Drinker

• Wyoming, USA ( Morrison Formation )

• Drinker Nisti

Drinker is a genus of very small, herbivorous dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic ornithopoder North America. Fossils date from Como Bluff, a famous dinosaur graveyard of the Morrison Formation in the U.S. state of Wyoming, and are dated to the Tithonian.

Drinker was described in 1990 by Robert Bakker and colleagues with the only kind Drinker Nisti scientifically, since the first description a few other research results have been published for this species. Peter Galton (2007) classified Drinker as a representative of the Euornithopoda.

Features

Bakker Drinker described as small, bipedal running herbivores, which is most closely related to Othnielia (now Othnielosaurus ). Adult animals were no longer than 30 inches and weighed not much more than a large chicken, so this is one of the smallest known bird - dinosaur pelvis. In contrast to Othnielosaurus Drinker showed complex dental crowns constructed.

Finds

All the fossils come from Como Bluff, a famous dinosaur graveyard of the Morrison Formation in Albany County, Wyoming. The holotype specimen ( specimen number 106 CPS ) consists of a fragmentary skeleton belonged to a subadult (not yet adult ) individual. It includes parts or jaw, vertebrae and various parts of the arms and legs with a. In the first description of the species of this genus Bakker arranged next to the holotype specimen a number of other discoveries to: This includes fragmentary remains of a very young individual, which showed only a quarter of the size of adult animals (CPS 107). Other discoveries include a full blown half individual ( CPS 108) and to an adult individual ( CPS 197). There are also some isolated discovered bones.

1996 reported Bakker numerous other Drinker finds from Como Bluff. So the remains of 30 Drinker copies were found inside an oval, one meter in diameter measured Pelitmasse. Bakker interpreted this mass accumulation as housing. In addition, the remains of several dozen other Drinker specimens were recovered Como Bluff.

Paleobiology

A mass grave in which 30 Drinker copies were found in a confined space, Bakker interpreted as a possible housing. Thus, the animals could have sociable lived in underground burrows. This hypothesis is supported by the lack of fossil and other animals due to the absence of teeth marks of scavengers. The claws of the outer toes of the feet were long, Bakker suggested as an adaptation to burrowing.

Bakker suggested that Drinker lived in swamps, as the toes of the hind legs were very long, which would have reduced the sagging while running.

Naming

Drinker was named by Robert Bakker and colleagues in 1990 in honor of the famous dinosaur researcher Edward Drinker Cope ( 1840-1897 ). Cope had a long-standing, " Bone Wars" critical engagement with Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-1899), a well -known and successful paleontologists. According to him the Related Drinker Othnielia genus was named in 1977 (or Othnielosaurus ). The second part of the species name, Nisti, has the National Institude of Standards and Technology ( NIST).