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1

Basal abelisaurid and carcharodontosaurid theropods from the Lower Cretaceous Elrhaz Formation of Niger

100%

Sereno P. C. , Brusatte S. L.

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nr 1

EN

We report the discovery of basal abelisaurid and carcharodontosaurid theropods from the mid Cretaceous (Aptian–Albian, ca. 112 Ma) Elrhaz Formation of the Niger Republic. The abelisaurid, Kryptops palaios gen. et sp. nov., is represented by a single individual preserving the maxilla, pelvic girdle, vertebrae and ribs. Several features, including a maxilla textured externally by impressed vascular grooves and a narrow antorbital fossa, clearly place Kryptops palaios within Abelisauridae as its oldest known member. The carcharodontosaurid, Eocarcharia dinops gen. et sp. nov., is represented by several cranial bones and isolated teeth. Phylogenetic analysis places it as a basal carcharodontosaurid, similar to Acrocanthosaurus and less derived than Carcharodontosaurus and Giganotosaurus. The discovery of these taxa suggests that large body size and many of the derived cranial features of abelisaurids and carcharodontosaurids had already evolved by the mid Cretaceous. The presence of a close relative of the North American genus Acrocanthosaurus on Africa suggests that carcharodontosaurids had already achieved a trans−Tethyan distribution by the mid Cretaceous.

2

A reassessment of Kelmayisaurus petrolicus, a large theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of China

80%

Brusatte S. L. , Benson R. B. J. , Xu X.

Acta Palaeontologica Polonica

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2012

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tom 57

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nr 1

EN

The Early Cretaceous fossil record of large−bodied theropods from Asia is poor, hindering comparison of Asian predatory dinosaur faunas with those from other continents. One of the few large Asian theropod specimens from this interval is a partial skull (maxilla and dentary) from the Lianmugin Formation (?Valanginian–Albian), the holotype of Kelmayisaurus petrolicus. Most authors have either considered this specimen as an indeterminate basal tetanuran or a nomen dubium. We redescribe K. petrolicus and note that it possesses a single autapomorphy (a deep accessory groove on the lateral surface of the anterior dentary), as well as a unique combination of characters that differentiates it from other theropods, affirming its validity. A phylogenetic analysis recovers K. petrolicus as a basal carcharodontosaurid, which is supported by various features: very deep interdental plates (a carcharodontosaurid synapomorphy), fused interdental plates (present in carchardontosaurids and a limited number of other theropods), and the absence of diagnostic features of other clades of large−bodied theropods such as abelisaurids, megalosauroids, and coelurosaurs. As such,Kelmayisaurusis the second known carcharodontosaurid from Asia, and further evidence that this clade represented a global radiation of large−bodied predators during the Early–mid Cretaceous.

3

Filling the Corallian gap: New information on Late Jurassic marine reptile faunas from England

80%

Foffa D. , Young M. T. , Brusatte S. L.

Acta Palaeontologica Polonica

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2018

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tom 63

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nr 2

EN

Two of the best known Mesozoic marine reptile assemblages can be found in units deposited in the Jurassic SubBoreal Seaway of the UK: the late Middle Jurassic Oxford Clay Formation (OCF) and Late Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay Formation (KCF). They record two very differently structured faunas, but understanding the turnover between them is hampered by a gap in the fossil record that spans much of the Oxfordian, the so-called “Corallian gap”. We provide a comprehensive review of specimens from the Corallian Group (CG) of the UK, which includes the first descriptions of several fossils, particularly teeth. We demonstrate that there is a severe reduction in observed marine reptile diversity during the Oxfordian, with several Callovian taxa well known from the OCF not persisting into the Corallian strata, including small-to-mid-sized pliosaurids and longirostrine teleosaurids. We do, however, find evidence that at least one member of each key OCF lineage (plesiosauroids, pliosaurids, ichthyosaurs, and thalattosuchians) survived into the Corallian interval, and that one keystone KCF lineage (the Torvoneustes line of metriorhynchid thalattosuchians) was present during this time, indicating an earlier radiation of this group than previously thought. We suggest that faunal turnover between the OCF and KCF may have been driven by environmental perturbations during the Oxfordian, which selectively removed small bodied pliosaurids and longirostrine teleosaurids from the Jurassic Sub-Boreal Seaway, but less affected metriorhynchids, plesiosauroids, and ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs. The preferential removal of taxa from the sub-Boreal realm may have helped facilitate the radiation of lineages that became dominant during the Late Jurassic.

4

The taxonomy and anatomy of rauisuchian archosaur from the Late Triassic of Germany and Poland

80%

Brusatte S. L. , Butler R. J. , Sulej T. , Niedzwiedzki G.

Acta Palaeontologica Polonica

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2009

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tom 54

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nr 2

221-230

EN

The German Late Triassic archosaur Teratosaurus suevicus is a historically important taxon, being the first described rauisuchian. Unfortunately the holotype is a single element, a maxilla, which is poorly preserved and incomplete. We redescribe this maxilla and identify a single potential autapomorphy. The fragmentary type specimen complicates attempts to refer additional material to this taxon, and other unassociated archosaur and rauisuchian specimens from the Mittlerer Stubensandstein of Germany cannot be referred to T. suevicus with any degree of confidence. The stratigraphically older T. silesiacus, from the upper Carnian of Poland, is represented by a much more complete and better preserved specimen. Comparison of the maxillae of T. suevicus and T. silesiacus reveals that the two are distinct taxa, contra recent suggestions, but also that they do not share any synapomorphies or a unique combination of characters relative to Postosuchus kirkpatricki and other rauisuchians. Thus, the Polish material must be transferred to a new genus, Polonosuchus gen. nov. Both Polonosuchus and Teratosaurus are very similar to Postosuchus kirkpatricki, and the three taxa are likely closely related.

5

The first Triassic vertebrate fossils from Myanmar: Pachypleurosaurs in a marine limestone

71%

San K. K. , Fraser N. C. , Foffa D. , Rieppel O. , Brusatte S. L.

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nr 2

EN

As ecosystems recovered from the end-Permian extinction, many new animal groups proliferated in the ensuing Triassic. Among these were the sauropterygians, reptiles that evolved from terrestrial ancestors and transitioned to a marine environment. The first sauropterygians were small, marine-adapted taxa such as pachypleurosaurs, which are known from Middle–Late Triassic deposits, particularly in the Tethyan realm of Europe, and more recently from Lagerstätten in southwestern China. Here we report two pachypleurosaurs from Myanmar, the first Triassic vertebrate fossils from the country. These specimens demonstrate that their entombing rocks in northern Shan State, which have received less study than terrestrial sediments in southern Shan State and whose ages have long been uncertain, are Triassic. The specimens may be among the oldest pachypleurosaurs globally, potentially corroborating biogeographic scenarios that posit an eastern Tethyan origin for pachypleurosaurs, and raise the potential for future discoveries of well-preserved Triassic reptiles in Myanmar.