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1.
《Cretaceous Research》2012,33(6):774-780
Rebbachisauridae is a poorly understood clade of diplodocoid sauropod dinosaurs, currently known only from the Cretaceous of Africa, Europe and South America. European representatives are particularly rare and fragmentary. Here, we report an anterior caudal vertebra from the Barremian (Early Cretaceous) Wessex Formation of the Isle of Wight, off the southern coast of England. This specimen possesses several features known only in rebbachisaurids and shares two synapomorphies with the Afro-European taxa Demandasaurus darwini and Nigersaurus taqueti, both pertaining to the morphology of the neural spine. These features are the development of triangular lateral processes and the presence of an elliptical fossa on the lateral surface, bounded by the lateral lamina and postspinal rugosity. The Isle of Wight specimen also shares several features solely with Demandasaurus, indicating a close relationship with the Spanish taxon. These include the presence of a hyposphenal ridge, as well as an anteriorly excavated caudal rib that is restricted almost entirely to the neural arch. However, it differs from Demandasaurus in a number of ways, including the lack of excavation on the posterior surface of the caudal rib, the orientation of the neural spine, and the composition and morphology of the lateral lamina. In addition, the Isle of Wight vertebra possesses one potential autapomorphy: bifurcation of the elliptical fossa on the neural spine. However, because of the fragmentary nature of the material, a new name is not erected. Along with Demandasaurus and Histriasaurus boscarollii, this caudal vertebra indicates the presence of at least three European rebbachisaurid taxa and provides new anatomical information on this enigmatic clade of sauropod dinosaurs.  相似文献   

2.
Rebbachisauridae is a poorly understood clade of diplodocoid sauropod dinosaurs, currently known only from the Cretaceous of Africa, Europe and South America. European representatives are particularly rare and fragmentary. Here, we report an anterior caudal vertebra from the Barremian (Early Cretaceous) Wessex Formation of the Isle of Wight, off the southern coast of England. This specimen possesses several features known only in rebbachisaurids and shares two synapomorphies with the Afro-European taxa Demandasaurus darwini and Nigersaurus taqueti, both pertaining to the morphology of the neural spine. These features are the development of triangular lateral processes and the presence of an elliptical fossa on the lateral surface, bounded by the lateral lamina and postspinal rugosity. The Isle of Wight specimen also shares several features solely with Demandasaurus, indicating a close relationship with the Spanish taxon. These include the presence of a hyposphenal ridge, as well as an anteriorly excavated caudal rib that is restricted almost entirely to the neural arch. However, it differs from Demandasaurus in a number of ways, including the lack of excavation on the posterior surface of the caudal rib, the orientation of the neural spine, and the composition and morphology of the lateral lamina. In addition, the Isle of Wight vertebra possesses one potential autapomorphy: bifurcation of the elliptical fossa on the neural spine. However, because of the fragmentary nature of the material, a new name is not erected. Along with Demandasaurus and Histriasaurus boscarollii, this caudal vertebra indicates the presence of at least three European rebbachisaurid taxa and provides new anatomical information on this enigmatic clade of sauropod dinosaurs.  相似文献   

3.
Fossil snakes are relatively well represented in the Upper Cretaceous of northern Africa, with material known from Morocco, Sudan, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, and Niger. The Moroccan Kem Kem beds have yielded a particularly diverse snake assemblage, with Simoliophiidae, Madtsoiidae, ?Nigerophiidae and several unnamed taxa co-occurring. These fossils are important for our understanding of the early evolutionary history of snakes, and may shed light on the ecology and initial diversification of basal snakes. We describe a new taxon, Norisophis begaa gen. et sp. nov., from the Kem Kem beds of Begaa, in southeast Morocco. It is characterised by a marked interzygapophyseal constriction, parazygantral foramina, an incipient prezygapophyseal process, and an anterio-posteriorly short centrum. Several characteristics shared with Najash, Seismophis, Madtsoiidae, and Coniophis suggest that Norisophis is a stem ophidian. N. begaa further increases the diversity and disparity of snakes within the Kem Kem beds, supporting the hypothesis that Africa was a mid-Cretaceous hotspot for snake diversity.  相似文献   

4.
A jaw bone attributed to the mid-Cretaceous azhdarchid pterosaur Alanqa saharica Ibrahim et al., 2010 is described. The new specimen from the Kem Kem beds of south eastern Morocco is unusual for the presence of expanded rostral bones that protrude above the occlusal surface of the jaws. The function of this unusual osteological modification is uncertain, but it is considered likely that it served a role in food processing, or perhaps jaw stability.  相似文献   

5.
We describe a new titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur, Borealosaurus wimani gen. et sp. nov., based on a distinctive mid-distal caudal vertebra from the early Late Cretaceous Sunjiawan Formation exposed in the Shuangmiao village of Beipiao in Liaoning, China. We provisionally refer an isolated tooth crown, a middle caudal vertebra, and a right humerus from the same locality and horizon to this taxon. Borealosaurus is distinguished from other sauropods in its possession of opisthocoelous mid-distal caudal vertebrae. The occurrence of opisthocoelous caudals in Borealosaurus and the Mongolian sauropod Opisthocoelicaudia raises the possibility that these taxa pertain to an as-yet unrecognized titanosaurian subclade endemic to the Cretaceous Asia.  相似文献   

