Velafrons coahuilensis
When described in 2007, Velafrons became the first lambeosaurine hadrosaurid from Mexico's Cerro del Pueblo Formation and the first new North American lambeosaurine genus named in over 70 years. Initially, only skeletal bones were found, which were so uninspiring compared to the other three late Campanian-aged hadrosaurids known at that point (Kritosaurus navajovius, Parasaurolophus tubicen, and an "unidentifiable" lambeosaurine from Baja California since identified as Magnapaulia) that they've yet to be described or even mentioned, in more than passing. However, expeditions to the quarry persisted, and in 2002, palaeontologists were rewarded with a skull, which showed just how distinct Velafrons were.
(Sailed forehead from Coahuila)Etymology
Velafrons is derived from the Spanish "vela" (sailed) and the Latin "frons" (forehead), in reference to its distinctive headcrest.
The species epithet, coahuilensis, is derived from "Coahuila" (for the Mexican state where the specimen was found) and the Latin "ensis" (from).
Discovery
The first remains of Velafrons were discovered at Quarry 7a in the Cerro del Pueblo Formation (Difunta Group) near Rincon Colorado, about 27 miles west of Saltillo City, Coahuila State, Mexico, by Martha Carolina Aguillón in the early 1990s. Further skeletal remains were recovered by staff from the Dinamation International Society between that point and 2001, and a skull was found during a joint expedition by the Utah Museum of Natural History, the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology, and the Museo del Desierto in Saltillo in 2002. The same area yielded ornithomimosaur fossils a few years earlier that Aguillón named "Saltillomimus rapidus"—albeit unofficially—in her 2010 thesis. An official description is still lacking. The holotype (CPC-59, housed at the Museo del Desierto) is a fairly complete subadult skull and partial skeleton.
Velafrons may be responsible for the three-toed hadrosaur footprints at three tracksites within Coahuila's Late Cretaceous Cerro Del
Pueblo Formation, known as Las Aguilas, Hadrosaurio borracho and La Parrita.
Las Aguilas. Far outnumbered by theropod tracks (which is bizarre, bearing in mind the area has yielded only scant theropod body fossils), hadrosaur tracks include those made by juveniles around 1.80 meters in length, as well as quadrupedal trackways suggesting a sub-adult some 7 meters in length, and bipedal trackways of an adult almost 2 meters longer.
Hadrosaurio borracho ("the drunk hadrosaur"). Mingled with those of birds, these hadrosaur tracks show long impressions of digit III as the owner dragged its feet, and "hand" prints that were laid down in a much wider gait than the footprints. The latter suggests a wider area of movement for the hadrosaurian forelimb than previously thought, or, as the site name suggests, the hadrosaur that made them was simply drunk!
La Parrita. Found mingled with a possible titanosaur trackway, the La Parrita site boasts prints some 70.5 cm in length and 51 cm in width, suggesting an individual in excess of 12 meters long and 2.82 meters high at the hip.
Preparators
Jerry Golden, José López Espinosa ("Pato"), José Ignacio Vallejo González ("Nacho"), Ruben A. Rodriguez-de la Rosa, and Don DeBlieux.
