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During the Mesozoic (245–66 million years ago), terrestrial regions underwent a massive shift in their size, position and connectivity. At the beginning of the era, the land masses were joined into a single supercontinent called Pangaea. However, by the end of the Mesozoic, terrestrial regions had become highly fragmented, both due to the drifting apart of the continental plates and the extremely high sea levels that flooded and divided many regions. How terrestrial biodiversity was affected by this fragmentation and large-scale flooding of the Earth's landmasses is uncertain. Based on a model using the species–area relationship (SAR), terrestrial vertebrate biodiversity would be expected to nearly double through the Mesozoic due to continental fragmentation, despite a decrease of 24% in total terrestrial area. Previous studies of Mesozoic vertebrates have generally found increases in terrestrial diversity towards the end of the era, though these increases are often attributed to intrinsic or climatic factors. Instead, continental fragmentation over this time may largely explain any observed increase in terrestrial biodiversity. This study demonstrates the importance that non-intrinsic effects can have on the taxonomic success of a group, and the importance of geography to understanding past biodiversity.

The Wapiti Formation of northwest Alberta and northeast British Columbia, Canada, preserves an Upper Cretaceous terrestrial vertebrate fauna that is latitudinally situated between those documented further north in Alaska and those from southern Alberta and the contiguous U.S.A. Therefore, the Wapiti Formation is important for identifying broad patterns in vertebrate ecology, diversity, and distribution across Laramidia during the latest Cretaceous. Tracksites are especially useful as they provide a range of palaeoecological, palaeoenvironmental, and behavioural data that are complementary to the skeletal record. Here, we describe the Tyrants Aisle locality, the largestin-situtracksite known from the Wapiti Formation. The site occurs in the lower part of Unit 4 of the formation (~72.5 Ma, upper Campanian), exposed along the southern bank of the Redwillow River. More than 100 tracks are documented across at least three distinct track-bearing layers, which were deposited on an alluvial floodplain. Hadrosaurid tracks are most abundant, and are referable toHadrosauropodusbased on track width exceeding track length, broad digits, and rounded or bilobed heel margins. We suggest the hadrosaurid trackmaker wasEdmontosaurus regalisbased on stratigraphic context. Tyrannosaurids, probable troodontids, possible ornithomimids, and possible azhdarchid pterosaurs represent minor but notable elements of the ichnofauna, as the latter is unknown from skeletal remains within the Wapiti Formation, and all others are poorly represented. Possible social behaviour is inferred for some of the hadrosaurid and small theropod-like trackmakers based on trackway alignment, suitable spacing and consistent preservation. On a broad taxonomic level (i.e., family or above), ichnofaunal compositions indicate that hadrosaurids were palaeoecologically dominant across Laramidia during the late Campanian within both high-and low-latitude deposits, although the role of depositional environment requires further testing.