6.
Here we describe the first sauropod skeletal remains from the Italian peninsula that also represent the earliest record of titanosaurs in Southern Europe. Scattered bones, including an almost complete anterior caudal vertebra, were found in Cretaceous (Aptian–Albian) marine deposits, some 50 km East of Rome. The vertebra shows a bizarre and perhaps unique orientation of the zygapophyseal articular facets that renders their interpretation problematic. Phylogenetic retrofitting tests support the placement of the Italian titanosaur among basal lithostrotians. Palaeobiogeographic analysis based on the resulting phyletic relationships suggests an Afro-Eurasian route for the ancestors of the Italian titanosaur, a scenario compatible with the palaeogeographic evolution of the Italian microplates during the Cretaceous. Together with previously recorded titanosaurian-like ichnites from a Cenomanian locality in Latium, this new find suggests a quite long emersion for the Apenninic carbonate platform. We suggest that the Italian titanosaur was member of a population that crossed the western Tethys Sea through a “filtering bridge” composed of a chain of ephemeral islands and peninsulae, known as Periadriatic (Adria) carbonate platforms, that connected sporadically Africa and Europe since the Early Cretaceous.  相似文献   

7.
A study of the abundant and undescribed isolated and associated bones and teeth from the La Amarga Formation (Barremian of Neuquén, Argentina) permitted the recognition of additional clades of sauropod dinosaurs: basal titanosauriforms, both basal and derived titanosaurs, and rebbachisauroid diplodocoids, which are now added to the already known dicraeosaurids and a recently published basal diplodocoid. These forms substantially increase the knowledge on the Early Cretaceous sauropod diversity in Gondwana.  相似文献   

8.
A new long-necked sauropod dinosaur, Yunmenglong ruyangensis gen. et sp. nov., is erected on the basis of an incomplete skeleton from the late Early Cretaceous Haoling Formation of the Ruyang Basin, Henan Province. The characters of the anterior cervical vertebrae, the shape of the neural canal of the dorsal vertebra and the ball-shaped distal end of the neural spine of caudal vertebrae with coarse surfaces differ from other long-necked sauropod dinosaurs. The new genus has characters in common with both Euhelopus and Erketu; it represents the first long-necked sauropod dinosaur recorded from central China to date. The rod-like, well-developed epipophyses and the pleurocoels on the cervical vertebrae indicate that it may be close to Euhelopus, an observation also confirmed by a phylogenetic analysis, which shows that Erketu, Yunmenglong and Qiaowanlong form a clade, and are more derived than Euhelopus.  相似文献   

9.
The South American sauropod dinosaurs fossil record is one of the world's most relevant for their abundance (51 taxa) and biogeographical implications. Their historical biogeography was influenced by the continental fragmentation of Gondwana. The scenery of biogeographic and stratigraphic distributions can provide new insight into the causes of the evolution of the sauropods in South America. One of the most important events of the sauropods evolution is the progressive replacement of Diplodocimorpha by the Titanosauriformes during the early Late Cretaceous. The fluctuation of the sea levels is frequently related to the diversity of sauropods, but it is necessary to take into account the geological context in each continent. During the Maastrichthian, a global sea level drop has been described; in contrast, in South America there was a significant rise in sea level (named ‘Atlantic transgression’) which is confirmed by sedimentary sequences and the fossil record of marine vertebrates. This process occurred during the Maastrichtian, when the hadrosaurs arrived from North America. The titanosaurs were amazingly diverse during the Late Cretaceous, both in size and morphology, but they declined prior to their final extinction in the Cretaceous/Paleocene boundary (65.5Yrs).  相似文献   

10.
There are 24 known localities for skeletal remains of sauropod dinosaurs in the republics of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan). Sauropod remains are very rare at all these localities and represented usually only by isolated teeth. Only narrow-crowned teeth are known from the Cretaceous of Central Asia. The oldest record of such teeth is from the Aptian Sultanbobo Formation of Uzbekistan. Exposures of the Turonian Bissekty Formation at the most productive vertebrate locality in the region, Dzharakuduk in Uzbekistan, has yielded many isolated teeth and a few skeletal remains that can be attributed to a non-lithostrotian titanosaur. Similar narrow-crowned, cylindrical teeth from Cenomanian-to Coniacian-age strata in the Kyzylkum Desert, Uzbekistan, may belong to a closely related taxon. Another taxon, with teeth that are pentagonal in cross-section, is known from the Santonian Yalovach and Bostobe formations of Tajikistan and western Kazakhstan, respectively. A femur reported from the Santonian Syuksyuk Formation of southern Kazakhstan possibly belongs to a lithostrotian titanosaur. The change in tooth structure at the Coniacian–Santonian boundary in the region possibly suggests replacement of non-lithostrotian titanosaurs by lithostrotians. The titanosaur from the Bissekty Formation is similar to Dongyangosaurus sinensis from the Cenomanian–Turonian of Zhejiang (China) in the extensive pneumatization of the neural arch on the anterior caudal vertebrae with several fossae. It also resembles Baotianmansaurus henanensis from the Cenomanian of Henan (China) in the possession of very short anterior caudal centra. These three taxa possibly represent an as yet formally unrecognized endemic clade of Asian non-lithostrotian titanosaurs.  相似文献   

