Forster, Catherine A., de Klerk, William J., Poole, Karen E., Chinsamy-Turan, Anusuya, Roberts, Eric M., and Ross, Callum F. (2023) Iyuku raathi, a new iguanodontian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Kirkwood Formation, South Africa. The Anatomical Record. (In Press)

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Abstract

We name and describe a new iguanodontian dinosaur from the Early Creteceous Kirkwood Formation, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. This dinosaur is one of only two ornithopod dinosaurs known from the Cretaceous of southern Africa, and is unique in being represented primarily by hatchling to young juvenile individuals as demonstrated by bone histological analysis. All of the juvenile material of this new taxon comes from a single, laterally-restricted bonebed and specimens were primarily recovered as partial to complete single elements, although rare articulated materials and one partial skeleton were found. Sedimentology of the bonebed suggests that this horizon heralds a change in environment upsection to a drier and more seasonal climate. This accumulation of bones is interpreted as seasonal mortality from a nesting site or nesting grounds and may be linked to this environmental shift.

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