[D] Texasetes pleurohalio [sG] [T]
Describer
Coombs, 1995
Time
Cretaceous Early Hauterivian Barremian Aptian Albian
Classification
Ornithischia Thyreophora Eurypoda Ankylosauria Polacanthidae
Diet
Herbivore
Fossilsite
Paw Paw Formation, near Haslet, Texas, US
Length
3 meter
Info
Genus - Typespecies
USNM 337987 re-discovered by M.K. Brett-Surman in the collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of Naturel History were it was undetected for many years because it was never fully prepared and mislabeled as a sauropod. Described by Walter Coombs in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, volume 15, page 298, in 1995. Most of the specimen consists of a partial pelvis, forelimb, hindlimb, vertebrae, and a tooth.
Abstract
A partial nodosaurid ankylosaur skeleton from Lower Cretaceous littoral deposits of Texas represents a new genus and species, Texasetes pleurohalio. It is distinguished by a prong-like scapular spine that is directed toward the innermost point of the glenoid, development of a small prespinous fossa, and retention of a splint-like fourth trochanter on the femur. Preservation in marginal marine deposits is not indicative of normal habitat preferences. T. pleurohalio is more advanced than Hoplitosaurus marshi, and the latter may be the most primitive nodosaurid for which a considerable part of the specimen is known. The proposed synonymy of Hoplitosaurus and Polacanthusis rejected.
Type and only specimen: USNM 337987, possible cranial fragment, two teeth, 24 vertebral centra (five cervical, three sacral, 16 caudal), two partial scapulacoracoids, actabular regions of both ilia, possible fragment of ischium, proximal and distal ends of: both humeri, both femora and both tibiae; proximal ends of both ulnae and both radii: possible distal end of a fibula, a few additional inderterminant fragments of long bones, left metacarpal IV, left metatarsal IV, three phalanges including two unguals and a few scraps of armor.
Locality
5 miles (8 km) south of Haslet, whitin limits of the town of Blue Mond, north of Fort Worth, Texas (approximately 97o20\\\'W 32o56\\\'N)
Horizon
Paw Paw Formation (sandy member of Dennison Formation) Comanche Series, upper Albian, Lower Cretaceous
Etymology
Texas- referring to Texas, where the specimen was found - etes meaning dweller or one who dwells; pleuro- by the side or adjenct to; and -halio, the sea, hence the one that dwells in Texas adjacent to the sea.
Diagnosis
Differs from other primitive Nodosauridae (e.g. Hoplitosaurus marshi, Hylaeosaurus armatus, Polacanthus foxii) in having a finger- or prong-like scapular spine (= acromion or pseudoacromion\\\" process) that is displaced toward the glenoid,and a small fossa (= prespinious fossa) developed anterior to the confluence of the scapular balde; differs from derived Nodosauridae (e.g. Sauropelta, Nodosaurus, Panoplosaurus, Edmontonia) in retaining a splint-like lesser trochanter on the femur and in having the scapular spine directed at the innermost limit of the glenoid fossa.