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'{{Short description|Extinct genus of dinosaurs}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = [[Early Cretaceous]], <br>~{{Fossil range|113}} | image = Zephyrosaurus in Copenhagen.jpg | image_caption = Mounted skeleton, [[Natural History Museum of Denmark]] | taxon = Zephyrosaurus | authority = Sues, 1980 | type_species_authority = [[Hans-Dieter Sues|Sues]], [[1980 in paleontology|1980]] | type_species = {{extinct}}'''''Zephyrosaurus schaffi''''' }} aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa '''''Zephyrosaurus''''' (meaning "westward wind lizard") is a [[genus]] of [[orodrominae|orodromine]] [[ornithischian]] [[dinosaur]]. It is based on a partial skull and [[postcrania]]l fragments discovered in the [[Aptian]]-[[Albian]]-age [[Lower Cretaceous]] [[Cloverly Formation]] of [[Carbon County, Montana|Carbon County]], [[Montana]], USA. New remains are under description, and [[footprint|tracks]] from [[Maryland]] and [[Virginia]], also in the US, have been attributed to animals similar to ''Zephyrosaurus''. It lived approximately 113 mya. ==Discovery and history== [[File:Zephyrosaurus juvenile specimen.png|thumb|left|Fragmentary juvenile specimen]] [[Hans-Dieter Sues]] named his new genus in recognition of the fossil being found in western [[North America]], and Charles R. Schaff, who found the specimen. [[Museum of Comparative Zoology|MCZ 4392]], the [[holotype|type]] specimen, is composed of [[jaw]] fragments, the [[braincase]] and associated bones, several partial [[vertebra]]e, and rib fragments. He found the new genus to represent a previously unknown lineage of hypsilophodont (a taxon now considered not natural), similar in some respects to ''[[Hypsilophodon]]''.<ref name=HDS80/> Because of the fragmentary nature of the type, and lack of additional remains, ''Zephyrosaurus'' had not attracted much attention until recently, when two separate events brought it more recognition. First, Martha Kutter, in a 2003 abstract, reported on new remains of this genus under study at the [[Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History]], including the remains of at least seven individuals with bones from all regions of the body.<ref name=MMK03>{{cite journal |last=Kutter |first=M.M. |year=2003 |title=New material of ''Zephyrosaurus schaffi'' (Dinosauria:Ornithischia) from the Cloverly Formation (Aptian-Albian) of Montana |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=23 |issue=3, Suppl |pages=69A| doi =10.1080/02724634.2003.10010538 |s2cid=220410105 }}</ref> Then, Stanford ''et al.'' (2004) published on dinosaur tracks from the [[Patuxent Formation]] of Maryland and Virginia, which they named ''Hypsiloichnus marylandicus'' and attributed to an animal akin to ''Zephyrosaurus'' based on the proportions of the hands and feet.<ref name=SWL04>{{cite journal |last=Stanford |first=R. |author2=Weems, R. |author3= Lockley, M. |year=2004 |title=A new dinosaur ichnotaxon from the Lower Cretaceous Patuxent Formation of Maryland and Virginia |journal=Ichnos |volume=11 |issue=3–4 |pages=251–259 |doi=10.1080/10420940490428797}}</ref> ==Description== [[File:Deinonychus (Raptor Prey Restraint).jpg|thumb|left|Restoration of ''Zephyrosaurus'' being attacked by a ''[[Deinonychus]]'']] ''Zephyrosaurus'' is still very incompletely known. Among other distinctive characteristics, it had a steep face, a raised knob on the [[maxilla|upper jaw]], and a larger knob on the [[jugal|cheekbone]]. Some of the bones may have allowed movement within the skull (cranial kinesis) as well. Like other orodromines, it had [[premaxilla|beak]] teeth.<ref name=HDS80>{{cite journal |last=Sues |first=Hans-Dieter |year=1980 |title=Anatomy and relationships of a new hypsilophodontid dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of North America |journal=Palaeontographica Abteilung A |volume=169 |issue=1–3 |pages=51–72}}</ref> ==Classification== Several studies have suggested that ''Zephyrosaurus'' and ''[[Orodromeus]]'' are closely related, mostly by virtue of both having bosses on their cheeks.