A new leptoceratopsid dinosaur from Maastrichtian-aged deposits of the Sustut Basin, northern British Columbia, Canada

Abstract

A partial dinosaur skeleton from the Sustut Basin of northern British Columbia, Canada, previously described as an indeterminate neornithischian, is here reinterpreted as a leptoceratopsid ceratopsian, Ferrisaurus sustutensis, gen. et. sp. nov. The skeleton includes parts of the pectoral girdles, left forelimb, left hindlimb, and right pes. It can be distinguished from other named leptoceratopsids based on the proportions of the ulna and pedal phalanges. This is the first unique dinosaur species reported from British Columbia, and can be placed within a reasonably resolved phylogenetic context, with Ferrisaurus recovered as more closely related to Leptoceratops than Montanoceratops. At 68.2–67.2 Ma in age, Ferrisaurus falls between, and slightly overlaps with, both Montanoceratops and Leptoceratops, and represents a western range extension for Laramidian leptoceratopsids.

Keywords

• Dinosauria
• Ceratopsia
• Cretaceous
• Biogeography
• Intermontane terrane
• Sustut Basin