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I was very pleasantly surprised (actually more thrilled to be honest) when I heard about the discovery of the northern tyrannosaurid dinosaur Nanuqusaurus hoglundi from the Cretaceous Prince Creek Formation dating 70.6-69.1 Million Years ago in what is now the U.S. State of Alaska. Image Credit and Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260757717_A_Diminutive_New_Tyrannosaur_from_the_Top_of_the_World At first thought to be only 5-6 meters (16-20 feet) in length based on the currently catalogued specimens, it's now believed based on currently undescribed remains to be 8-9 meters (26-30 feet) in length fully grown (compared to the 12.3-12.4 meters (40.4-40.7 feet) in length it's cousin Tyrannosaurus rex could reach fully grown). Image Credit: Artist Nathan Rogers Image Source: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Z5w900 Fiorillo, A. R., & Tykoski, R. S., 2014. A diminutive new tyrannosaur from the top of the world. PloS one, 9(3), e91287. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0091287 Druckenmiller, P. S., Erickson, G. M., Brinkman, D., Brown, C. M., & Eberle, J. J. (2021). Nesting at extreme polar latitudes by non-avian dinosaurs. Current biology : CB, 31(16), 3469–3478.e5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.05.041 https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(21)00739-9?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982221007399%3Fshowall%3Dtrue The Tyrannosaurid Nanuqusaurus is also unique as the northern most tyrannosaur known from Western North America (at the time the continent of Laramidia). Adapted to the colder climates of the region, it shared its habitat with a vast diversity of plants, small mammals, and other non-avian dinosaurs including hadrosaurs such as Edmontosaurus, the pachycephalosaur Alaskacephale, the Ceratopsian Pachyrhinosaurus, and a large currently unnamed genus of troodontidae. But it's confirmed geologic range is only during the early Maastrichtian (70.6-69.1 Million Years ago) of the Cretaceous period. Images Credits and Sources: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260757717_A_Diminutive_New_Tyrannosaur_from_the_Top_of_the_World Fiorillo, A. R., and Gangloff, R. A., 2001. Theropod teeth from the Prince Creek Formation (Cretaceous) of northern Alaska, with speculations on Arctic dinosaur paleoecology. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 20(4):675-682 Image Credit: Artist Nathan Rogers Image Source: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Z5w900 The question I have is why this is? Did anything major happen to the habitat of the Prince Creek Formation between the Early-Late Maastrichtian? Did Nanuqusaurus live up to 66 Million Years ago to the latest Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous period?

I had the opportunity and good fortune to participate in the excavation and preparation of a mosasaur this past year. The specimen was discovered by a new friend, Allison, in a small unnamed stream adjacent to family property in east-central Mississippi (? Prairie Bluff Fm, Upper Cretaceous, Late Maastrichtian).Allison found the first bones in early May and contacted me for help in identifying the bones through a mutual friend. I'm far from an expert, but was able to ID the bones (a radius and vertebra) as mosasaur. She was really excited, since the bones were her first vertebrate fossils other than a few Pleistocene horse teeth from the same creek, and promised to continue searching. On her next trip, Allison exposed part of a mosasaur jaw and sent pics to me while still in the creek. Long story - short version -- We (Allison, my grandson, Logan and I) began serious excavation in early June 2018 and continued collecting (several trips) and preparation through November. Dr. Lynn Harell, Paleontologist with the Alabama Geological Survey viewed photos of the specimen as I prepped them and helped to ID individual bones and confirmed the genus as Mosasaurus. Dr. Takehito Ikejiri, Alabama Museum of Natural History, worked with me to compare "Moose' (named by Allison) to many specimens in the archives of the Museum. Both were extremely helpful to me as we tried to confirm the ID and agreed that it should be labeled as Mosasaurus sp. until further study. George Phillips of the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science identified associated invertebrate specimens in hopes of confirming the geology of the site (still unconfirmed). 'Moose' was donated to the Dunn-Seiler Museum at Mississippi State University in December 2018. It will be studied as part of a graduate students research. Following are a large number of photos documenting the site, excavation, prepration, and bones of 'Moose'. Thanks for looking.