A large-clawed theropod (Dinosauria: Tetanurae) from the Lower Cretaceous of Australia and the Gondwanan origin of megaraptorid theropods
Megaraptoridae comprises a clade of enigmatic Gondwanan theropods with characteristic hypertrophied claws on the first and second manual digits. The majority of megaraptorids are known from South America, although a single genus ('Australovenator') plus additional indeterminate material is...
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ftunivnewengland:oai:rune.une.edu.au:1959.11/20004 2024-09-15T17:42:56+00:00 A large-clawed theropod (Dinosauria: Tetanurae) from the Lower Cretaceous of Australia and the Gondwanan origin of megaraptorid theropods Bell, Phil School of Environmental and Rural Science orcid:0000-0001-5890-8183 Cau, Andrea Fanti, Federico Smith, Elizabeth T 2016 https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/20004 en eng Elsevier BV 10.1016/j.gr.2015.08.004 https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/20004 une:20200 Palaeontology (incl. Palynology) Animal Systematics and Taxonomy Journal Article 2016 ftunivnewengland 2024-08-12T03:35:48Z Megaraptoridae comprises a clade of enigmatic Gondwanan theropods with characteristic hypertrophied claws on the first and second manual digits. The majority of megaraptorids are known from South America, although a single genus ('Australovenator') plus additional indeterminate material is also known from Australia. This clade has a controversial placement among theropods, and recently has been interpreted alternatively as a carcharodontosaurian or a tyrannosauroid lineage. We describe new fragmentary but associated postcranial remains from the opal fields of Lightning Ridge (middle-Albian, Griman Creek Formation) in north-central New South Wales. The new unnamed taxon exhibits a number of unusual features that suggest the presence of a hitherto unrecognised Australian megaraptorid. From an Australian perspective, the Lightning Ridge taxon predates Australovenator by ca. 10 Ma and is minimally coeval with megaraptoran material reported from the Eumeralla Formation of Victoria (but potentially 6.1-9.5 Ma younger). It is also notable as the largest predatory dinosaur yet identified from Australia and is only the second theropod known from more than a single element. A Bayesian phylogenetic approach integrating morphological, stratigraphic and palaeogeographic information tested both the carcharodontosaurian and tyrannosauroid placements for Megaraptora. Regardless of the preferred placement among Tetanurae, rigorous palaeobiogeographic analyses support an Asian origin of Megaraptora in the latest Jurassic (about 150-135 Ma), an Early Cretaceous (about 130-121 Ma) divergence of the Gondwanan lineage leading to Megaraptoridae, and an Australian root for megaraptorid radiation. These results indicate that Australia's Cretaceous dinosaur fauna did not comprise simply of immigrant taxa but was a source for complex two-way interchange between Australia-Antarctica-South America leading to the evolution of at least one group of apex predatory dinosaurs in Gondwana. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica Research UNE - University of New England at Armidale, NSW Australia |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Research UNE - University of New England at Armidale, NSW Australia |
op_collection_id |
ftunivnewengland |
language |
English |
topic |
Palaeontology (incl. Palynology) Animal Systematics and Taxonomy |
spellingShingle |
Palaeontology (incl. Palynology) Animal Systematics and Taxonomy Bell, Phil School of Environmental and Rural Science orcid:0000-0001-5890-8183 Cau, Andrea Fanti, Federico Smith, Elizabeth T A large-clawed theropod (Dinosauria: Tetanurae) from the Lower Cretaceous of Australia and the Gondwanan origin of megaraptorid theropods |
topic_facet |
Palaeontology (incl. Palynology) Animal Systematics and Taxonomy |
description |
Megaraptoridae comprises a clade of enigmatic Gondwanan theropods with characteristic hypertrophied claws on the first and second manual digits. The majority of megaraptorids are known from South America, although a single genus ('Australovenator') plus additional indeterminate material is also known from Australia. This clade has a controversial placement among theropods, and recently has been interpreted alternatively as a carcharodontosaurian or a tyrannosauroid lineage. We describe new fragmentary but associated postcranial remains from the opal fields of Lightning Ridge (middle-Albian, Griman Creek Formation) in north-central New South Wales. The new unnamed taxon exhibits a number of unusual features that suggest the presence of a hitherto unrecognised Australian megaraptorid. From an Australian perspective, the Lightning Ridge taxon predates Australovenator by ca. 10 Ma and is minimally coeval with megaraptoran material reported from the Eumeralla Formation of Victoria (but potentially 6.1-9.5 Ma younger). It is also notable as the largest predatory dinosaur yet identified from Australia and is only the second theropod known from more than a single element. A Bayesian phylogenetic approach integrating morphological, stratigraphic and palaeogeographic information tested both the carcharodontosaurian and tyrannosauroid placements for Megaraptora. Regardless of the preferred placement among Tetanurae, rigorous palaeobiogeographic analyses support an Asian origin of Megaraptora in the latest Jurassic (about 150-135 Ma), an Early Cretaceous (about 130-121 Ma) divergence of the Gondwanan lineage leading to Megaraptoridae, and an Australian root for megaraptorid radiation. These results indicate that Australia's Cretaceous dinosaur fauna did not comprise simply of immigrant taxa but was a source for complex two-way interchange between Australia-Antarctica-South America leading to the evolution of at least one group of apex predatory dinosaurs in Gondwana. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bell, Phil School of Environmental and Rural Science orcid:0000-0001-5890-8183 Cau, Andrea Fanti, Federico Smith, Elizabeth T |
author_facet |
Bell, Phil School of Environmental and Rural Science orcid:0000-0001-5890-8183 Cau, Andrea Fanti, Federico Smith, Elizabeth T |
author_sort |
Bell, Phil |
title |
A large-clawed theropod (Dinosauria: Tetanurae) from the Lower Cretaceous of Australia and the Gondwanan origin of megaraptorid theropods |
title_short |
A large-clawed theropod (Dinosauria: Tetanurae) from the Lower Cretaceous of Australia and the Gondwanan origin of megaraptorid theropods |
title_full |
A large-clawed theropod (Dinosauria: Tetanurae) from the Lower Cretaceous of Australia and the Gondwanan origin of megaraptorid theropods |
title_fullStr |
A large-clawed theropod (Dinosauria: Tetanurae) from the Lower Cretaceous of Australia and the Gondwanan origin of megaraptorid theropods |
title_full_unstemmed |
A large-clawed theropod (Dinosauria: Tetanurae) from the Lower Cretaceous of Australia and the Gondwanan origin of megaraptorid theropods |
title_sort |
large-clawed theropod (dinosauria: tetanurae) from the lower cretaceous of australia and the gondwanan origin of megaraptorid theropods |
publisher |
Elsevier BV |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/20004 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica |
op_relation |
10.1016/j.gr.2015.08.004 https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/20004 une:20200 |
_version_ |
1810489748284768256 |