Diluvicursor

Di-lu-ve-cursor.
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Benjamin Gutierrez

Vertebrate Paleontologist

Benjamin Gutierrez is a leading expert on dinosaurs, particularly the mighty theropods. His fieldwork in South America has uncovered new species and provided insights into dinosaur social structures.

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Name

Diluvicursor ‭(‬Flood runner‭)‬.

Phonetic

Di-lu-ve-cursor.

Named By

M.‭ ‬C.‭ ‬Herne,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Tait,‭ ‬V.‭ ‬Weisbecker,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Hall,‭ ‬J.‭ ‬P.‭ ‬Nair,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Cleeland‭ & ‬S.‭ ‬W.‭ ‬Salisbury‭ ‬-‭ ‬2018.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Ornithischia,‭ ‬Ornithopoda.

Diet

Herbivore.

Species

D.‭ ‬pickeringi‭

Size

Uncertain,‭ ‬but roughly estimated at‭ ‬2.3‭ ‬meters long for adults.

Known locations

Australia‭ ‬-‭ ‬Eumeralla Formation.

Time Period

Albian of the Cretaceous.

Fossil representation

Partial post cranial remains including lower leg bones and tail.

In Depth

       Diluvicursor is a genus of small ornithopod dinosaur that lived in what is now Australia during the early Cretaceous.‭ ‬Description of the genus was based upon a mostly complete tail and lower leg bones that were preserved flat on a‭ ‬slab of rock.‭ ‬These have been identified to have come from a juvenile animal,‭ ‬not yet fully grown.‭ ‬When compared to other more complete genera of small ornithopod dinosaurs such as Hypsilophodon,‭ ‬this came to a total estimated size of a little over a meter.‭ ‬A second vertebra from an older and possibly fully grown individual Diluvicursor has also been found,‭ ‬and when the‭ ‬other remains are scaled up to‭ ‬match,‭ ‬and again using knowledge from other genera to fill the missing parts,‭ ‬an estimated size of over two meters was established for the genus.

       Small ornithopod dinosaurs like Diluvicursor are usually established as herbivores‭ (‬though‭ ‬an‭ ‬omnivorous diet has at times been suggested for some genera‭)‬,‭ ‬feeding upon low growing plants and relying upon a combination of speed,‭ ‬agility and sharp senses to stay alive.‭ ‬Although at the time of writing not known from the same fossil formation as Diluvicursor,‭ ‬megaraptoran dinosaurs like Australovenator are known to have been active in Australia earlier in the Cretaceous,‭ ‬and might have still been present in the time of Diluvicursor.

Further Reading

-‭ ‬A new small-bodied ornithopod‭ (‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Ornithischia‭) ‬from a deep,‭ ‬high-energy Early Cretaceous river of the Australian-Antarctic rift system.‭ ‬-‭ ‬PeerJ‭ ‬5:e4113.‭ ‬-‭ ‬M.‭ ‬C.‭ ‬Herne,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Tait,‭ ‬V.‭ ‬Weisbecker,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Hall,‭ ‬J.‭ ‬P.‭ ‬Nair,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Cleeland‭ & ‬S.‭ ‬W.‭ ‬Salisbury‭ ‬-‭ ‬2018.

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