Reconstructing the Ecological Relationships of Late Cretaceous Antarctic Dinosaurs and How Functional Tooth Morphology Influenced These Relationships

• Main Author: Broxson, Ian D
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: EWU Digital Commons 2022
• Subjects: Sandwich Bluff; James Ross Basin; Elasmarian; Ornithopod; Functional Tooth Morphology; Antarctica; Ecology; Ecosystem; Evolution; Paleontology; Other Animal Sciences; Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Paleobiology; Zoology; Antarc*; Antarctic
• Online Access: https://dc.ewu.edu/srcw_2022/4; https://dc.ewu.edu/context/srcw_2022/article/1003/viewcontent/Broxson_EWU_Symposium_Poster_2022.pdf

The Sandwich Bluff Formation of the James Ross Basin of Antarctica has recently yielded a group of five late Cretaceous dinosaurs that lived contemporaneously with each other, a first for Antarctica. These five dinosaurs include fragmentary remains of two differently sized elasmarian ornithopods, a possible megaraptor, a hadrosaur, and a nodosaur. In this study we will construct a model of the ecological relationships of late Cretaceous Antarctica. Additionally, we will look at what specific factors allowed this group of four herbivores and a carnivore to coexist in a restricted locality and what niches were filled by each species. Methods to determine this will include a size estimation of these dinosaurs and a paleobotanical assessment of the Sandwich Bluff locality. A comparative analysis between these Sandwich Bluff dinosaurs and related species from other Gondwanan landmasses will help us in our analysis. Finally, we will perform an in depth analysis of functional tooth morphology and how that relates to diet, size and niche, which will be important for future study of other herbivorous dinosaurs.