FY23-ImpactReport - Flipbook - Page 15
“The identi昀椀cation of Ampelognathus coheni represents an
important 昀椀nd for the Perot Museum and its research team,
continuing our mission to inspire minds through nature and
science,” said Dr. Tykoski, vice president of science and curator of
vertebrate paleontology at the Museum. “The discovery helps us
better understand the diversity of dinosaurs that once thrived in
North Texas.”
Ampelognathus coheni (pronounced AM-pell-oh-nay-thuss KOHhen-ee) likely measured less than six feet long and weighed no
more than a medium-sized dog when it roamed the Dallas-Fort
Worth area approximately 96 million years ago. At the time, a
shallow seaway divided North America into eastern and western
landmasses, with the eastern shoreline intersecting the North
Texas region. The tropical climate of the prehistoric eastern
shoreline was hot and humid. The landscape included beaches,
lagoons, swamps, rivers, deltas, forests, and barrier islands.
The name “Ampelognathus” means “Grapevine jaw,” and the
species name “coheni” honors Murray Cohen, the local fossil
enthusiast and Perot Museum volunteer who found the specimen.
The fossil was collected from the sandy rock exposures along
Grapevine Lake in northern Tarrant County. Ampelognathus is the
昀椀rst-known, small-bodied, plant-eating ornithopod dinosaur from
the Lewisville Formation in Texas. Ampelognathus is only the
fourth dinosaur specimen named from the rocks of the DallasFort Worth area, joining the armored dinosaur Pawpawsaurus, the
large plant-eater Protohadros, and the bird Flexomornis.
“This needle-in-a-haystack 昀椀nd enhances what we know about
prehistoric life in North Texas,” said Dr. Dori Contreras, curator of
paleobotany at the Perot Museum.
“This discovery helps us reconstruct the
ecosystem along the ancient shoreline
that cut across the region at the time.
Stories of discovery like this help us
inspire youth toward a lifelong love of
science.”
— Dr. Ron Tykoski
Vice President of Science and Curator
of Vertebrate Paleontology, Perot Museum
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