Labocania
Type species Labocania anomala
- Lived
- 86 to 72 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Group
- Theropods, Tyrannosauridae
- Found in
- Mexico
- Named by
- Molnar 1974
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
80 million years ago
Habitat
The Cerro del Pueblo Formation records a low coastal plain in Mexico. Duck-bills such as Velafrons and Tlatolophus lived there.
Field notes
About Labocania
What it was like
Labocania was a large two-legged meat eater known from partial remains. For decades scientists could not tell which family it belonged to. More recent finds suggest it was a tyrannosaur, a relative of Teratophoneus and Bistahieversor.
Its world
It lived in the Late Cretaceous, about 86 to 72 million years ago, in what is now Mexico. Its fossils come from the La Bocana Roja and Cerro del Pueblo formations. In the Cerro del Pueblo it shared the land with duck-bills such as Velafrons and Tlatolophus.
How it was found
Molnar named Labocania in 1974. The type species is Labocania anomala. Two finds are known.
Field gallery
More views of Labocania
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Labocania.
The evidence
The science behind Labocania
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- The original find includes pieces of the skull, pelvis and foot rather than a complete skeleton.
- Its preserved skull bones are unusually thick and heavy.
- A later partial skeleton has skull features that led to the proposal of a second species.
Borrowed from relatives
- Reconstructions borrow missing body parts from tyrannosaurs such as Teratophoneus and Bistahieversor, its proposed close relatives.
Still unknown
- Its exact position within the tyrannosaur family tree.
- Its adult size and full body proportions.
- Its color and skin covering.
Discovery timeline
- 1974Named itMolnar
- 2015Fossil sitesPeecook & Sidor
- 2024New findRivera-Sylva & Longrich
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Labocania
Named it
Named Labocania from fragmentary bones, noting its heavy skull bones and a pelvis resembling those of tyrannosaurs.
A distinctive theropod dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Baja California (Mexico). Journal of Paleontology 48: 1009-1017
No link available
Fossil sites
Reviewed coastal dinosaur discoveries, including the fragmentary Labocania skeleton and its mixture of features shared with different meat-eating dinosaur groups.
The First Dinosaur from Washington State and a Review of Pacific Coast Dinosaurs from North America. PLOS ONE 10: e0127792
Read the paper : The First Dinosaur from Washington State and a Review of Pacific Coast Dinosaurs from North America (opens in a new tab)New find
Proposed a second Labocania species and placed both species near Teratophoneus and Bistahieversor in the tyrannosaur family tree.
A New Tyrant Dinosaur from the Late Campanian of Mexico Reveals a Tribe of Southern Tyrannosaurs. Fossil Studies 2: 245-272
Read the paper : A New Tyrant Dinosaur from the Late Campanian of Mexico Reveals a Tribe of Southern Tyrannosaurs (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Tyrannosauridae
Sources: Wikidata