Pronunciation: kuh-RON-o-SOR-us
Meaning: Crown lizard
Author/s: Ryan (2012)
Synonyms: Centrosaurus brinkmani
First Discovery: Alberta, Canada
Discovery Chart Position: #819
Coronosaurus brinkmani
After the centrosaurine fever of 2011, when a mind-boggling number of "new" species were christened based on previously named or wrongly assigned horn-faced remains, things slowed to a snail's pace in 2012, and we had to wait until November 8th for the first one. But Coronosaurus wasn't it, at least if the order of mention grants priority.
Coronosaurus was announced after the references section, right at the end of a paper describing Xenoceratops, which is an odd place to coin a new critter and came across as something of an afterthought. Nevertheless, it followed the trend of the previous year and was raised by Michael J. Ryan for remains that were previously assigned to a species of Centrosaurus, in this case, Centrosaurus brinkmani. But such a low-key announcement is maybe less surprising when you consider that Ryan named Centrosaurus brinkmani himself, based on exactly the same fossils, in 2005.
Coronosaurus was announced after the references section, right at the end of a paper describing Xenoceratops, which is an odd place to coin a new critter and came across as something of an afterthought. Nevertheless, it followed the trend of the previous year and was raised by Michael J. Ryan for remains that were previously assigned to a species of Centrosaurus, in this case, Centrosaurus brinkmani. But such a low-key announcement is maybe less surprising when you consider that Ryan named Centrosaurus brinkmani himself, based on exactly the same fossils, in 2005.
(Brinkman's Crown Lizard)
Etymology
Coronosaurus is derived from the Latin "Corona" (crown) and the Greek "sauros" (lizard), in reference to
the cluster of "spikelets" on the apex of its frill that resemble a crown. Kind of.
The species epithet, brinkmani, honours Dr. Donald Brinkman, a palaeontologist at the Royal Tyrell Museum.
Discovery
The first remains of Coronosaurus were discovered at Sandhill Creek (Bone Bed 138) in the Comrey Sandstone of the Oldman Formation, 14.6 m below the contact with the Dinosaur Park Formation (645 m above sea level), Dinosaur Provincial Park, approximately 50 km from Brooks, Alberta, Canada, between between 1996 and 2000. Other remains were recovered from Milk River Ridge in the Oldman Formation, near Warner, roughly 180 km southwest of Bone Bed 138, in 1998. All fossils were found and excavated by the Field Experience Program of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology.
The holotype (TMP 2002.68.1.) is a partial skull.
