During the the Cretaceous, hadrosaurs, the "duck-billed dinosaurs", were common in Eurasia, a continent which produced such monsters as Shantungosaurus.  The Asiatic duckbills were reduced to just two lambeosaurine species after the K-T calamity and, after a brief comeback, were hit again during the Late Eocene. After this time, competition from other ornithischians combined with increasing nest predation from innovative new kinds of mammals and the spread of grasslands pushed these herbivores out of their accustomed niches. At the end of the Oligocene, the last of the old-endemic Asian duckbills died out leaving Eurasia devoid of hadrosaurs. This situation lasted until the Miocene when the livebearing ungulapedes invaded from Africa. A more recent influx of duckbills took place during the Pleistocene when "old-fashioned" North American hadrosaurs migrated across the Bering Land Bridge.

(Text by Daniel Bensen and Brian Choo)

SAMPLE TAXA:
• Shambla
• Chuanlong


    When the long isolation of the African continent ended in the Miocene, great herds of ungulapeds marched across the Sinai into Eurasia. With efficient digestive systems, live-birth, long endurance, and a tightly knit herd structure, the invaders quickly made themselves at home, flourishing and diversifying at the expense of local herbivorous clades like the eurolophs. During the Pliocene, several lineages of African ungulapeds appear in European and south Asian deposits. These hadrosaurs seem to have driven the large Eurolophids to extinction, and may also have contributed to the decline of  small protoceratopids such as Enigmoceratopidae. However when the Ice Ages began, only some coronolophids and catoblepids remained in southern Europe, while other forms were pushed north. During the interglacial periods, some new African saurolopines migrated to Europe, along with aquatic Titanosaurs, Brachioceratopians and Furciceratopians, but were again driven back or to extinction as the glaciers returned.  Controversial evidence suggest that a few made it to North America but these wanderers did not survive for long.

    The ice ages eliminated many species but thanks to the continued speciation of the adaptable ealine and catoplebine formosicorns, the ungulapeds have been able to maintain their numbers in Eurasia and are today one of the "big-three" successful large herbivore clades in the region along with the ceratopsians and therizinosaurs.

FORMOSICORNIDAE
    The taxonomy of these dinosaurs has until recently been a nightmare of duplicity and classificatory juggling with different species grouped in the families "Boreosauridae" (no longer used), Cornucantidae, Ultracornidae (in part), Afrohadrosauridae (in part), Catoblepidae, Ealidae and Tricornidae. At one point, the formicornids were even given their own sub-class, Formosicornia, ridiculous as that may sound.  Recent DNA-hybridization data and exhaustive anatomical and palaeontological studies have shown strong support for the monophyly of these seemingly disparate forms in a single family-level clade, Formosicornidae.

    Formosicorns differ from afrohadrosauroids in having larger nasal cavities, the presence of circumnarial depressions and a maximum of 2 squamosal horns. They and the African hornmeister share a distinctive "unicorn horn", a spikey protruberance on the forehead whose horny base is formed by a fusion of the frontals (and sometimes the nasals) into a rugose lump. Formosicorns generally exhibit a lesser degree of sexual dimorphism than the other large ungulapeds with both sexes often sporting spectacular horns. With the exception of some catoblepids, the formosicorns do not form herds of the same as magnitude as the African saurolopes.

    Formosicorns originated in Africa from basal "proafrohadrosaur" stock in the Early Miocene. While their afrohadrosaurid cousins became grazers, the early formosicorns stayed fairly generalised and were amongst the first species "off the boat" when the link with Asia was formed. They proved to be the most adaptable of the invading ungulapeds and soon diverged into dozens of species. With the exception of the bulky grazing cornucantids, most of these were lightly built browsers living in the shadow or the now extinct giant afrohadrosaurs and ultracornids.

    With the onset of the Ice Ages, the formosicorns proved to be better able to handle the cooler conditions than the their cousins. In a very short space of time, the family underwent another explosive diversification event producing a host of new Pleistocene forms including the armoured grazing catoblepines. While they lost ground to the saurolopes in their ancestral African homeland, the formosicorns wasted no time in becoming the dominant Eurasian ungulaped clade.

    The last glaciation period hit Europe's ornithischians hard, driving the last of the local ultracornids, saurolopes and cornucantines to extinction. The modern ungulaped assemblage largely repopulated Europe from other parts of Eurasia.  Such immigrants include the tricorns and catoblepines (which extended their annual migrations to Southern Europe even during the glaciation,  but didn't spend the winters there.) Since the climate has again started to get colder predicting a new cycle of glaciation, the hadrosaurs are no longer found north of the Baltic. 6000 year old bone findings however prove that catoblepines once roamed near the arctic circle.

(Text by Brian Choo and Daniel Bensen)

Catoblepinae
    The catoblepines are the largest Eurasian ungulapedes. Unlike the ealines, they are primarily grazers which often gather in huge migratory herds. In contrast to the graceful running tricorns, they have become so massive that they cannot manage anything more strenuous than a brisk amble.

    The middle toe of catoblepines is not as enlarged as those of ealines with no significant reduction of the other toes. The unicorn horn is generally either a short spike or a flattened boss. The horn-base in catoblepines is formed by the fusion of both the frontals and the posteriormost nasal bones. Though their large size and horns already make them formidable adveseries, catoblepines also possess armour protection in the form of numerous small osteoderms.

    The first catoblepines seem to appear in Asia Minor during early Pliocene, and probably evolved from primitive ealines. Later they evolved into humongous sizes, taking over the niche of the eurolophine rhinolophs.  Since the climate has again started to get colder predicting a new glaciation period, the hadrosaurs are no longer found north of the Baltic. 6000 year old bone findings however prove that catoblepines once roamed near the arctic circle.

(Text by Brian Choo and Matti Aumala)

SAMPLE TAXA:

• Belubos
• Bruton
• Gonnuc

 

 
 
 

Ealinae
    Often referred to as tricorns, ealines are the most widespread and speciose ornithopods in Eurasia (about 50 species). They are distinctive in possessing an enlarged middle toe on the pes with a reduction of the other two toes, a long unicorn-horn whose base is restricted to the frontals. Most are generalist herbivores that live in pairs or small to moderate sized herds. Unlike the polygamous catoblepines, most ealide species form stable pair or trio bonds.  Not surprisingly, the tricorns exhibit conspicuous external sexual dimorphism.

(Text by Brian Choo)

SAMPLE TAXA:

• Yale
• Kirin
• Majestic orth
• Cuinocco