Abelisaurus

Abelisaurus
	Abelisaurus skull reconstruction in the Dinosaurs of Patagonia exhibition .
Temporal occurrence
	Upper Cretaceous (Lower to Middle Campanium )
	83.6 to 76.4 million years
Locations
	Argentina ( Anacleto formation );
Systematics
	Lizard dinosaur (Saurischia)
	Theropoda
	Ceratosauria
	Abelisauroidea
	Abelisauridae
	Abelisaurus
Scientific name
	Abelisaurus
	Bonaparte & Novas , 1985
Art
	Abelisaurus comahuensis;

Live artistic representation of Abelisaurus .

Abelisaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the group of Ceratosauria . This large, two-legged carnivore is only known for its incomplete skull, which comes from the Upper Cretaceous (early to middle Campanian ) Argentina . Abelisaurus is the eponymous representative of the Abelisauridae and the Abelisauroidea . The genus wasscientifically described for the first timein 1985 by José Fernando Bonaparte and Fernando Novas with the only species Abelisaurus comahuensis to date.

The name Abelisaurus ("Abel's lizard") honors Roberto Abel, director of the Museo de Cipolleti and discoverer of the fossil. The second part of the species name, comahuensis , refers to the Comahue region , from which the fossil comes.

features

Abelisaurus is estimated to have a body length of 6.5 to 10 m, a hip height of 2 m and a weight of about 1.4 to 4 tons.

The skull found is reconstructed to a maximum length of 85 cm. It was tall and narrow, the skull windows were large. The top of the skull was flattened, with the pair of nasal bones in particular exhibiting noticeable unevenness including small tapering protrusions.

Systematics

Bonaparte and Novas (1985) initially described Abelisaurus as a representative of the Carnosauria ; This group used to include almost all major theropods. In order to take into account the clear differences that distinguish Abelisaurus in comparison with other theropods known at the time, these researchers established a new family within the Carnosauria, the Abelisauridae, which initially contained Abelisaurus as the only representative. Today the Abelisauridae are not classified within the Carnosauria, but within the Ceratosauria, a basal (original) group of theropods.

Within the Ceratosauria, the Abelisauridae are combined with the Noasauridae to form the Abelisauroidea group. Within the Abelisauridae, Abelisaurus is often regarded as a basal representative, as the flattened skullcap is typical of more original genera ( plesiomorphic feature ). Carrano and Sampson (2008) note, however, that other Abelisaurids such as Indosuchus also have a flattened skull roof, and that the relationships between Abelisaurus within the Abelisauridae must be re-examined.

Find

The skull ( holotype , specimen number 11908) was discovered in 1983 by Roberto Abel on Lago Pellegrini in the Argentine province of Rio Negro . He comes from the Anacleto formation , a member of the Neuquén group . Most of the skull has been preserved; the right upper jaw (maxillary), the cheekbone (jugale), the quadratojugale, the squamous bone (os squamosum) and most of the palate are missing .

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Matthew T. Carrano, Scott D. Sampson: The Phylogeny of Ceratosauria (Dinosauria: Theropoda). In: Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. Vol. 6, No. 2, 2008, ISSN 1477-2019 , pp. 183-236, doi : 10.1017 / S1477201907002246 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f José F. Bonaparte , Fernando E. Novas : Abelisaurus comahuensis, ng, n.sp., Carnosauria del Crétacico Tardio de Patagonia. In: Ameghiniana. Vol. 21, No. 2/4, 1985, pp. 259-265, (Translated into English by Matthew Carrano, 1998: Abelisaurus comahuensis, ng, n.sp., Carnosauria from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia. Online (PDF; 31.2 kB) ).
^ ^A ^b Gregory S. Paul : The Princeton Field Guide To Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ et al. 2010, ISBN 978-0-691-13720-9 , p. 79, online .
^ ^A ^b Roberto Ebner, Leonardo Salgado : Computed Tomographic Scan of a Dinosaur's Skull: The Optic Canal. In: Archives of Ophthalmology. Vol. 121, No. 2, 2003, ISSN 0003-9950 , pp. 294-295, doi : 10.1001 / archopht.121.2.294 .

Web links

Commons : Abelisaurus - collection of images, videos and audio files

[carrano_08-1] Matthew T. Carrano, Scott D. Sampson: The Phylogeny of Ceratosauria (Dinosauria: Theropoda). In: Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. Vol. 6, No. 2, 2008, ISSN 1477-2019 , pp. 183-236, doi : 10.1017 / S1477201907002246 .

[bonapartenovas1985-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f José F. Bonaparte , Fernando E. Novas : Abelisaurus comahuensis, ng, n.sp., Carnosauria del Crétacico Tardio de Patagonia. In: Ameghiniana. Vol. 21, No. 2/4, 1985, pp. 259-265, (Translated into English by Matthew Carrano, 1998: Abelisaurus comahuensis, ng, n.sp., Carnosauria from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia. Online (PDF; 31.2 kB) ).

[paul_10-3] A ^b Gregory S. Paul : The Princeton Field Guide To Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ et al. 2010, ISBN 978-0-691-13720-9 , p. 79, online .

[ebner_03-4] A ^b Roberto Ebner, Leonardo Salgado : Computed Tomographic Scan of a Dinosaur's Skull: The Optic Canal. In: Archives of Ophthalmology. Vol. 121, No. 2, 2003, ISSN 0003-9950 , pp. 294-295, doi : 10.1001 / archopht.121.2.294 .