New application of strontium isotopes reveals evidence of limited migratory behaviour in Late Cretaceous hadrosaurs

Dinosaur migration patterns are very difficult to determine, often relying
solely on the geographic distribution of fossils.  Unfortunately,
it is generally not possible to determine if a fossil taxon’s geographic
distribution is the result of migration or simply a wide
distribution.  Whereas some attempts have been made to use
isotopic systems to determine migratory patterns in dinosaurs, these
methods have yet to achieve wider usage in the study of dinosaur ecology.
Here we have used strontium isotope ratios from fossil enamel to
reconstruct the movements of an individual hadrosaur from Dinosaur
Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada.  Results from this study are
consistent with a range or migratory pattern between Dinosaur Provincial
Park and a contemporaneous locality in the South Saskatchewan River area,
Alberta Canada.  This represents a minimum distance of
approximately 80 km, which is consistent with migrations seen in modern
elephants. These results suggest the continent-wide distribution of some
hadrosaur species in the Late Cretaceous of North America is not the
result of extremely long-range migratory behaviours.