#labocania

Breaking News! Just when Hispanic Heritage Month is coming to an end, Mexico has just announced the discovery of Labocania aguillonae, a whole new species of Tyrannosaurid theropod hailing from the Campanian La Bocana Roja Formation of Baja California Norte, and the hype to doodle this fantastic beast that happens to be the country’s latest dinosaur is real.

So here is the first illustration of this new Tyrannosaur species ever made!

References:

https://www.mdpi.com/2813-6284/2/4/12

Oh… the teratophoneins… what a theropod group…

Hi there!

Aww, that triggers my sentimental / romantic side so much. <3

Labocania anomala

Artwork by Nathan E. Rogers / @nathan-e-rogers

Labocania is a medium-sized theropod dinosaur found in Mexico. Though its remains are very fragmentary, paleontologists believe it was a tyrannosauroid - a relative of T. rex.

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Labocania anomala

Late Cretaceous (73 mya), Baja California, Mexico

Known from fragmentary remains in the La Bocana Roja Formation (Campanian Age), Labocania was a mid-size theropod dinosaur. I've restored it here as a tyrannosauroid, which seems to be the most likely classification as far as I know. Future discoveries may help us better understand this animal's morphology and phylogeny.

Species: L. anomala

Meaning: “La Bocana,” after the place of its discovery.

Age and Location: Late Cretaceous (Campanian) of Mexico

Classification: Metazoa: Eumetazoa: Bilateria: Nephrozoa: Deuterostomia: Chordata: Olfactores: Vertebrata: Eugnathostomata: Euteleostomi: Tetrapoda: Amniota: Sauria: Archosauromorpha: Archelosauria: Archosauriformes: Archosauria: Avemetatarsalia: Ornithodira: Dinosauromorpha: Dinosauriformes: Dinosauria: Saurischia: Eusaurischia: Theropoda: Neotheropoda: Averostra: incertae sedis

After the alarmingly vague Eurytholia, I thought we could return to some more familiar territory today. Labocania is a large theropod of unknown phylogenetic position, remarkable for the robustness of its skull. It may be a member of Abelisauridae, Tyrannosauroidea, or even Carcharodontosauria, which would make it among the latest members of the latter clade. It was probably a moderately large carnivorous dinosaur, with a robustly built, possibly somewhat ornamented, head.

Sources:

Molnar RE. 1974. A distinctive theropod dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Baja California (Mexico). Journal of Paleontology 48:1009–1017.