INVESTIGADORES
EZCURRA Martin Daniel
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
A REASSESSMENT OF THE CRETACEOUS NON-AVIAN DINOSAUR FAUNAS OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
Autor/es:
SALISBURY, S. W.; AGNOLIN, F. L.; EZCURRA, M. D.; PAIS, D. F.
Reunión:
Congreso; CAVEPS 2009; 2009
Resumen:
Cretaceous dinosaur faunas of Australia and New Zealand have traditionally been considered distinct from those of other Gondwanan landmasses. Some Australasian Cretaceous dinosaurs have been regarded as relics of clades that were more common in the Jurassic, and others as early representatives of groups that are more typical of Laurasia. It has also been proposed that ornithomimosaurians, oviraptorosaurians, dromaeosaurids and neoceratopsians may have originated in Australia before dispersing to Laurasia where they subsequently radiated. These taxonomic and palaeobiogeographic interpretations are at odds with the pervading faunal signal from other parts of Gondwana during the Cretaceous, with varying amounts of faunal interchange between South America, India, Madagascar and Africa.Here we review all described and figured Cretaceous non-avian dinosaurs from Australia and New Zealand. Our results basically confirm the currently accepted phylogenetic affinities of described Australian Cretaceous sauropod material (Titanosauriformes), Minmi (Ankylosauromorpha) and Muttaburrasaurus (Styracosterna). Among Australian ?hypsilophodontids?, only Leaellynasaura and Qantassaurus are considered valid, and reinterpreted as non-dryomorphan iguanodontians. Material assigned to the alleged neoceratopsian Serendipaceratops and ?Protoceratopsia? indet. is placed in Genasauria indet. and Ornithischia indet., respectively. No Australian theropod taxon is considered valid. Walgettosuchus is placed in Theropod indet., while Kakuru and Victoria?s ?pygmy? Allosaurus are tentatively referred to Abelisauroidea indet. As with recently described material from Victoria, Rapator is placed in Spinosauroidea cf. Megaraptor. Timimus and oviraptorosaurian material are referred to Dromaeosauridae cf. Unenlagiinae. Our results indicate that the majority Australasian Cretaceous dinosaurs display affinities that are concordant with current palaeobiogeographic models for Gondwanan terrestrial vertebrate distributions.