Labocania

Name: Labocania ‭(‬After the La Bocana Roja Formation‭)‬.
Phonetic: ‭L‬a-bo-ca-nee-ya.
Named By: Ralph Molnar‭ ‬-‭ ‬1974.‭
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Saurischia,‭ ‬Theropoda,‭ ‬Tyrannosauroidea‭?
Species: L.‭ ‬anomala‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Estimated at‭ ‬6‭ ‬meters long, possibly more.
Known locations: Mexico,‭ ‬Baja California‭ ‬-‭ ‬La Bocana Roja Formation.
Time period: Campanian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial and fragmentary remains of the skull,‭ ‬ischium and pubis.




       The few scant fragmentary remains of Labocania make it very difficult to classify,‭ ‬but analysis of the post cranial elements suggest that it was a tyrannosaurid.‭ ‬What parts of the skull which are known are more robust however suggesting that‭ ‬Labocania had a differently shaped skull.‭ ‬It is easy to see why Labocania is treated by many to be a dubious entry to the Tyrannosauroidea as no tyrannosaurs were known that far south at the time of its discovery.‭ ‬However the discovery of new tyrannosauroids such as Bistahieversor and Teratophoneus from the southern United States has not only shown that the tyrannosaurs were active in southern Laurasia‭ (‬Western Canada,‭ ‬United States and Mexico‭)‬,‭ ‬but that they had different skulls to the better known North American tyrannosaurs like Daspletosaurus and Albertosaurus.‭ ‬Without new and hopefully better preserved material Labocania will be hard to confirm outright as a tyrannosauroid,‭ ‬but it is not as dubious as it once was.‭

Further reading
- A distinctive theropod dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Baja California (Mexico) - Journal of Paleontology 48(5): 1009-1017 - Ralph E. Molnar - 1974.



----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Random favourites