Fona
From a word meaning 'the origin' in the language of the Ute people, whose ancestral territory includes Utah where the fossil was found; means 'the origin'
Fona is an extinct genus of thescelosaurine thescelosaurid ornithischian dinosaurs from the 'mid'-Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation (Mussentuchit Member) of Utah, United States. The genus contains a single species, F. herzogae, known from several partial skeletons and skulls. Based on anatomical similarities to the closely related and similarly aged Oryctodromeus, Fona was likely a semi-fossorial animal, likely spending a significant amount of time in underground burrows. It also represents the oldest known definitive thescelosaurine.
Diagnosis
- Rostral maxillary fossa located caudal to the first tooth position
- Otoccipital bears a dorsoventrally elongate fossa on the medial surface of the occipital condyle located directly caudal to the medial opening of CN XII
- Rostrocaudally oriented ventral canal on the prootic
- Dorsal margin of the axis neural spine is parallel with the dorsal suture of the centrum, forming an angle of essentially 0
- Ischial shaft has bulbous thickening along the dorsal margin directly distal to the obturator process
Species
Fona herzogae Avrahami et al., 2024
Type species
Named for Lisa Herzog, discoverer of the Mini Troll locality from which several Fona specimens are known, in recognition of contributions to fossil conservation.
- Holotype
- NCSM 33548 , North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
- Material
- Partial skeleton
- Horizon
- lower Mussentuchit Member, Cedar Mountain Formation, Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous , 100.5–93.9 million years ago
- Locality
- Karmic Orodromine locality, Utah, United States
References
- Avrahami, H. M.; Makovicky, P. J.; Tucker, R. T.; Zanno, L. E. (2024). A new semi-fossorial thescelosaurine dinosaur from the Cenomanian-age Mussentuchit Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah. The Anatomical Record 307(12): 3717-3781. Wiley. doi:10.1002/ar.25505 avrahami2024a
-
Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.
Source of the body length and hip height estimates.
jones2026a