INVESTIGADORES
APESTEGUIA Sebastian
artículos
Título:
Non-avian theropod dinosaurs from the early late cretaceous of central Europe
Autor/es:
ATTILA OSI, SEBASTIAN APESTEGUÍA, MICHAL KOWALEWSKI
Revista:
CRETACEOUS RESEARCH (PRINT)
Editorial:
ACADEMIC PRESS LTD-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
Referencias:
Año: 2010 vol. 31 p. 304 - 320
ISSN:
0195-6671
Resumen:
Quantitative and qualitative analyses of isolated teeth and postcranial elements of non-avian theropod
dinosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian) Csehba´nya Formation, Iharku´ 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 Iharku´ 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 Iharku´ 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 Iharku´ 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 Iharku´ t area may have functioned as a refugium in the early Late Cretaceous Mediterranean
archipelago