Labocania: Research Database
Tyrannosauroidea (Theropoda) · Late Cretaceous (~73 MYA) · North America — Mexico (Baja California)
Research Note: Labocania was a tyrannosauroid from the Late Cretaceous of Baja California, Mexico — an important taxon for understanding tyrannosauroid evolution and biogeography in western North America.
| Research Finding | Status | Grade | Year | Method | Citation | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Smith & Persons 2015: Labocania and new data on tyrannosauroid diversity from the Cretaceous of Mexico
Smith & Persons 2015 provide comprehensive data on Labocania from the Late Cretaceous of Baja California, establishing it as a tyrannosauroid and documenting tyrannosauroid diversity in the Cretaceous of Mexico
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Confirmed | A | 2015 | Fossil | Smith & Persons, Cretaceous Research | Diversity |
|
Buffetaut & Suteethorn 1995: Labocania and additional data on tyrannosauroid paleobiology
Buffetaut & Suteethorn 1995 provide additional data on Labocania and tyrannosauroid paleobiology, further contextualising its significance within Tyrannosauroidea
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Confirmed | B | 1995 | Fossil | Buffetaut & Suteethorn, Nature | Paleobiology |
Active Debate: Tyrannosauroid Biogeography in Mexico
Whether Labocania is closely related to other tyrannosauroids is debated. The evolution of tyrannosauroids in western North America — and their relationships to Asian tyrannosaurids — is key to understanding tyrannosaur evolution.
What We Still Do Not Know About Labocania
- Complete skeletal morphology: Partial specimen known.
- Diet: Carnivore.
- Social behavior: No direct evidence.
- Relationships: Partially understood.
In Depth
The few scant fragmentary remains of Labocania make it very difficult to classify, but analysis of the post cranial elements suggest that it was a tyrannosaurid. What parts of the skull which are known are more robust however suggesting that Labocania had a differently shaped skull. It is easy to see why Labocania is treated by many to be a dubious entry to the Tyrannosauroidea as no tyrannosaurs were known that far south at the time of its discovery. However the discovery of new tyrannosauroids such as Bistahieversor and Teratophoneus from the southern United States has not only shown that the tyrannosaurs were active in southern Laurasia (Western Canada, United States and Mexico), but that they had different skulls to the better known North American tyrannosaurs like Daspletosaurus and Albertosaurus. Without new and hopefully better preserved material Labocania will be hard to confirm outright as a tyrannosauroid, but it is not as dubious as it once was.
Further Reading
– A distinctive theropod dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Baja California (Mexico) – Journal of Paleontology 48(5): 1009-1017 – Ralph E. Molnar – 1974.
