Delapparentia
Name:
Delapparentia
(de Lapparent, in honour of Albert-Felix de Lapparent).
Phonetic: De-lap-pah-ren-tee-ah.
Named By: Jose Ignacio Ruiz-Ome�aca - 2011.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Ornithischia, Ornithopoda, Iguanodontia, Hadrosauriformes.
Species: D. turolensis
(type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Estimated about 10 meters long.
Known locations: Spain, Teruel Province -
Camarillas Formation.
Time period: Barremian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial skeleton.
Not
a lot of information is currently available about Delapparentia,
though as a relative to herbivorous dinosaurs like Iguanodon,
a few
things can be inferred. Delapparentia would have
been a fairly large
ornithopod dinosaur that would have balanced most of its body weight
upon its rear legs, while the fore legs were reduced in size and
development. The fore legs would have still been capable of bearing
weight, and Delapparentia likely went about in a
primarily
quadrupedal posture, though it was still capable of bipedal
locomotion for short periods. This ability to switch in posture meant
that Delapparentia like other iguanodonts could
browse upon a greater
variety of plants growing at different heights. Even though the skull
of Delapparentia is unknown, it would have likely
had a keratinous
beak around the anterior portion of the mouth so that it could snip off
vegetation before it was processed by the teeth towards the rear of the
mouth.
As
a herbivore, Delapparentia may have been hunted
by theropod dinosaurs
along the lines of Neovenator
and Eotyrannus,
both living at the same
time as Delapparentia, though both of these
genera are currently only
known from slightly further north in what is now England.
Further reading
- Delapparentia turolensis nov. gen et sp.,
un nuevo dinosaurio
iguanodontoideo (Ornithischia: Ornithopoda) en el Cret�cico
Inferior de Galve [Delapparentia turolensis nov.
gen et sp., a
new iguanodontoid dinosaur (Ornithischia: Ornithopoda) from the
Lower Cretaceous of Galve (Spain), Jose Ignacio Ruiz-Ome�aca -
2011.
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