Albien

Anhanguerid pterosaur Nicorhynchus capito gen. et comb. nov. (holotype),CAMSM B54625, Chesterton, Cambridgeshire, England, Albian.In anterior (A1), right lateral (A2), palatal (A3), and left lateral (A4) views.A1 and A3 modified from Rodrigues and Kellner (2013), A2 and A4 photographsby BH.

Tropeognathine pterosaur Siroccopteryx moroccensis Mader andKellner, 1999, LINHM FR016, Kem Kem beds, Morocco, ?Albian–lowerCenomanian. A. Photograph in anterior (A1), left lateral (A2), and dorsal(A3) views. B. Interpretation of the palatal view following Mader andKellner (1999). Photographs courtesy of Megan L. Jacobs. Drawing byRVP based on Mader and Kellner (1999).

Theiophytalia kerri Brill & Carpenter, 2006 - ornithopod dinosaur skull from the Cretaceous of Colorado, USA. (YPM 1887, public display, Garden of the Gods visitor center, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA) This skull is the holotype and only known specimen of an entire genus of ornithopod dinosaurs, Theiophytalia. Ornithopods were herbivorous dinosaurs. From exhibit signage: A Brand New Dinosaur Species Theiophytalia kerri What we know about the dinosaur fossil - so far: It is the only Theiophytalia kerri fossil known to exist in the world. It is a brand new genus and species of dinosaur. Theiophytalia kerri means "belonging to the Garden of the Gods". "Theios" is a Greek word that means "belonging to the gods" and "phytalia" means "garden". "kerri" honors James Hutchinson Kerr (pronounced "Care"), who discovered the dinosaur fossil. Theiophytalia was a medium-sized dinosaur, measuring about 30 feet from head to tail. It was found in 1878 in the Garden of the Gods in the lower Lytle Member of the Purgatoire Rock Formation of the Dakota Group. The dinosaur fossil skull is from the Aptian-Albian Age of the Cretaceous Ear, 125 - 100 million years old. Look closely at the fossil skull. Where are the teeth located? You can see the teeth in the back of the jaw. There are no teeth in the front of the dinosaur's beak-like mouth. This is evidence that the Theiophytalia was a plant eater. It could nip and tear plants, then grind them between its tightly-packed back teeth, similar to plant-eaters of today. Timeline: Dinosaur Fossil Discovered, then Forgotten 1878 - James Kerr, geology professor at Colorado College, finds a fossil skull "in one of the ridges east of the red rocks of the Garden of the Gods." 1886 - O.C. Marsh, famous 1800s dinosaur collector from Yale University, obtains the fossil skull from James Kerr, identifies it as a Camptosaurus dinosaur, and sends the fossil to the Yale Peabody Museum in New Haven, Connecticut. 1886 - 1995 - While the dinosaur fossil skull safely rests in the Yale Museum for many decades, knowledge of its existence is forgotten in Colorado Springs. Rediscovery - 117 years later 1994 - Colorado Springs City park staff research new exhibits for the Garden of the Gods Visitor and Nature Center, set to open in 1995. They meet with Doctor Kirk Johnson, curator of paleontology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. 1995 - Kirk Johnson refers the park staff to his museum colleague Doctor Ken Carpenter, expert dinosaur scientist. Doctor Carpenter remembers seeing in his files "something about a dinosaur fossil found in Garden of the Gods" and mails the following article to park staff. Camptosaurus amplus No. 1887, Yale Museum, consisting of portions of the skull and lower jaw. It was collected from deposits in the Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado. With this specimen was found the following note in Professor O.C. Marsh's handwriting, "Part of this animal and various Sauropoda bones were taken out by Professor Kerr in 1878." A Case of Mistaken Identity Reveals a Brand New Dinosaur! 1996 - Kirk Johnson (a Yale alumnus) secures permission to hand-carry the Camptosaurus fossil from the Yale Peabody Museum to Denver so that Ken Carpenter can make a cast (a precise replica) of the fossil. Doctor Carpenter notices irregularities in the Camptosaurus fossil and decides to re-examine the fossil when his schedule permits. 1997 - The Camptosaurus fossil replica is given to the City of Colorado Springs and is exhibited at the Garden of the Gods Visitor and Nature Center. 2006 - Doctor Carpenter and his associate Kathleen Brill reassess the fossil skull and note that it differs from other Camptosaurus skulls in several significant ways, such as the narrower mouth and snout, and the position of the nasal openings, and the bony structures over the eyes. Also, microscopic identification of the rock matrix clinging to the fossil, and research of archival maps, reveal that the fossil skull was actually found in the lower Dakota Rock Formation, not the Morrison Formation as originally reported in the 1800s. The skull is from a dinosaur that lived in the Cretaceous Ear and can't be a Jurassic Era Camptosaurus. Doctor Carpenter's exacting research reveals that the dinosaur skull is a brand new genus and species of dinosaur! He names it Theiophytalia kerri. 2008 - The Theiophytalia kerri is proudly re-exhibited at the Garden of the Gods Visitor and Nature Center. Classification: Animalia, Chordata, Vertebrata, Dinosauria, Ornithischia, Ornithopoda Stratigraphy: lower Lytle Member, Purgatoire Formation, Dakota Group, Aptian to Albian Stages, upper Lower Cretaceous Locality: Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA See info. at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theiophytalia and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornithopoda

