual, TMP 1994.143.1, has been identified. This specimen has played a key role in the idea that juvenile tyrannosaurid individuals are difficult to differentiate among species. Here the taxonomic affinity of TMP 1994.143.1 is reassessed in light of a juvenile tyrannosaurine postorbital recently discovered in the Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta. Anatomical comparisons and phylogenetic analyses reveal that TMP 1994.143.1 is referable to the albertosaurine Gorgosaurus libratus, whereas the new postorbital belongs to a small juvenile Daspletosaurus. This taxonomic reassignment of TMP 1994.143

SUBMITTER: Voris JT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6882908 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature