INVESTIGADORES
EZCURRA Martin Daniel
artículos
Título:
Theropod dinosaurs from Argentina
Autor/es:
EZCURRA, M. D.; NOVAS, F. E.
Revista:
Contribuciones Científicas del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ?Bernardino Rivadavia?
Editorial:
Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales
Referencias:
Lugar: Capital Federal; Año: 2016 vol. 6 p. 139 - 156
Resumen:
Theropoda includes all the dinosaurs more closely related to birds than to sauropodomorphs (long-necked dinosaurs) and ornithischians (bird-hipped dinosaurs). The oldest members of the group are early Late Triassic in age, and non-avian theropods flourished during the rest of the Mesozoic until they vanished in the Cretaceous-Palaeogene mass extinction. Theropods radiated into two main lineages, Ceratosauria and Tetanurae, which are well represented in Cretaceous rocks from Argentina. Ceratosaurians are the most taxonomically diverse South American non-avian theropods, including small to large-sized species, such as the iconic horned dinosaur Carnotaurus. Argentinean tetanurans are represented by multiple lineages that include some of the largest carnivorous dinosaurs known worldwide (carcharodontosaurids), the enigmatic large-clawed megaraptorans, and small to medium-sized species very closely related to avialans (e.g. unenlagiids). The Argentinean non-avian theropod record has been and is crucial to understand the evolutionary and palaeobiogeographical history of the group in the southern continents during the Mesozoic.