Oohkotokia
Name:
Oohkotokia
(Large stone).
Phonetic: O-oh-kuh-toe-ke-ah.
Named By: Paul Penkalski - 2013.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Ornithischia, Thyreophora, Ankylosauria, Ankylosauridae,
Ankylosaurinae.
Species: O. horneri (type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Estimated up to 6 meters long.
Known locations: USA, Montana - Two Medicine
Formation.
Time period: Campanian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Skull and partial post
cranial skeleton.
Oohkotokia
was a medium to large ankylosaurid
dinosaur that is so far only known
from a single individual, though other fossils gathered in the past
may actually represent specimens of this genus. Oohkotokia
seems to
have been similar to Euoplocephalus,
though is considered distinct
because the skull texture of Oohkotokia is quite
smooth in comparison
to other ankylosaurid genera. Like with its ankylosaurid brethren,
Oohkotokia would have been protected by a covering
of heavy bony
armour all across its back and sides, with a heavy bony club on the
end of its tail. These were necessary defensive adaptations when you
consider that the habitat that Oohkotokia is known
from was also the
home for large tyrannosaurs
such as Daspletosaurus
and Gorgosaurus.
Oohkotokia
is believed to have lived in a semi-arid environment which experienced
seasonal rainfalls that probably triggered the growth of lush seasonal
blooms of plants. Aside from Oohkotokia, other
herbivores in this
location include the nodosaur Edmontonia,
the ceratopsians
Einiosaurus,
Achelousaurus
and Brachyceratops, and the hadrosaurids
Hypacrosaurus,
Maiasaura
and Prosaurolophus.
In addition to these
and the aforementioned tyrannosaurs, other theropods in the area
included troodonts,
dromaeosaurs
and oviraptosaurs.
The
name Oohkotokia is from the Blackfoot for ‘large
stone’, while
the species name, O. horneri is in honour of
palaeontologist John
R. Horner.
Further reading
- A new ankylosaurid from the late Cretaceous Two Medicine Formation
of Montana, USA, Paul Penkalski - 2013.
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