Novel information on the endocranial morphology of the abelisaurid theropod Carnotaurus sastrei

CERRONI, M.A.; PAULINA CARABAJAL, A.

COMPTES RENDUS PALEVOL

ELSEVIER FRANCE-EDITIONS SCIENTIFIQUES MEDICALES ELSEVIER

Lugar: Paris; Año: 2019

1631-0683

The endocranial morphology of the abelisaurid Carnotaurus sastrei, from the UpperCretaceous of Patagonia, is studied using X-ray Computed Tomography (CT). TheCT scans provided information that allowed the first reconstruction of thebrain, inner ear and braincase pneumaticity for this South American taxon. Theendocranial morphology suggests that abelisauridsshare an overall conformation of the brain and inner ear. However, some traits,such as the height of the dorsal sinuses and the length of the flocculus in thecranial endocast, and a large subsellar recess in the basicranium, appear tocharacterize the South-American abelisaurids only. Moreover, the olfactoryacuity of Carnotaurus resembles thereported for other studied abelisaurids so far (e.g. Majungasaurus, Viavenator)suggesting that the sense of smell would have had an important role, but someattributes of the endocranial features of Carnotaurus(i.e development and orientation of olfactory bulbs and tracts) may implyparticular olfactory capacities when compared with other abelisaurids.