Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The last polar dinosaurs: high diversity of latest Cretaceous arctic dinosaurs in Russia

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Naturwissenschaften Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A latest Cretaceous (68 to 65 million years ago) vertebrate microfossil assemblage discovered at Kakanaut in northeastern Russia reveals that dinosaurs were still highly diversified in Arctic regions just before the Cretaceous–Tertiary mass extinction event. Dinosaur eggshell fragments, belonging to hadrosaurids and non-avian theropods, indicate that at least several latest Cretaceous dinosaur taxa could reproduce in polar region and were probably year-round residents of high latitudes. Palaeobotanical data suggest that these polar dinosaurs lived in a temperate climate (mean annual temperature about 10°C), but the climate was apparently too cold for amphibians and ectothermic reptiles. The high diversity of Late Maastrichtian dinosaurs in high latitudes, where ectotherms are absent, strongly questions hypotheses according to which dinosaur extinction was a result of temperature decline, caused or not by the Chicxulub impact.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Averianov AO, Sues H-D (2007) A new troodontid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Cenomanian of Uzbekistan, with a review of troodontids from the territories of the former Soviet Union. J Vertebr Paleontol 27:87–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brinkman DB, Russell AP, Peng J-H (2005) Vertebrate microfossil sites and their contribution to studies of paleoecology. In: Currie PJ, Koppelhus EB (eds) Dinosaur Provincial Park: a spectacular ancient ecosystem revealed. Indiana University Press, Indiana, pp 88–98

    Google Scholar 

  • Buffetaut E (1990) Vertebrate extinctions and survival across the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary. Tectonophysics 171:337–345

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buffetaut E (2004) Polar dinosaurs and the question of dinosaur extinction: a brief review. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 214:225–231

    Google Scholar 

  • Clemens WA, Nelms LG (1993) Paleoecological implications of Alaskan terrestrial vertebrate fauna in latest Cretaceous time at high latitude. Geology 21:503–506

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coombs WP (1990) Teeth and taxonomy in ankylosaurs. In: Carpenter K, Currie PJ (eds) Dinosaur systematics, approaches and perspectives. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 269–279

    Google Scholar 

  • Currie PJ, Rigby JK Jr, Sloan RE (1990) Theropod teeth from the Judith River Formation of southern Alberta, Canada. In: Carpenter K, Currie PJ (eds) Dinosaur systematics, approaches and perspectives. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 107–125

    Google Scholar 

  • Fiorillo AR, Currie PJ (1994) Theropod teeth from the Judith River Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of south-central Montana. J Vertebr Paleontol 14:74–80

    Google Scholar 

  • Fiorillo AR, Gangloff RA (2000) Theropod teeth from the Prince Creek Formation (Cretaceous) of northern Alaska, with speculations on Arctic dinosaur paleoecology. J Vertebr Paleontol 20:675–682

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fiorillo AR, Gangloff RA (2001) The caribou migration model for Arctic hadrosaurs (Ornithischia: Dinosauria): a reassessment. Histor Biol 15:323–334

    Google Scholar 

  • Galton PM (1974) The ornithischian dinosaur Hypsilophodon from the Wealden of the Isle of Wight. Bull British Mus Nat Hist Geol 25:1–152

    Google Scholar 

  • Gangloff RA (1995) Edmontonia, the first record of an ankylosaur from Alaska. J Vertebr Paleontol 15:195–200

    Google Scholar 

  • Gangloff RA, Fiorillo AR, Norton DW (2005) The first pachycephalosaurine (Dinosauria) from the paleo-Arctic of Alaska and its paleogeographic implications. J Paleontol 79:997–1001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ginsburg L (1986) Régressions marines ou catastrophes cosmiques: comment juger les theories sur l’extinction des dinosaurs. Bull Cent Rech Explor Prod Elf Aquitaine 10:433–436

    Google Scholar 

  • Godefroit P, Lambert O (2007) A re-appraisal of Craspedodon lonzeensis Dollo, 1883 from the Upper Cretaceous of Belgium: the first record of a neoceratopsian dinosaur in Europe? Bull Inst R Sci Nat Belgique, Sci Terre 77:83–93