Anhanguerid pterosaur Aerodraco sedgwickii gen. et comb. nov.,CAMSM B54422, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, Albian. In anterior(A1), left lateral (A2), palatal (A3), right lateral (A4), and dorsal (A5)views. Photographs by BH.

Holotype of the polycotylid[1] plesiosaur Edgarosaurus muddi DRUCKENMILLER, 2002, (MOR 751) comprising the skull, the neck, and the left front flipper, on display in the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana. The specimen was collected in Edgar, Carbon County, Montana, from the Shell Creek member of the Thermopolis Shale Formation, Upper Albian, uppermost Lower Cretaceous.[2]

Anhanguerid pterosaur Uktenadactylus wadleighi (Lee, 1994), SMU 73058, Tarrant County, Texas, USA, Albian. In anterior (A1), leftlateral (A2), palatal (A3) and right lateral (A4), and dorsal (A5) views. Photographs by BH

Camposipterus nasutus comb. n. Holotype CAMSM B 54556 (Albian, Cambridge Greensand), anterior part of the rostrum A left lateral view B respective line drawing C ventral view D respective line drawing. Abbreviations: m – maxillae, pm – premaxillae, prid – palatal ridge. Arrows and numbers indicate alveoli or teeth and their respective position. Scale bar = 10 mm.

Phylogenetic relationships, chronostratigraphic, and paleoecological implications of M. intrepidus. a Graphic illustrating temporal range of North American tyrannosauroids including species-level range prior to the discovery of M. intrepidus, extension of current range, and hypothesized range based on isolated teeth12. The current gap in the North American tyrannosauroid record spans from the Tithonian to the Aptian. Faunal composition of Late Cretaceous ecosystems was established between the Albian and Turonian, as recognized by the stratigraphic appearance of major clades (see refs. 7,12 and references therein). b generalized phylogenetic relationships of Tyrannosauroidea, showing the appearance of select traits related to cursoriality in tyrannosaurs that are newly optimized as a result of the discovery of M. intrepidus. Tree topology follows this study using the modified dataset of Carr and colleagues27. Coelurus and Tanycolagreus are grafted as basal tyrannosauroids following Brusatte and colleagues5. c Stratigraphic distribution of Allosauria in North America (incl. Megaraptora but see ref. 70 for alternative hypotheses regarding this clade) documents overlap with M. intrepidus in early Late Cretaceous ecosystems leading to (d) refined calibration on the origin of late diverging tyrannosauroids and clade-level faunal turnover within apex predator roles throughout the Late Jurassic–Late Cretaceous of North America. Colored polygons are stylized call-outs and are not intended to reflect two-dimensional data. Temporal data corresponding to this figure are available in Supplementary Table 5

Mawsonia , giant coelocanth from the Cretaceous period (Albian and Cenomanian stages) of South America and North Africa

a Ankylosaurus vertebra from the green sand of Folkestone (UK) - Albian

Figure 36: Artist’s interpretation of the early Albian, volcaniclastic, floodplain palaeoenvironment within the Australian-Antarctic rift graben, in the region of Eric the Red West. Scene depicting two individuals of Diluvicursor pickeringi on the cutbank of a high-energy meandering river, regional floral components and distant rift margin uplands. Floral components potentially included forest trees of Araucariaceae (Agathis and Araucaria), Podocarpaceae and Cupressaceae and lower story/ground cover plants, including pteridophytes (ferns, including equisetaleans), hepatics, lycopods, cycadophytes, bennettitaleans, seed-bearing fern- or cycad-like taeniopterids and early Australian angiosperms. Artwork by P. Trusler, with permission.

