Cretaceous Dinosaurs across Alaska Show the Role of Paleoclimate in Structuring Ancient Large-Herbivore Populations

• Published in: Geosciences
• Main Authors: Anthony R. Fiorillo, Paul J. McCarthy, Yoshitsugu Kobayashi, Marina B. Suarez
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2022
• Subjects: hadrosaurs; ceratopsians; Arctic; ancient Arctic; terrestrial ecosystems; ecosystem reconstruction; Geology; QE1-996.5; Prince Creek; north slope; Alaska
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences12040161; https://doaj.org/article/d0dee591114e4ef7b01b99f9fbe99174

The partially correlative Alaskan dinosaur-bearing Prince Creek Formation (PCF), North Slope, lower Cantwell Formation (LCF), Denali National Park, and Chignik Formation (CF), Aniakchak National Monument, form an N–S transect that, together, provides an unparalleled opportunity to examine an ancient high-latitude terrestrial ecosystem. The PCF, 75–85° N paleolatitude, had a Mean Annual Temperature (MAT) of ~5–7 °C and a Mean Annual Precipitation (MAP) of ~1250 mm/year. The LCF, ~71° N paleolatitude, had a MAT of ~7.4 °C and MAP of ~661 mm/year. The CF, ~57° N paleolatitude, had a MAT of ~13 °C and MAP of ~1090 mm/year. The relative abundances of the large-bodied herbivorous dinosaurs, hadrosaurids and ceratopsids, vary along this transect, suggesting that these climatic differences (temperature and precipitation) played a role in the ecology of these large-bodied herbivores of the ancient north. MAP played a more direct role in their distribution than MAT, and the seasonal temperature range may have played a secondary role.