A bizarre Cretaceous theropod dinosaur from Patagonia and the evolution of Gondwanan dromaeosaurids

Novas, Fernando E.; Pol, Diego; Canale, Juan Ignacio; Porfiri, Juan D.; Calvo, Jorge O.

doi:10.1098/rspb.2008.1554

Cited by 119 publications

(194 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…This sister taxon pair is nested within the velociraptorine dromaeosaurids, a clade that also includes Deinonychus, Tsaagan, and Saurornitholestes. This clade, in turn, is deeply nested within Dromaeosauridae, whose internal relationships are well resolved and like those reported in recent studies (16,27,28).…”

Section: Systematicssupporting

confidence: 59%

An aberrant island-dwelling theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Romania

Csiki

Vremir²,

Brusatte

et al. 2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Islands are noted for the occurrence of aberrant, endemic, and dwarfed taxa (the "island effect"). Late Cretaceous vertebrate assemblages of Romania and elsewhere in Europe are classic examples of island faunas in the fossil record, and are characterized by dwarfed herbivorous dinosaurs and other endemic taxa that are noticeably primitive relative to their mainland contemporaries. Fossils of the predators inhabiting the European paleoislands, however, are exceptionally rare and fragmentary. We describe a new dromaeosaurid theropod, based on an articulated skeleton from the Maastrichtian of Romania, which represents the most complete predatory dinosaur from the middle to Late Cretaceous of Europe. This taxon is characterized by a peculiar body plan, most notably extensive fusion in the hand and distal hindlimb, a highly retroverted pelvis with enlarged femoral muscle attachments, and a pair of hyperextensive pedal claws. However, unlike the island-dwelling herbivorous dinosaurs, its closest relatives are contemporary similar-sized Laurasian taxa, indicating faunal connections between Asia and the European islands late into the Cretaceous. This theropod provides support for the aberrant nature of the Late Cretaceous European island-dwelling dinosaurs, but indicates that predators on these islands were not necessarily small, geographically endemic, or primitive.Dromaeosauridae | endemic | Europe | island fauna | Theropoda

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Section: Systematicssupporting

confidence: 59%

An aberrant island-dwelling theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Romania

Csiki

Vremir²,

Brusatte

et al. 2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…The arm/leg length ratio is 0.53 in Tianyuraptor and is more than 0.80 in other Liaoning dromaeosaurids (Xu 2002). The forelimbs of Tianyuraptor are proportionally even shorter than those of some other larger dromaeosaurids (Ostrom 1969;Norell & Makovicky 1999;Novas et al 2009). For example, a similarly sized Velociraptor specimen shows an arm/leg length ratio of about 0.75.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The significantly shortened forelimb of Tianyuraptor suggests a lack of aerodynamic function, which is further supported by the transversely wide coracoid (in microraptorines and birds, the coracoid is long along the axial direction) and the small furcula (in microraptorines and birds, the furcula is much more robust; table 1). Interestingly, significant forelimb shortening has occurred independently in the much larger Gondwanan dromaeosaurid Austroraptor cabazai (Novas et al 2009). In our analysis, some character states related to the elongation of the forelimb are optimized as synapomorphies of the Paraves, such as a long radius relative to the femur (state 2 of character 277 in our dataset).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A short-armed dromaeosaurid from the Jehol Group of China with implications for early dromaeosaurid evolution

Zheng¹,

You

et al. 2009

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Recent discoveries of basal dromaeosaurids from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang and Yixian formations of Liaoning, China, add significant new information about the transition from non-avian dinosaurs to avians. Here we report on a new dromaeosaurid, Tianyuraptor ostromi gen. et sp. nov., from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of western Liaoning, China, based on a nearly complete skeleton. Tianyuraptor possesses several features only seen in other Liaoning dromaeosaurids, although to a less developed degree, and it also exhibits features unknown in Laurasian dromaeosaurids but present in the Gondwanan dromaeosaurids and basal avialans, thus reducing the morphological gap between these groups. Tianyuraptor possesses a comparatively small furcula and proportionally short forelimbs. This lies in stark contrast to the possible capacity for flight in the microraptorines, which have proportionally long and robust forelimbs and large furculae. The presence of such striking differences between the Early Cretaceous Jehol dromaeosaurids reveals a great diversity in morphology, locomotion and ecology early in dromaeosaurid evolution.

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“…In this work, we consider all Brazilian records of Velociraptorinae (see below: Bauru Supersequence) as indeterminate Deinonychosauria (Table I, II), pending new findings that would allow a more accurate identification of these specimens. In Gondwana, dromaeosaurid deinonychosaurs are known based on several species from the Cenomanian-Maastrichtian of Argentina (Novas and Puerta 1997, Novas and Pol 2005, Calvo et al 2004, Makovicky et al 2005, Novas et al 2009b, with possible records in the Cenomanian of central Africa (Rauhut and Werner 1995) and Albian of Australia ( Fig. 4b) (Currie et al 1996).…”

Section: São Luís-grajaú Basinmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mesozoic dinosaurs from Brazil and their biogeographic implications

Bittencourt

Langer

2011

An. Acad. Bras. Ciênc.

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The record of dinosaur body-fossils in the Brazilian Mesozoic is restricted to the Triassic of Rio Grande do Sul and Cretaceous of various parts of the country. This includes 21 named species, two of which were regarded as nomina dubia, and 19 consensually assigned to Dinosauria. Additional eight supraspecific taxa have been identified based on fragmentary specimens and numerous dinosaur footprints known in Brazil. In fact, most Brazilian specimens related to dinosaurs are composed of isolated teeth and vertebrae. Despite the increase of fieldwork during the last decade, there are still no dinosaur body-fossils of Jurassic age and the evidence of ornithischians in Brazil is very limited. Dinosaur faunas from this country are generally correlated with those from other parts of Gondwana throughout the Mesozoic. During the Late Triassic, there is a close correspondence to Argentina and other south-Pangaea areas. Mid-Cretaceous faunas of northeastern Brazil resemble those of coeval deposits of North Africa and Argentina. Southern hemisphere spinosaurids are restricted to Africa and Brazil, whereas abelisaurids are still unknown in the Early Cretaceous of the latter. Late Cretaceous dinosaur assemblages of south-central Brazil are endemic only to genus or, more conspicuously, to species level, sharing closely related taxa with Argentina, Madagascar, Indo-Pakistan and, to a lesser degree, continental Africa.

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A bizarre Cretaceous theropod dinosaur from Patagonia and the evolution of Gondwanan dromaeosaurids

Cited by 119 publications

References 17 publications

An aberrant island-dwelling theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Romania

An aberrant island-dwelling theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Romania

A short-armed dromaeosaurid from the Jehol Group of China with implications for early dromaeosaurid evolution

Mesozoic dinosaurs from Brazil and their biogeographic implications

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