Phylogenetic relationships, chronostratigraphic, and paleoecological implications of M. intrepidus. a Graphic illustrating temporal range of North American tyrannosauroids including species-level range prior to the discovery of M. intrepidus, extension of current range, and hypothesized range based on isolated teeth12. The current gap in the North American tyrannosauroid record spans from the Tithonian to the Aptian. Faunal composition of Late Cretaceous ecosystems was established between the Albian and Turonian, as recognized by the stratigraphic appearance of major clades (see refs. 7,12 and references therein). b generalized phylogenetic relationships of Tyrannosauroidea, showing the appearance of select traits related to cursoriality in tyrannosaurs that are newly optimized as a result of the discovery of M. intrepidus. Tree topology follows this study using the modified dataset of Carr and colleagues27. Coelurus and Tanycolagreus are grafted as basal tyrannosauroids following Brusatte and colleagues5. c Stratigraphic distribution of Allosauria in North America (incl. Megaraptora but see ref. 70 for alternative hypotheses regarding this clade) documents overlap with M. intrepidus in early Late Cretaceous ecosystems leading to (d) refined calibration on the origin of late diverging tyrannosauroids and clade-level faunal turnover within apex predator roles throughout the Late Jurassic–Late Cretaceous of North America. Colored polygons are stylized call-outs and are not intended to reflect two-dimensional data. Temporal data corresponding to this figure are available in Supplementary Table 5

Body mass evolution of Oviraptorosauria. Time calibrated phenograms of Log10 Body Mass (kg) versus time (Ma) for Oviraptorosauria. Blue halos represent 95% confi- dence intervals and branches indicate phylogenetic relation- ships. Each plot displays the same data, but Caenagnathidae is highlighted in green in (A) and Oviraptoridae is highlighted in red in (B) for clarity. Yellow arrows indicate nodes where important changes in body size range occur. Pie charts show ancestral estimations of biogeographic range (as in Fig. 20) for important clades of caenagnathids (A) and oviraptorids (B). Node labels from left to right in (A): Oviraptorosauria; Caenagnathidae; Anomalipes + Caenagnathinae; Caenagnathinae more derived than Apatoraptor pennatus; Anzu + Caenagnathus. Node labels from left to right in (B): Oviraptorosauria; Caenagnathoidea; Oviraptoridae; Heyuanninae (bottom); Citipatinae (top). Colours for node labels as in Fig. 20. Abbreviations: Al, Albian; Ap, Aptian; Ba, Barremian; Be, Berriasian; Ca, Campanian; Ce, Cenomanian; Co, Coniacian; Ha, Hauterivian; Ma, Maastrichtian; S, Santonian; Tu, Turonian; Va, Valanginian.

Tropeognathine pterosaur Siroccopteryx moroccensis Mader andKellner, 1999, LINHM FR016, Kem Kem beds, Morocco, ?Albian–lowerCenomanian. A. Photograph in anterior (A1), left lateral (A2), and dorsal(A3) views. B. Interpretation of the palatal view following Mader andKellner (1999). Photographs courtesy of Megan L. Jacobs. Drawing byRVP based on Mader and Kellner (1999).

Holotype of the polycotylid[1] plesiosaur Edgarosaurus muddi DRUCKENMILLER, 2002, (MOR 751) comprising the skull, the neck, and the left front flipper, on display in the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana. The specimen was collected in Edgar, Carbon County, Montana, from the Shell Creek member of the Thermopolis Shale Formation, Upper Albian, uppermost Lower Cretaceous.[2]

Anhanguerid pterosaur Aerodraco sedgwickii gen. et comb. nov.,CAMSM B54422, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, Albian. In anterior(A1), left lateral (A2), palatal (A3), right lateral (A4), and dorsal (A5)views. Photographs by BH.