Open Paleo

Ferrisaurus

Arbour & Evans, 2019 FERR-i-SAWR-us

From Latin 'ferrum' meaning 'iron' and Ancient Greek 'sauros' meaning 'lizard', meaning 'iron lizard', referring to the discovery along a rail line.

72.2–66.0 million years ago Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Ferrisaurus is a genus of leptoceratopsid ceratopsian dinosaur from the Sustut Basin (Tango Creek Formation) in British Columbia, Canada. The type and only species is Ferrisaurus sustutensis. It is the first non-avian dinosaur described from British Columbia.

Diagnosis

  1. Penultimate pedal phalanges in digits III and IV equal or subequal in proximodistal length to the preceding phalanx, rather than shorter as in all other leptoceratopsids with preserved material
  2. Astragalus and tibia coossified, a condition otherwise reported in only one Montanoceratops specimen among leptoceratopsids
  3. Distal end of ulna proportionally broader relative to radius length than in Leptoceratops
  4. Distal end of ulna medially bowed, unlike the straight distal ulna of penecontemporaneous Maastrichtian leptoceratopsids Leptoceratops and Montanoceratops

Species

Ferrisaurus sustutensis Arbour & Evans, 2019

Type species

Named for the Sustut Group and Sustut Basin in British Columbia, Canada, where the holotype was discovered.

Holotype
RBCM P900 , Royal BC Museum
Material
Partial skeleton: partial right coracoid, fragmentary left scapula, complete left radius, distal left ulna, distal two thirds of left tibia and fibula with coossified astragalus and ?calcaneum, partial articulated digits III and IV of right pes, block with four partial metatarsals
Horizon
Tatlatui Member, Tango Creek Formation, Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous , 72.2–66.0 million years ago
Locality
confluence of Birdflat Creek and the Sustut River, British Columbia, Canada

References

  1. Arbour, V. M.; Evans, D. C. (2019). A new leptoceratopsid dinosaur from Maastrichtian-aged deposits of the Sustut Basin, northern British Columbia, Canada. PeerJ 7: e7926. PeerJ. doi:10.7717/peerj.7926 arbour2019a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length estimate, and the appearance features.

    jones2026a