Author Interview: Description and rediagnosis of the crested hadrosaurid (Ornithopoda) dinosaur Parasaurolophus cyrtocristatus on the basis of new cranial remains

Credit: Copyright Andrey Atuchin, Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

PeerJ talked to Joseph W. Sertich about the recently published article “Description and rediagnosis of the crested hadrosaurid (Ornithopoda) dinosaur Parasaurolophus cyrtocristatus on the basis of new cranial remains“. Joseph is the Curator of Dinosaurs at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

Description and rediagnosis of the crested hadrosaurid (Ornithopoda) dinosaur Parasaurolophus cyrtocristatus on the basis of new cranial remains.

For nearly 60 years, skulls of Parasaurolophus species have been differentiated primarily on the basis of crest shape rather than on unique morphologic characters of other cranial elements. Complicating matters is the fact that crests dramatically change shape throughout ontogeny. Without a complete growth series, it has become difficult to assess the taxonomic distinctness of each species through the lens of allometric growth. Parasaurolophus cyrtocristatus has proven to be especially troublesome to assess because of the poorly preserved nature of the type and only skull.

Read the full article here.

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