Antarctic Hadrosaurid

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* Other Fauna/Minor#Snow Hill Island Hadrosaur

## Presence

### Location

Snow Hill Island and López de Bertodano Formations, James Ross Island, Antarctica

### Temporal Range

67 - 66 million years ago, Maastrichtian Stage, Late Cretaceous Period

## Characteristics

### Diet

Herbivore

***“ Herds of hadrosaurs are once again on the move. With little to eat, these huge herbivores return to look for food in warmer lands, leaving others to endure the freezing polar winter. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Ice Worlds*

Present on Prehistoric Planet is an **unnamed hadrosaur** that lived in the Snow Hill Island and López de Bertodano Formations, James Ross Island, Antarctica, 71 - 70 million years ago, during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period.

## Description

Hadrosaurids are mostly recognized from North America and Asia, though by the end of the Cretaceous Period, some species proliferated in Europe (e.g. *Arenysaurus*), Africa (e.g. *Ajnabia*), and South America (which is known for its austrokritosaurian saurolophines, like *Secernosaurus* and *Kelumapusaura*). Hadrosaurid remains have also been found in Antarctica, their existence indicated by a metatarsal which resembles that of *Maiasaura*, as well as a single cheek tooth that has the shape of a typical hadrosaur tooth. It is also possible that the animal is not necessarily a hadrosaurid specifically, and may instead be part of the more inclusive hadrosauromorph clade, being related to animals like *Telmatosaurus*, *Tethyshadros*, and *Gonkoken*, which blends the traits of derived hadrosaurids with those of more ancestral hadrosauroids.

Since nothing else about the animal is known, it is made to resemble *Edmontosaurus*, albeit with dull red skin, a creamy underside, and more vibrant red stripes on either side of the neck.

## Habitat

*Main: López de Bertodano Formation, Snow Hill Island Formation*

Main: López de Bertodano Formation, Snow Hill Island Formation

The teeth of this Antarctic hadrosaurid indicates that it lived 67 - 66 million years ago in the López de Bertodano Formation of Seymour Island, Antarctica. Prehistoric Planet depicts this hadrosaur within the Snow Hill Island Formation (the same formation from which *Antarctopelta* is known from), which precedes the López de Bertodano Formation by a few million years. During that time, Earth's climate was much warmer and more humid than today, thus, Antarctica would have had a climate similar to those of modern-day volcanic arcs supporting large, dense conifer forests, cycads, and ginkgos. Even back then, however, much like Antarctica today, the inhabitants of the island had to endure a long period of cold, dark months during the winter, and hence had to adapt to the freezing temperatures as snow and ice cover up the temperate forests of the region.

## Behavior

As is believed to be the case for many hadrosaurs, this animal is a social, herding creature, constantly moving to places with enough food to sustain them.

## Appearance

In the fourth segment of Ice Worlds, a herd of these hadrosaurs are seen journeying across an open, stony field, searching for warmer areas where there is more food, briefly crossing paths with a lone *Antarctopelta*. One hadrosaur tries to check for food from a log, to no avail. For a moment, this individual and the *Antarctopelta* regard each other before continuing on their journey down opposite paths, the *Antarctopelta* searching for a place to rest in and wait the incoming winter out, the hadrosaurs looking for a more bountiful region that can sustain them.

## References

1. ↑ As depicted in Ice Worlds
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 A Probable Hadrosaur from Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The first duck-billed dinosaur (Family Hadrosauridae) from Antarctica
4. ↑ Naish, Darren (@TetZoo) (June 17, 2023) on Twitter, bringing up how the winters of prehistoric *Antarctica* would have still covered the land in snow and ice, hence, animals back then would have needed to adapt to these changes.