A new abelisauroid theropod from northwestern Patagonia

CORIA, R. A.; CURRIE, P. J.; PAULINA CARABAJAL, A.

CANADIAN JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCES

Año: 2006 vol. 43 p. 1283 - 1289

0008-4077

The Argentinian record of abelisauroid theropods begins in the Early Cretaceous (Ligabueino) and spans most of the Late Cretaceous, from Cenomanian (Ilokelesia, Xenotarsosaurus, and Ekrixinatosaurus) to Campanian-Maatrichtian (Abelisaurus, Carnotaurus, Aucasaurus,and Noasaurus). A fragmentary specimen of a theropod dinosaur was collected in 2000 from the middle section of the Lisandro Formation (Turonian?) at Cerro Bayo Mesa, Neuquén Province, Argentina. The fossil-bearing level, which is part of the Lisandro Formation that also yielded the remains of the basal ornithopod Anabisetia saldiviai, corresponds to a reddish, massive mudstone linked with fluvial channel deposits. The theropod identified as MCF-PVPH-237 is an abelisauroid theropod that increases our knowledge about the evolution of South American Abelisauroidea and is the first record of this clade from the Lisandro Formation.