Velafrons
Name: Velafrons
(Sailed forehead).
Phonetic: Vel-ah-fronz.
Named By: Terry A. Gates, Scott D. Sampson,
Carlos R. Delgado de Jesús, Lindsay E. Zanno, David Eberth,
Rene Hernandez-Rivera, Martha C. Aguillón Martínez &
James I Kirkland - 2007.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Ornithischia, Ornithopoda, Hadrosauridae, Lambeosaurinae.
Species: V. coahuilensis
(type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Estimated around 7.6 meters long for the
holotype, adults may have approached around 10 meters long when
fully grown.
Known locations: Mexico - Cerro del Pueblo
Formation.
Time period: Campanian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Skull and partial skeleton of
a juvenile.
The
description of Velafrons is based upon the remains
of a juvenile
individual. This has allowed for an increased insight into how
hadrosaurs
developed as they grew up, though the case of Velafrons
is
a little different. Most hadrosaurs known from juvenile individuals
show a proportionately large skull in relation to the body size in
younger juveniles, steadily getting smaller as the animal ages and
grows into its adult body. This is also seen in Velafrons,
but the
skull is still quite large for its stage of development. Additionally
the crest is present but small when compared to other genera. What
this means is that Velafrons may have grown at a
different rate to
other lambeosaurine hadrosaurids. Also, the crest of Velafrons
may
have been smaller than the crests of other genera, though it should
be remembered that since the holotype is of a juvenile, the crest in
adults was likely to be larger and/or slightly different in form.
With
an adult size estimated to be around the ten meter long mark,
Velafrons was probably around the upper average
size for North
American hadrosaurs during the Campanian stage of the late Cretaceous.
However even though this was quite big, some like Magnapaulia
grew
quite a bit larger than this. Velafrons is
classed as a lambeosaurine
hadrosaurid because the crest on its skull is hollow. Out of all the
lambeosaurines, Corythosaurus
and Hypacrosaurus
are considered to be
particularly close relatives.
Further reading
- Velafrons coahuilensis, a new lambeosaurine
hadrosaurid
(Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from the Late Campanian Cerro del Pueblo
Formation, Coahuila, Mexico, Terry A. Gates, Scott D.
Sampson, Carlos R. Delgado de Jesus, Lindsay E. Zanno, David
Eberth, Rene Hernandez-Rivera, Martha C. Aguillon Martínez
&
James I. Kirkland - 2007.
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