Open Paleo

Bistahieversor

Carr & Williamson, 2010 bis-tah-he-ee-VER-sor

From Bistahi (the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness area in New Mexico, where fossils were found; from Navajo bistahi meaning 'among the adobe formations') + Latin eversor meaning 'destroyer'; overall meaning 'Bistahi destroyer'.

83.6–72.2 million years ago Campanian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Bistahieversor, also known as the "Bisti Beast", is a genus of basal eutyrannosaurian theropod dinosaur. The genus contains only a single known species, B. sealeyi, described in 2010, from the Late Cretaceous of New Mexico. The holotype and a juvenile were found in the Hunter Wash Member of the Kirtland Formation, while other specimens came from the underlying Fossil Forest member of the Fruitland Formation. This dates Bistahieversor approximately 75.5 to 74.5 million years ago during the Campanian age, found in sediments spanning a million years.

Diagnosis

  1. Forked palatal process of the premaxilla
  2. Supernumerary frontal processes of the nasal (lanceolate medial frontal processes)
  3. Pneumatic foramen piercing the supraorbital ramus of the lacrimal
  4. Peaked sagittal crest; dorsotemporal fossa extending onto lateral surface of the squamosal
  5. Single pneumatic foramen in the palatine
  6. Tall flange extending from the ventral margin of the rostral mylohyoid foramen of the splenial

Species

Bistahieversor sealeyi Carr & Williamson, 2010

Type species

Named for Paul Sealey, Research Associate at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History, in recognition of the discovery of the holotype specimen.

Holotype
NMMNH P-27469 , New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
Material
Articulated skull and skeleton of an adult.
Horizon
Hunter Wash Member, Kirtland Formation, Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–72.2 million years ago
Locality
Hunter Wash, New Mexico, United States

References

  1. Carr, T. D.; Williamson, T. E. (2010). Bistahieversor sealeyi, gen. et sp. nov., a new tyrannosauroid from New Mexico and the origin of deep snouts in Tyrannosauroidea. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30(1): 1-16. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/02724630903413032 carr2010a
  2. Paul, G. S. (2024). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (3rd ed.). Princeton University Press.

    Source of the appearance features.

    paul2024a