Gorgosaurus sp. partial femur

[GTS]

Gorgosaurus sp. (libratus?) partial femur (Lambe, 1914)

 

Tyrannosaurid theropod

Family: Tyrannosauridae

Subfamily: Albertosaurinae

Genus: Gorgosaurus (Lambe, 1914)

 

Labelled as being a partial femur (thigh, upper leg). 

 

Late Cretaceous (Campanian), 75.1 – 76.6 Ma

Red Deer River Valley,

Nr. Drumheller, Alberta, Canada. 

 

Unboxing my old collection that has been in storage for years and forgot that I had this (purchased August 1988) – labelled as being a Gorgosaurus sp.partial femur.

 

I am assuming that the groove was for a tendon or blood vessel?

It appears that fossilised / mineralised spongiform material is visible in the cross-section at one end – might this be fossilised / mineralised bone marrow or spongy (cancellous) bone?

Areas of mineralised bone surface also appears to be present.

 

Research suggests that it is likely from the Dinosaur Park Formation which is especially prolific in dinosaur remains and well exposed in the badlands which flank the Red Deer River.

 

 

[GTS]

@Troodon

[GTS]

@digit what’s your knowledge on Dino park, Drumheller, Alberta bones like?

[digit]

2 hours ago, GTS said:

@digit what’s your knowledge on Dino park, Drumheller, Alberta bones like?

Could fit my knowledge of Dino Park fossils in a thimble (and still have room for a finger).

 

@jpc or @musicnfossils might be a better source of information for dino fossils but to my eye this piece is pretty fragmentary so a taxon and an element (or part thereof) may be difficult to assign with any certainty.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[musicnfossils]

I’m not the best Dino ID guy so troodon or jpc would be better for that, however with what I do know I don’t see any feature on this piece that leads me to believe it could be theropod. 

 

And regarding our fossils here in Alberta, they look pretty similar to that of a lot of American fossils in formations like Judith river & hell creek so there’s nothing solid that could differentiate that other than a trustworthy source. 

[jpc]

not sure how anyone could give that an animal name or even a bone name.  But the grooves are indeed intriguing.  

[digit]

14 minutes ago, jpc said:

not sure how anyone could give that an animal name or even a bone name.  But the grooves are indeed intriguing.  

That was my feeling as well but dino material is well out of my bailiwick so I'm glad that my instincts in thinking this a bit optimistically identified were on course.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Joy_Fossils]

From what I know, theropod bone looks like it is made up of many thin sheets. I don't see that in the fossils, so my first instinct is it is not gorgosaurus.

 

 

Edited September 15, 2023 by Joy_Fossils

[TyBoy]

That locality suggest its from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation.  Certainly does not look theropod but hard to say from what.

[GTS]

21 hours ago, TyBoy said:

That locality suggest its from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation.  Certainly does not look theropod but hard to say from what.

Thankyou. Is this a formation within the Red Deer River Valley? 

[GTS]

Thankyou all for your input.

Assuming that the locality I was given is correct, it seems that this is more likely ornithischian, perhaps ceratopsian.

 

For accuracy, I’ll just have to call it Dinosaurian indet. 

[GTS]

21 hours ago, Joy_Fossils said:

From what I know, theropod bone looks like it is made up of many thin sheets. I don't see that in the fossils, so my first instinct is it is not gorgosaurus.

 

 

@Joy_Fossils interesting. Do you have a photo of theropod bones showing this thinly sheeted appearance?

[GTS]

On 9/14/2023 at 2:17 PM, musicnfossils said:

I’m not the best Dino ID guy so troodon or jpc would be better for that, however with what I do know I don’t see any feature on this piece that leads me to believe it could be theropod. 

 

And regarding our fossils here in Alberta, they look pretty similar to that of a lot of American fossils in formations like Judith river & hell creek so there’s nothing solid that could differentiate that other than a trustworthy source. 

@musicnfossils best just to call it Dinosaur indet then, it seems?

Edited September 15, 2023 by GTS

[GTS]

@jpc I would be grateful for your opinion / input.

 

From previous comments, it’s probably best to label it as Dinosaurian indet. from Red Deer River Valley.

[TyBoy]

22 minutes ago, GTS said:

Thankyou. Is this a formation within the Red Deer River Valley? 

You said its from Drumheller and that the formation typically associated with that area.  All along the Red Deer River.  A late Campanian early Maastrichtian deposit. 

[GTS]

25 minutes ago, TyBoy said:

You said its from Drumheller and that the formation typically associated with that area.  All along the Red Deer River.  A late Campanian early Maastrichtian deposit. 

Yes, I did and thankyou. 
what about the “Dinosaur Park Formation”? Is that Fmn also within the Red Deer River Valley?

[Tidgy's Dad]

12 minutes ago, GTS said:

Yes, I did and thankyou. 
what about the “Dinosaur Park Formation”? Is that Fmn also within the Red Deer River Valley?

Yes, it is indeed. 

[TyBoy]

Why a specific location is necessary, like Drumheller, its a big area   The Red Deer River exposes many formations along with DPF and HCF including the Scollard, Oldman, Bearpaw and Foremost.  You need to know where it was found to identify the deposit its associated with.   You cannot make an assumption its from the DPF.  

Edited September 16, 2023 by TyBoy

[Joy_Fossils]

6 hours ago, GTS said:

@Joy_Fossils interesting. Do you have a photo of theropod bones showing this thinly sheeted appearance?

I do! They were collected in the Drumheller area, and are likely albertosaurus. 

[musicnfossils]

6 hours ago, GTS said:

@musicnfossils best just to call it Dinosaur indet then, it seems?

yes. And if it was from drumheller area it is most likely horseshoe canyon fm. You mentioned dinosaur park fm which is further southeast far enough that there’s no chance this is from that fm if it was indeed drumheller area. Same river valley sure but the distance between the two is pretty large 

[GTS]

All - Thankyou for all your inputs - very much appreciated. 
 

Prior to my posting here, I had reached out to a palaeontologist at the Royal Tyrell Museum of Palaeontology (RTMP) who very kindly had the time to reply with his thoughts yesterday evening. 

 

He confirms that it is indeed dinosaur bone but not Tyrannosaurid.  If it is from the Drumheller area (as I was told by the person I acquired it from) it is best interpreted as being a section of a limb bone from Edmontosaurus. The absence of bone-heads preclude a call as to which limb.

 

As @TyBoy and @musicnfossils commented, the source formation is indeed most likely Horseshoe Canyon Formation (HCF, circa 73.5 - 67 Ma). I had not realised that the Dino Park Formation (DPF) would be too far away for it to be from DPF.

As others likely already know, Gorgosaurus sp. is found in the DPF and the only tyrannosaur known in the HCF is Albertosaurus. 

 

I was also advised that fragments of Edmontosaurus remains are very common around the Tyrrell Museum and the upper reaches of the Red Deer River valley.

 

I now know enough to confidently label my specimen thus:

 

Edmontosaurus limb bone fragment

Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Late Cretaceous, Campanian-Maastrichtian),

Red Deer River Valley, nr. Drumheller. 
 

The RTMP guy also expressed agreement that the groove is possibly for vascular or tendon / sinew function.

The fossilised / mineralised spongiform material visible in the cross-section at one end is fossilised / mineralised bone marrow or spongy (cancellous) bone. The pore spaces have been infilled with iron oxides (limonite and goethite and that original bone mineral (hydroxyfluor-apatite) is still present.

 

Thanks everyone, once again, for your comments.