    Google Scholar 

  • Godefroit P, Bolotsky YL, Van Itterbeeck J (2004) The lambeosaurine dinosaur Amurosaurus riabinini from the Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) of Far Eastern Russia. Acta Palaeontol Pol 49:585–618

    Google Scholar 

  • Golovneva LB (1994a) Maastrichtian–Danian Floras of Koryak Uplands. Tr Bot Inst im VL Komarova 13:1–145

    Google Scholar 

  • Golovneva LB (1994b) The flora of the Maastrichtian–Danian deposits of the Koryak Uplands, northeast Russia. Cretac Res 15:89–100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Golovneva LB (2000) The Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) climate in the Northern Hemisphere. In: Hart MB (ed) Climates: past and present. Geol Soc London Spec Public 181:43–54

  • Horner JR, Currie PJ (1994) Embryonic and neonatal morphology and ontogeny of a new species of Hypacrosaurus (Ornithischia, Lambeosauridae) from Montana and Alberta. In: Carpenter K, Hirsch KF, Horner JR (eds) Dinosaur eggs and babies. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 312–336

    Google Scholar 

  • Howarth MK (1981) Palaeogeography of the Mesozoic. In: Greenwood PH (ed) The evolving earth. Cambridge Univ Press, Cambridge, pp 197–200

    Google Scholar 

  • Landis GP, Rigby JK, Sloan RE, Hengst R, Snee LW (1996) Pele hypothesis: ancient atmospheres and geologic-geochemical controls on evolution, survival, and extinction. In: Macleod N, Keller G (eds) Cretaceous–Tertiary mass extinctions. Biotic and environmental changes. Norton, New York, pp 519–556

    Google Scholar 

  • Makovicky PJ, Norell MA, Clark JM, Rowe T (2003) Osteology and relationships of Byronosaurus jaffei (Theropoda: Troodontidae). Am Mus Novitates 342:1–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Markevich VS, Bugdaeva EV (1997) Flora and correlation of layers with dinosaur fossil remains in Russia’s Far East. Tihookean Geol 16:114–124

    Google Scholar 

  • Nessov LA, Golovneva LB (1990) History of the flora, vertebrates and climate in the late Senonian of the north-eastern Koryak Uplands. In: Krassilov VA (ed) Continental Cretaceous of the USSR. IUGS, Vladivostok, pp 191–212

    Google Scholar 

  • Officer CB, Hallam A, Drake CL, Devine JD (1987) Late Cretaceous and paroxysmal Cretaceous/Tertiary extinctions. Nature 326:143–149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parrish JM, Parrish JT, Hutchinson JH, Spicer RA (1987) Late Cretaceous vertebrate fossils from the North Slope of Alaska and implications for dinosaur ecology. Palaios 2:377–389

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rich TH, Gangloff RA, Hammer W (1997) Polar dinosaurs. In: Padian K, Currie PJ (eds) The dinosaur encyclopedia. Academic, San Diego, pp 562–573

    Google Scholar 

  • Rich TH, Vickers-Rich P, Gangloff RA (2002) Polar dinosaurs. Science 295:979–980

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rowe T, Cifelli RL, Lehman TM, Weil A (1992) The Campanian Terlingua local fauna, with a summary of other vertebrates from the Aguja Formation, Trans-Pecos Texas. J Vert Paleontol 12:472–493

    Google Scholar 

  • Royer DL, Osborne CO, Beerling DJ (2003) Carbon loss by deciduous trees in a CO2-rich ancient polar environment. Nature 424:60–62

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Russell DA, Manabe M (2002) Synopsis of the Hell Creek (uppermost Cretaceous) dinosaur assemblage. Geol Soc Am Spec Pap 361:169–176

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheehan PM, Fastovsky DE (1992) Major extinctions of land-dwelling vertebrates at the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary, eastern Montana. Geology 20:556–560

