A theropod tooth assemblage from the lower Aguja Formation (early Campanian) of West Texas, and the roles of small theropod and varanoid lizard mesopredators in a tropical predator guild

Wick, Steven L.; Lehman, Thomas M.; Brink, Alyson A.

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2014.11.018

Cited by 19 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Carnivores that probably filled mesopredator niches (such as dromaeosaurids and troodontids; Wick et al . 2015) would have experienced lower selection pressure for larger skulls, occurred in greater numbers, and may therefore have lowered the slope gradient (Tamagnini et al . 2017; Galatius et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relative skull size evolution in Mesozoic archosauromorphs: potential drivers and morphological uniqueness of erythrosuchid archosauriforms

et al. 2022

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Little is known about the large‐scale evolutionary patterns of skull size relative to body size, and the possible drivers behind these patterns, in Archosauromorpha. For example, the large skulls of erythrosuchids, a group of non‐archosaurian archosauromorphs from the Early and Middle Triassic, and of theropod dinosaurs are regarded as convergent adaptations for hypercarnivory. However, few investigations have explicitly tested whether erythrosuchid and theropod skulls are indeed disproportionately large for their body size, and whether this trend is driven by hypercarnivory. Here, we investigate archosauromorph relative skull size evolution, examining the scaling relationships between skull and body size of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic archosauromorphs using a robust phylogenetic framework and assessing the influence of potential drivers, such as taxonomy, diet, locomotory mode and inhabited biotope. Our results show that archosauromorph relative skull sizes are largely determined by phylogeny and that the other drivers have much weaker levels of influence. We find negative allometric scaling of skull size with respect to body size when all studied archosauromorphs are analysed. Within specific groups, skull size scales with positive allometry in non‐archosaurian archosauromorphs and, interestingly, scales isometrically in theropods. Ancestral reconstructions of skull–femur size ratio reveal a disproportionately large skull at the base of Erythrosuchidae and proportionately sized skulls at the bases of Theropoda, Carnosauria and Tyrannosauroidea. Relative skull sizes of erythrosuchids and theropods are therefore distinct from each other, indicating that disproportionately large skulls are not a prerequisite for hypercarnivory in archosauromorphs, and that erythrosuchids exhibit a bauplan unique among terrestrial Mesozoic carnivores.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relative skull size evolution in Mesozoic archosauromorphs: potential drivers and morphological uniqueness of erythrosuchid archosauriforms

et al. 2022

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“…Many teeth of Zapsalis have also been collected from the Milk River Formation of Alberta (Larson, ; Larson and Currie, ), which is lower in section than the Dinosaur Park Formation. Wick et al (, fig. 3) identified a similar ridged and serrated tooth as an abnormal specimen of Saurornitholestes from Texas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cranial Anatomy of New Specimens of Saurornitholestes langstoni (Dinosauria, Theropoda, Dromaeosauridae) from the Dinosaur Park Formation (Campanian) of Alberta

Currie

Evans

2019

The Anatomical Record

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The holotype of the dromaeosaurid Saurornitholestes langstoni was described in 1978 on the basis of fewer than 30 associated cranial and postcranial bones of a single individual from Dinosaur Provincial Park. Four additional partial skeletons of Saurornitholestes were recovered from Campanian (Upper Cretaceous) beds of Alberta and Montana over the next 25 years, although reasonably complete skeletons remained elusive, and virtually nothing was known about the skull. The lack of truly diagnostic material has been problematic, and the relationships of Saurornitholestes to other dromaeosaurids have been difficult to resolve because of the incomplete knowledge of its anatomy. In 2014, an almost complete skeleton, including the skull, was collected less than a kilometer from where the holotype had been found. Although similar in body size to Velociraptor, the facial region of the skull is relatively shorter, taller, and wider. The nasals are pneumatic. The premaxillary teeth are distinctive, and teeth previously identified in the Dinosaur Park Formation as Zapsalis abradens can now be identified as the second premaxillary tooth of S. langstoni. Morphology and wear patterns suggest that these may have been specialized for preening feathers. Many traits define a Campanian North American clade, Saurornitholestinae, that is distinct from an Asian clade that includes Velociraptor (Velociraptorinae). This new information on the skull allows a more complete evaluation of its systematic position within the Dromaeosauridae and supports the suggestion of at least two major faunal interchanges between Asia and North America during the Cretaceous. Anat Rec, 303:691–715, 2020. © 2019 American Association for Anatomy

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“…Regardless, the specimen is of interest because it and an undescribed species from Los Peyotes, Coahuila Mexico (Coniacian–Santonian) (González-Rodríguez et al, 2016) represent the geologically youngest published ceratodontids from the Western Interior. However, putative lungfish remains have also been discovered from the lower Campanian part of the Aguja Formation of Western Texas (Wick et al, 2015; personal communication, A.A. Brink, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Cretaceous lungfishes (Dipnoi, Ceratodontidae) from western North America

Frederickson

Cifelli

2016

J. Paleontol.

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Ceratodontid lungfishes are generally rare, poorly represented elements of North America’s Mesozoic ecosystems, with previously known maximum diversity in the Late Jurassic. Herein we describe four new species of the form genusCeratodus, from the Cretaceous of the Western Interior, considerably expanding fossil representation of post-Triassic dipnoans in North America. To model taxonomic and morphologic diversity, we adopt a four-fold system of phenetically based species groups, named for exemplars from the Morrison Formation.Ceratodus kirklandin. sp. (Potamoceratodus guentherigroup) andC.kempaen. sp. (C.frazierigroup) represent a hitherto unsampled time interval, the Valanginian.Ceratodus nirumbeen. sp. andC.molossusn. sp. extend the temporal ranges of theC.fossanovumandC.robustusgroups upward to the Albian and Cenomanian, respectively. These new occurrences show that ceratodontids maintained their highest diversity from the Late Jurassic through the mid-Cretaceous (Albian–Cenomanian), an interval of ~60 Myr. The existing record suggests that some of the later (mid-Cretaceous) ceratodontids may have been tolerant of salt water; to date, there is no evidence that they aestivated. Only a few occurrences are known from horizons younger than Cenomanian. Demise of ceratodontids appears to be part of a broader pattern of turnover that occurred at the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary in North America.

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A theropod tooth assemblage from the lower Aguja Formation (early Campanian) of West Texas, and the roles of small theropod and varanoid lizard mesopredators in a tropical predator guild

Cited by 19 publications

References 37 publications

Relative skull size evolution in Mesozoic archosauromorphs: potential drivers and morphological uniqueness of erythrosuchid archosauriforms

Relative skull size evolution in Mesozoic archosauromorphs: potential drivers and morphological uniqueness of erythrosuchid archosauriforms

Cranial Anatomy of New Specimens of Saurornitholestes langstoni (Dinosauria, Theropoda, Dromaeosauridae) from the Dinosaur Park Formation (Campanian) of Alberta

New Cretaceous lungfishes (Dipnoi, Ceratodontidae) from western North America

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