| Nedcolbertia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Six-year-old Justin Hofmann holding the hindlimb of his namesake dinosaur,Nedcolbertia justinhofmanni | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Clade: | †Ornithomimosauria |
| Genus: | †Nedcolbertia Kirklandet al., 1998 |
| Type species | |
| †Nedcolbertia justinhofmanni Kirklandet al., 1998 | |
Nedcolbertia is agenus oftheropoddinosaur from the EarlyCretaceous (Valanginian-aged)Cedar Mountain Formation ofUtah. The type and only described species so far isN. justinhofmanni, known from at least three partial skeletons.
Three skeletons of a theropod were discovered in 1993 byChristopher Whittle nearCisco in the basalYellow Cat Member of theCedar Mountain Formation ofUtah, dating to theValanginian. These were subsequently studied and reported in 1995 byKirkland, Britt, Madsen and Burge.[1] Though in 1996 it had been announced that thetaxon would be named "Nedcolbertia whittlei", in 1998 it was actually described and named by Kirkland, Whittle, Britt, Madsen and Burge as thetype speciesNedcolbertia justinhofmanni. The generic name honours the AmericanpalaeontologistEdwin Harris Colbert, known as "Ned" to his friends. Thespecific name honoured Justin Hofmann, a six-year-old school boy fromNewton, New Jersey, a participant of a contest for children byDiscover Card, the winner having a dinosaur named after him.[2]
Theholotype,CEUM 5071, is one of the specimens, a partial skeleton lacking the skull. It belonged to a juvenile individual. Theparatypes are the other two specimens: CEUM 5072 and CEUM 5073, both fragmentary skeletons again lacking the skull. They represent subadult individuals. All three specimens were disarticulated and heavily eroded, having been exposed at the surface before discovery. They are part of the collection of theCollege of Eastern Utah Prehistoric Museum.[2]
The holotype ofNedcolbertia had a length of about 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in). The paratypes, though not yet full-grown, were about 3 metres (9.8 ft). Due to the condition of the remains, information on the species is limited. The vertebrae were not heavily pneumatised. The thumb claw was much larger than the second claw of the hand. Thepubic bone carried a large "foot" with a very small or absent anterior process but a large posterior process. The thigh bone had a lessertrochanter that was clearly lower than the greater trochanter; the fourth trochanter was well-developed. The foot was not arctometatarsal. An enlarged second foot claw was lacking.[2]
The describers assignedNedcolbertia with certainty to theTetanurae and provisionally to theCoelurosauria.[2] A 2016 overview of ornithomimosaur material from theArundel Formation of Maryland foundNedcolbertia to be anornithomimosaur based on comparisons with the Arundel ornithomimosaur remains,Harpymimus, andNqwebasaurus.[3] In 2024, Cau suggested thatNedcolbertia possibly belongs toAllosauroidea, but included this taxon withinMegalosauroidea in his phylogenetic analysis instead.[4]
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