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sloan RE (1976) The ecology of dinosaur extinction. In: Churcher CS (ed) Essays in palaeontology in honour of Loris Shano Russell. Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, pp 134–154

    Google Scholar 

  • Sloan RE, Rigby JK Jr, Van Valen LM, Gabriel D (1986) Gradual dinosaur extinction and simultaneous ungulate radiation in the Hell Creek Formation. Science 232:629–633

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smith AG, Smith DG, Funnell BM (1994) Atlas of Mesozoic and Cenozoic coastlines. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan RM (2006) A taxonomic review of the Pachycephalosauridae (Dinosauria: Ornithischia). New Mex Mus Nat Hist Sci Bull 35:347–365

    Google Scholar 

  • Tarduno JA, Brinkman DB, Renne PR, Cottrell RD, Scher H, Castillo P (1998) Evidence for extreme climatic warmth from Late Cretaceous Arctic vertebrates. Science 282:2241–2244

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Van Itterbeeck J, Bolotsky Y, Bultynck P, Godefroit P (2005) Stratigraphy, sedimentology and palaeoecology of the dinosaur-bearing Kundur section (Zeya-Bureya Basin, Amur Region, Far Eastern Russia). Geol Mag 142:735–750

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Varricchio DJ, Horner JR, Jackson FD (2002) Embryos and eggs for the Cretaceous theropod dinosaur Troodon formosus. J Vertebr Paleontol 22:564–576

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Volobueva VI, Terekhova GP (1974) On the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary beds of the Eastern Koryak–Anadyr Region. In: Vereschagin VN (ed) Stratigraphy and lithology of the Cretaceous, Paleogene, and Neogene of the Koryak–Anadyr Region. NIIGA, Leningrad, pp 53–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolfe JA (1993) A method for obtaining climatic parameters from leaf assemblages. US Geol Survey Prof Pap 2040:1–71

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu X, Wang XL, You HL (2000) A primitive ornithopod from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Liaoning. Vert PalAs 38:318–325

    Google Scholar 

  • Yazykova EA (2004) Ammonite biozonation ans litho-/chronostratigraohy of the Cretaceous in Sakhalin and adjacent territories of Far East Russia. Acta Geol Pol 54:273–312

    Google Scholar 

  • You H, Dodson P (2004) Basal Ceratopsia. In: Weishampel DB, Dodson P, Osmólska H (eds) The dinosauria. 2nd edn. Univ California Press, Berkeley, pp 478–493

    Google Scholar 

  • Zelenitsky DK (2000) Dinosaur eggs from Asia and North America. Paleontol Soc Korea Spec Public 4:13–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Zonova TD, Yazykova EA (1994) Zonal division of Maastrichtian in Russian Pacific coast. In: Olejnikov AN (ed) Zonal subdivisions and infraregional correlation of Paleozoic and Mesozoic sequences of Russia and adjacent areas. Part 2. Mesozoic. Izdatelstwo Vsegel, St. Petersburg, pp 158–185

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Palaeontology, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, rue Vautier 29, 1 000, Brussels, Belgium

    Pascal Godefroit

  2. Komarov Botanical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Prof. Popov street 2, St. Petersburg, 197 376, Russia

    Lina Golovneva, Sergei Shchepetov & Pavel Alekseev

  3. Institut International de Paléoprimatologie et Paléontologie Humaine, Evolution et Paléoenvironnements, Faculté des Sciences, CNRS UMR 6046–IPHEP, Université de Poitiers, 40 Avenue du Recteur Pineau, 86 022, Poitiers Cedex, France

    Géraldine Garcia

Authors
  1. Pascal Godefroit
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lina Golovneva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sergei Shchepetov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Géraldine Garcia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Pavel Alekseev
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pascal Godefroit.

Additional information

Communicated by G. MAYR

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Godefroit, P., Golovneva, L., Shchepetov, S. et al. The last polar dinosaurs: high diversity of latest Cretaceous arctic dinosaurs in Russia. Naturwissenschaften 96, 495–501 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-008-0499-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-008-0499-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation