The oldest occurrence of brachylophosaurin hadrosaurids in Canada

Hadrosaurids are a diverse and widely distributed group of ornithischian dinosaurs that are particularly well represented in the upper Campanian Dinosaur Park Formation of the Belly River Group of Alberta. However, the origin of this hadrosaurid diversity in Alberta is poorly understood, as the lower Campanian terrestrial deposits of the underlying Oldman and Foremost formations of the group have produced comparatively few body fossils. Here we provide the first description of a partially articulated hadrosaurid and hadrosaurid material from a bonebed from the Foremost Formation and refer it to the brachylophosaurin Probrachylophosaurus sp. indet. The material represents the oldest occurrence of Brachylophosaurini in Alberta and the oldest known hadrosaurid diagnostic to the genus level from Canada. In Alberta, Hadrosaurinae display a distinct pattern of replacement with the tribes Brachylophosaurini and Kritosaurini being confined to the lower to middle Campanian strata (below the marine Bearpaw Formation) and replaced above the Bearpaw Formation by members of Saurolophini (Prosaurolophus, Saurolophus) and Edmontosaurini (Edmontosaurus), with the latter clade persisting to the end of the Maastrichtian. Although the worldwide stratigraphic distribution of the Hadrosaurinae is complex, this pattern generally holds true for northern Laramidian hadrosaurine tribes, suggesting that their pattern of evolution and replacement may be driven by some common underlying factor such as an environmental response to fluctuations in the margins of the Western Interior Seaway due to sea level change.

Automated summary

This study provides the first description of partially articulated hadrosaurid material from the Foremost Formation in Alberta, referring it to the brachylophosaurin Probrachylophosaurus sp. indet., representing the oldest occurrence of Brachylophosaurini in the region. The Hadrosaurinae in Alberta display a distinct pattern of replacement, suggesting that their evolution and replacement may be influenced by environmental factors such as fluctuations in sea level due to changes in the Western Interior Seaway margins.