Coronosaurus brinkmani

Coronosaurus brinkmani lived on the coastal plain of southern Alberta during the middle Campanian. Hundreds of disarticulated bones from two bonebeds document multiple growth stages, especially changes in the skull ornaments. It was named Centrosaurus brinkmani in 2005, but a 2012 phylogenetic study separated it into Coronosaurus because it was more closely allied with Styracosaurus than with Centrosaurus apertus.

Its fossils occur between approximately 77 and 76 million years ago. Values shown here are approximate and reflect the current curated seed dataset.

The rear frill carried curved P1 ornaments, blade-like P2 processes and outward-projecting P3 spikes. Numerous accessory ossifications developed along the rear parietal bar, creating the crown-like appearance behind the genus name. Short brow horns changed orientation during growth, and the nasal region bore a low ornament rather than the long spike of Styracosaurus. The bonebeds preserve many cranial and body elements, though no single complete articulated skeleton.

• Numerous accessory ossifications along the rear frill margin
• Curved P1, blade-like P2 and spike-like P3 frill ornaments
• Short brow horns whose orientation changed during growth
• Low nasal ornament rather than a tall nasal spike
• Deep ceratopsid beak and dental batteries
• Bonebed material representing juvenile through adult growth stages

Royal Tyrrell Museum field crews excavated Oldman Formation bonebeds in southern Alberta, including BB 138 in Dinosaur Provincial Park, between the mid-1990s and 2000. Michael Ryan and Anthony Russell named the material Centrosaurus brinkmani in 2005; the species honours palaeontologist Donald Brinkman. Ryan, David Evans and Kieran Shepherd established Coronosaurus in 2012, referring to the extra frill ornaments as a crown.

Discovery credit: Royal Tyrrell Museum Field Experience Program.

Naming authors: Michael J. Ryan, Anthony P. Russell.

The Oldman Formation records rivers and seasonally dry floodplains inland from the Western Interior Seaway. Coronosaurus shared the broader ecosystem with hadrosaurs, armoured dinosaurs, small herbivores and tyrannosaurid predators. DinoTree marks the broad Dinosaur Provincial Park region rather than the precise BB 138 quarry.

The bonebeds show that many individuals accumulated together, although floods, drought or repeated transport could create such deposits without proving permanent herds. The elaborate frill changed during growth and was likely visually important. Its beak and dental batteries processed plants, while exact diet, social display and defensive use of the ornaments remain unobserved.

• Coronosaurus means crown lizard, referring to the extra ornaments across the rear frill.
• The species spent seven years classified as Centrosaurus brinkmani.
• Bonebed BB 138 yielded more than one thousand catalogued elements during excavation.
• Its skull material preserves several growth stages rather than only one adult form.

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1. 01
   A new centrosaurine ceratopsid from the Oldman Formation of Alberta and its implications for centrosaurine taxonomy and systematics

   Michael J. Ryan, Anthony P. Russell · Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 42(7), 1369–1387 · 2005

   Open source
2. 02
   A new ceratopsid from the Foremost Formation (middle Campanian) of Alberta

   Michael J. Ryan, David C. Evans, Kieran M. Shepherd · Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 49(11), 1251–1262 · 2012

   Open source
3. 03
   Royal Tyrrell Museum collections

   Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology

   Open source