Open Paleo

Fostoria

Bell et al., 2019 foss-TOR-ee-uh

Named for Robert Foster, the miner who discovered the bone bed at the Sheepyard opal field.

100.5–93.9 million years ago Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Fostoria is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur from the Griman Creek Formation of New South Wales, Australia. The type and only species, Fostoria dhimbangunmal was described in 2019.

Under dispute

Fostoria dhimbangunmal was placed within Rhabdodontomorpha by Madzia and colleagues (2021), but the two most recent dedicated analyses — Fonseca and colleagues (2024) and Czepiński and Madzia (2025) — recover it within Elasmaria alongside Muttaburrasaurus, treating its rhabdodontomorph resemblances as convergence; its fragmentary material limits confidence.

Diagnosis

  1. Dorsal profile of combined frontals forming a stepped triangle, the base of the triangle corresponding to the frontal-parietal suture.
  2. Short, dorsally directed protuberance on anterolateral corner of frontal at posterior edge of prefrontal contact.
  3. Large foramen on ventromedial surface of quadratojugal wing of quadrate bordered medially by strong ridge.
  4. Humerus with medial ridge extending entire preserved length of the element.
  5. Humerus with ridge extending mediodistally from distal edge of deltopectoral crest onto anterior surface of humerus.
  6. Anterior dorsal vertebra procoelous.

Species

Fostoria dhimbangunmal Bell et al., 2019

Type species

From 'dhimbangunmal' meaning 'sheep yard' in the Yuwaalaraay, Yuwaalayaay, and Gamilaraay languages of Australia.

Holotype
LRF 3050.A , Australian Opal Centre
Material
Partial skull roof and braincase comprising frontals, parietals, supraoccipital, basisphenoid, right otoccipital, and parts of both laterosphenoids, orbitosphenoids, and prootics.
Horizon
upper Wallangulla Sandstone Member, Griman Creek Formation, Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous , 100.5–93.9 million years ago
Locality
Sheepyard opal field, New South Wales, Australia

References

  1. Bell, P. R.; Brougham, T.; Herne, M. C.; Frauenfelder, T.; Smith, E. T. (2019). Fostoria dhimbangunmal, gen. et sp. nov., a new iguanodontian (Dinosauria, Ornithopoda) from the mid-Cretaceous of Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 39(1): e1564757. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/02724634.2019.1564757 bell2019a
  2. Paul, G. S. (2024). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (3rd ed.). Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length and mass estimates.

    paul2024a
  3. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the hip height estimate, and the appearance features.

    jones2026a
  4. Madzia, D.; Arbour, V. M.; Boyd, C. A.; Farke, A. A.; Cruzado-Caballero, P.; Evans, D. C. (2021). The phylogenetic nomenclature of ornithischian dinosaurs. PeerJ 9: e12362. doi:10.7717/peerj.12362

    Ornithischian phylogenetic nomenclature paper placing Fostoria within Rhabdodontomorpha.

    madzia2021a
  5. Fonseca, A. O.; Reid, I. J.; Venner, A.; Duncan, R. J.; Garcia, M. S.; Müller, R. T. (2024). A comprehensive phylogenetic analysis on early ornithischian evolution. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 22: 2346577. doi:10.1080/14772019.2024.2346577

    Recovered Fostoria within Elasmaria alongside Muttaburrasaurus, interpreting their rhabdodontomorph similarities as convergence.

    fonseca2024a
  6. Czepiński, Ł.; Madzia, D. (2025). Exploring the diversity and disparity of rhabdodontomorph ornithopods from the Late Cretaceous European archipelago. Scientific Reports 15(1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1038/s41598-025-98083-z

    Recovered Fostoria outside Rhabdodontomorpha, within the elasmarian lineage.

    czepiński2025a