Name:
Dromomeron
(running femur).
Phonetic: Dro-mo-meh-ron.
Named By: Randall B. Irmis, Sterling J.
Nesbitt, Kevin Padian, Nathan D. Smith, Alan H. Turner,
Daniel Woody & Alex Downs - 2007.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Dinosauromorpha, Lagerpetidae.
Species: D. romeri (type),
D. gregorii, D. gigas.
Diet: Carnivore/Insectivore.
Size: Up to 1 meter long.
Known locations: Argentina - Quebrada del Barro
Formation. USA, Arizona - Chinle Formation, New Mexico -
Chinle Formation, Petrified Forest Formation, Texas - Colorado
City Formation.
Time period: Norian of the Triassic.
Fossil representation: Partial remains of a few
individuals.
Dromomeron
is a genus of small dinosauromorph that lived in North America during
the late Triassic. Since being first described in 2007, the
recovery and study of Dromomeron fossils in the
south west of the USA
has revealed an interesting discovery. Though only known from the
partial remains of a few individuals, these fossils have been found
in locations that also contain the fossil bones of early theropod
dinosaurs, including the genera Tawa,
Chindesaurus
and
Coelophysis.
What this shows us is that the dinosauromorphs, which
were the precursors to the true dinosaurs, did not disappear
quickly, and for some time lived amongst the first dinosaurs.
In
2016, a new species of Dromomeron, D.
gigas, was named from
the Quebrada del Barro Formation of Argentina. This represents the
first species and fossils of Dromomeron discovered
outside of the North
American continent.
Further reading
- A Late Triassic dinosauromorph assemblage from New Mexico and the
rise of dinosaurs. Science 317:358-361. - Randall B. Irmis,
Sterling J. Nesbitt, Kevin Padian, Nathan D. Smith, Alan H.
Turner, Daniel Woody & Alex Downs - 2007.
- Supporting online material for A Late Triassic dinosauromorph
assemblage from New Mexico and the rise of dinosaurs. - Science.
- Randall B. Irmis, Sterling J. Nesbitt, Kevin Padian,
Nathan D. Smith, Alan H. Turner, Daniel Woody & Alex
Downs - 2007.
- Hindlimb osteology and distribution of basal dinosauromorphs from
the Late Triassic of North America. - Journal of Vertebrate
Paleontology 29(2):498-516. - S. J. Nesbitt, R. B.
Irmis, W. G. Parker, N. D. Smith, A. H. Turner
& T. Rowe - 2009.
- A Rebuttal to Nesbitt's and Hone's "An external mandibular
fenestra and other archosauriform characteristics in basal pterosaurs.
- International Symposium on Pterosaurs: 19–22. - C. S.
Bennett - 2013.
- A Norian lagerpetid dinosauromorph from the Quebrada del Barro
Formation, northwestern Argentina. - Ameghiniana. - Ricardo
N. Mart�nez, Cecilia Apaldetti, Gustavo A. Correa, Diego
Abel�n - 2016.
- Are the dinosauromorph femora from the Upper Triassic of Hayden
Quarry (New Mexico) three stages in a growth series of a single taxon?.
- Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ci�ncias. 89 (2): 835–839. - R. T.
M�ller - 2017.