Late Triassic Dinosaur Teeth From Southern Belgium (original) (raw)
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Non-avian theropod dinosaurs from the early Late Cretaceous of central Europe
Cretaceous Research, 2010
Quantitative and qualitative analyses of isolated teeth and postcranial elements of non-avian theropod dinosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian) Csehbá nya Formation, Iharkú t (western Hungary) indicate that these remains represent multiple dinosaur groups. Based on comparative and statistical analyses, 58 teeth and tooth fragments are identified as belonging to medium-sized basal tetanuran theropods that may have represented the top-predator of the terrestrial Iharkú t ecosystem. These teeth are almost identical with the two 'Megalosaurus pannoniensis' teeth from the lower Campanian of Muthmannsdorf (Austria) and show a notable similarity to teeth of the Middle Jurassic M. bucklandii and the Lower Cretaceous 'M. dunkeri' from England. A single pedal ungual phalanx is interpreted as the oldest European occurrence of Late Cretaceous abelisaurids, as suggested by a ventral groove and bifurcated grooves laterally bordering a convex, triangular area. Small-bodied paravian theropods are found to be the best represented group in Iharkú t, including teeth, caudal vertebrae, a metacarpal III, manual phalanges, and a fragmentary left tibia. A particularly notable paravian remain is a complete left scapulocoracoid possessing a unique pneumatic foramen ventral to the coracoid foramen. This specimen is assigned to Pneumatoraptor fodori n. g. et sp. Finally, numerous postcranial elements of Theropoda indet. were recovered, including a fragmentary sacrum that offers new insights into the sacral pneumaticity of theropods. The presence of these theropods in the Santonian Iharkú t ecosystem provides the first evidence that during the early Late Cretaceous the Mediterranean archipelago was inhabited by both Gondwanan and Euramerican members of theropod dinosaurs. Consistent with data available for other archosaurian taxa, the close relationship of the basal tetanuran teeth with much older forms suggests that the Iharkú t area may have functioned as a refugium in the early Late Cretaceous Mediterranean archipelago.
Body fossils of earliest Jurassic (Hettangian) dinosaurs are scarce worldwide. Here we report two isolated dinosaur remains from the marine upper Hettangian (the Schlotheimia angulata ammonite Zone) Luxembourg Sandstone Formation, collected at Brouch, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The small to medium-sized pedal phalanx III-1 is referred to a neotheropod dinosaur based on the combination of the following features: proximal end with a lateral margin formed by two straight margins meeting at a wide angle, distal end with a well-defined semilunate extensor fossa and a proximodistally elongated shaft. The isolated tooth crown most likely belongs to an indeterminate theropod, because of its labiolingually compressed shape and the presence of sharp mesial and distal carinae and denticles along its distal edge. These remains represent the first Jurassic dinosaur specimens reported from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, enlarging the meagre record of the group immediately after the Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction event.
The rise of dinosaurs during the Triassic is a widely studied evolutionary radiation, but there are still many unanswered questions about early dinosaur evolution and biogeography that are hampered by an unevenly sampled Late Triassic fossil record. Although very common in western North America and parts of South America, dinosaur (and more basal dinosauriform) remains are relatively rare in the Upper Triassic deposits of Europe, making any new discoveries critically important. One of the most diverse dinosauriform assemblages from Europe comes from the Pore z ba site in Poland, a recently described locality with exposures of the Zba z szynek Beds, which have a palynomorph assemblage characteristic for the mid-late Norian in the biostratigraphic schemes of the Germanic Basin. Using a synapomorphy-based approach, we evaluate several isolated dinosauriform specimens from Pore z ba. This assemblage includes a silesaurid, a herrerasaurid and remains of another type of theropod (potentially a neotheropod). The Pore z ba herrerasaurid is the first record of this rare group of primitive dinosaurs from Europe and one of the youngest records worldwide, whereas the silesaurid is the youngest record of a silesaurid from Europe. These findings indicate that silesaurids persisted alongside true dinosaurs into the mid-late Norian of Europe and that silesauridherrerasaurid-neotheropod assemblages (which are also known from the Norian of North America, at low latitudes) were more widespread geographically and latitudinally than previously thought. Silesaurid-herrerasauridneotheropod assemblages may have been a common ecological structuring of dinosaurs during their early evolution, and their widespread distribution may indicate weak palaeolatitudinal controls on early dinosaur biogeography during the latest Triassic.
A proposed terminology of theropod teeth (Dinosauria, Saurischia)
Theropod teeth are typically not described in detail, yet these abundant vertebrate fossils are not only frequently reported in the literature, but also preserve extensive anatomical information. Often in descriptions, important characters of the crown and ornamentations are omitted, and in many instances, authors do not include a description of theropod dentition at all. The paucity of information makes identification of isolated teeth difficult and taxonomic assignments uncertain. Therefore, we here propose a standardization of the anatomical and morphometric terms for tooth anatomical subunits, as well as a methodology to describe isolated teeth comprehensively. As a corollary, this study exposes the importance of detailed anatomical descriptions with the utilitarian purpose of clarifying taxonomy and identifying isolated theropod teeth.
2015
The dinosaur record in the South Pyrenees Basin is diverse and rich. A total of 142 theropod teeth were studied for this paper, which constitutes one of the richest samples for these remains in Europe. Eight upper Campanian to upper Maastrichtian outcrops from the Pyrenees produced six non-avian theropod taxa (Theropoda indet., Coelurosauria indet., ?Richardoestesia, ?Dromaeosauridae indet., ?Pyroraptor olympius, ?Paronychodon). These six taxa are added to two previously described theropods (a Richardoestesia-like form and a possible ornithomimosaurid), indicating that there was considerable theropod diversity on the Iberian Peninsula during the Late Cretaceous.