<ref name=WH92>{{cite journal |last=Weishampel |first=David B. |author-link=David B. Weishampel |author2=Heinrich, Ronald E. |year=1992 |title=Systematics of Hypsilophodontidae and Basal Iguanodontia (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) |journal=Historical Biology |volume=6 |pages=159–184 |url=http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/pdf/ghbi_06_01_01.pdf |access-date=2007-03-10 |doi=10.1080/10292389209380426 |issue=3 |archive-date=2007-09-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930205953/http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/pdf/ghbi_06_01_01.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=PB02>{{cite book |last=Buchholz |first=Peter W. |title=The Mesozoic in Wyoming, Tate 2002 |year=2002 |publisher=The Geological Museum, Casper College |location=Casper, Wyoming |pages=18–34 |chapter=Phylogeny and biogeography of basal Ornithischia}}</ref> Other studies have had difficulty classifying it, due to the sparseness of the original material.<ref name=NSWC04>{{cite book |last=Norman |first=David B. |author-link=David B. Norman |author2=Sues, Hans-Dieter |author3=Witmer, Larry M. |author4= Coria, Rodolfo A. |editor=Weishampel, David B. |editor2=Dodson, Peter |editor3=Osmólska, Halszka |title=The Dinosauria |url=https://archive.org/details/dinosauriandedit00weis |url-access=limited |edition=2nd |year= 2004|publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |isbn=0-520-24209-2 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/dinosauriandedit00weis/page/n411 393]–412 |chapter=Basal Ornithopoda}}</ref> ''[[Oryctodromeus]]'' also shares several characteristics with ''Zephyrosaurus'' and ''Orodromeus'', some of which may be related to [[burrow]]ing. Phylogenetic analysis in the 2010s has classified ''Zephyrosaurus '' as part of the [[Thescelosauridae]] family. ==Paleobiology== ''Zephyrosaurus'' would have been a small, swift, [[biped]]al [[herbivore]].<ref name=NSWC04/> Like ''Orodromeus'' and ''Oryctodromeus'', it may have burrowed as well.<ref name=VMK07>{{cite journal |last=Varricchio |first=David J. |author2=Martin, Anthony J. |author3= Katsura, Yoshihiro |year=2007 |title=First trace and body fossil evidence of a burrowing, denning dinosaur |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=274 |pages=1361–1368 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2006.0443 |url= |pmid=17374596 |issue=1616 |pmc=2176205 }}</ref> ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== {{Portal|Dinosaurs}} *[http://dml.cmnh.org/2005Jan/msg00095.html Press release] for ''Hypsiloichnus marylandicus''. *[http://dml.cmnh.org/1999Sep/msg00072.html Dinosaur Mailing List discussion] on what would become ''Hypsiloichnus marylandicus''. *[http://www.paleoportal.org/index.php?globalnav=fossil_gallery&sectionnav=detail&submission_id=1070&taxon_id=&state_id=&period_id=18&assemblage_id=&last_section=search Photograph of a ''Hypsiloichnus marylandicus'' footprint], from [http://www.paleoportal.org/index.php The Paleontology Portal]. *[http://internt.nhm.ac.uk/jdsml/nature-online/dino-directory/detail.dsml?Genus=Zephyrosaurus&showTaxonomy=yes&identifier=zephyro&&beginIndex=&section=home ''Zephyrosaurus''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060925130705/http://internt.nhm.ac.uk/jdsml/nature-online/dino-directory//detail.dsml?Genus=Zephyrosaurus |date=2006-09-25 }} in The Natural History Museum's Dino Directory. {{Ornithischia}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q187013}} [[Category:Neornithischians]] [[Category:Early Cretaceous dinosaurs of North America]] [[Category:Fossil taxa described in 1980]] [[Category:Taxa named by Hans-Dieter Sues]] [[Category:Cloverly fauna]] [[Category:Paleontology in Montana]] [[Category:Ornithischian genera]]'