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- Title
Taphonomy of the Danek Bonebed: a monodominant Edmontosaurus (Hadrosauridae) bonebed from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation, Alberta<sup>1</sup>.
- Authors
Bell, Phil R.; Campione, Nicolás E.; Farke, Andrew
- Abstract
The Danek Bonebed (Horsethief Member, Horseshoe Canyon Formation, Late Campanian) is dominated by the remains of at least 12 Edmontosaurus regalis. Skeletal remains of a tyrannosaurid and ceratopsid are also known. The predominantly disarticulated remains were interred on a periodically inundated floodplain and, although the cause of death is unknown, a sudden, catastrophic death explains the demographic spread, faunal diversity, rare greenstick fractures, and homogeneous weathering/abrasion categories of the assemblage. The Danek Bonebed shares a similar taphonomic signature to the Liscomb Bonebed (Prince Creek Formation, Alaska), but it is unique among all other described hadrosaurid bonebeds in the unusually high proportion of bite-marked bones (∼30%), suggesting scavenging played a major role in the reworking of the assemblage. The highest frequency of bite marks is found on small, often unidentifiable (and commonly ignored) bone fragments, underscoring the role that such fragments can play in taphonomic interpretation. Finally, the recognition of E. regalis from central Alberta is an important datum linking contemporaneous occurrences in southern Alberta with slightly older records of this species from the Wapiti Formation in northwestern Alberta.
- Subjects
TAPHONOMY; EDMONTOSAURUS; FOSSIL microorganisms; HORSESHOE Canyon Formation (Alta.); TYRANNOSAURIDAE; CERATOPSIDAE
- Publication
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 2014, Vol 51, Issue 11, p992
- ISSN
0008-4077
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1139/cjes-2014-0062