11.
白垩纪四足动物足印的生物地层学、生物年代学与遗迹相   总被引:3,自引:2,他引:1  
从全球范围来看,白垩纪四足动物的足印多数是非鸟恐龙与鸟类留下的痕迹;少量足印来自翼龙、鳄鱼、龟、哺乳动物和其他四足动物。白垩纪的足迹化石以东亚(尤其是中国和朝鲜)和北美西部的最为人所知。南美(主要是阿根廷和巴西)也有一定数量广泛分布的足迹化石,欧洲、非洲与澳大利亚的白垩纪足迹组合则鲜为人知。以白垩纪四足动物的足印记录为基础,我们对两个全球足印生物年代重新进行了检查。早白垩世生物年代以蜥脚类与鸟脚类的足迹为特征。晚白垩世生物年代中的蜥脚类足迹较少,但是鸭嘴龙、暴龙和角龙的足迹增多了。另外,白垩纪足印化石的记录中记载了许多重要的生物地层学信息,如北美白垩纪中期蜥脚类恐龙的消失,以及白垩纪末恐龙的绝灭。越来越多来自东亚的白垩纪足印记录使我们对更精细的地方性白垩纪足印生物年代学有了初步印象。因此,以地方性四足恐龙(包括鸟类)遗迹属的地层分布为基础,可以识别出三个或四个足印生物年代。种类丰富并具有地方性特色的东亚的白垩纪鸟类动物的遗迹群,可能指示白垩纪时东亚存在着一个独特而繁盛的鸟类动物群。以足印化石为基础的这一假说有待进一步的验证。  相似文献   

12.
列举并尝试对比了非洲早白垩世脊椎动物化石的主要产地。晚侏罗世(坦桑尼亚的敦达古鲁基默里奇期提塘期)至白垩纪最早期(南非的阿尔戈阿盆地凡兰吟期)的组合中含有剑龙、腕龙和梁龙,到前阿普特期(欧特里沃期巴列姆期?)被另一组合所取代。这一更年轻的组合中含有重爪龙亚科棘龙类、大头鳄类鳄鱼Sarcosuchus以及大型禽龙,它们主要来自尼日尔(ElRhaz组和喀麦隆(Koum组),部分来自利比亚(Cabao组)和突尼斯(Douiret组),后两组中还含有鲨鱼Priohybodus ar ambourgi。阿普特期(?)至早阿尔必期组合中仍含有禽龙,但是棘龙科棘龙类取代了重爪龙亚科。早塞诺曼期组合(Bahariya,Kem Kem)以恐龙Spinosaurus、Carcharodonto saurus,鲨鱼(Onchopris tisnumidus)和鳄鱼(利比亚鳄类、无棘腔鳄类)为特征。由此可知,中非的一些原先被认为是早白垩世的地层(坦桑尼亚的Galula组、马拉维的含恐龙层)为晚白垩世。脊椎动物化石在非洲陆相地层的对比中具有重要作用。  相似文献   

13.
An isolated jaw fragment from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) Cambridge Greensand Member of the West Melbury Marly Chalk Formation previously identified as a cestraciontid shark fin spine is referred to the pterosaur clade Azhdarchoidea on account of its lateral and occlusal foramina and edentuly. The specimen differs from the azhdarchoid Ornithostoma sedgwicki from the same deposit in having flat lateral surfaces and an acute dorsal/ventral apex. The specimen is similar in overall morphology to CAMSM B40085 from the same horizon and probably represents the corresponding jaw but from a different individual. Likely these specimens represent a new taxon but are considered too fragmentary to diagnose at present. A remarkably similar and distinctive morphology is found in unnamed pterosaur jaws from the Kem Kem Group (?Albian-Cenomanian) of Morocco, supporting the idea of faunal similarity between these two distant localities.  相似文献   

14.
We describe new and redescribe previously discovered sauropod dinosaur material from the Upper Cretaceous (middle Cenomanian–Turonian) Bajo Barreal Formation of south-central Chubut Province, central Patagonia, Argentina. The remains consist of associated and isolated axial skeletal elements recovered from three separate localities, and are herein assigned to the morphologically aberrant Rebbachisauridae clade. Several of the fossils exhibit osteological characters that were previously undocumented in rebbachisaurids, enhancing our understanding of the morphological diversity of this enigmatic sauropod group. In particular, the Bajo Barreal material demonstrates the occurrence within Rebbachisauridae of bifurcate neural spines in cervical vertebrae and well-developed, presumably pneumatic fossae in caudal vertebrae; among Diplodocoidea, these distinctive morphologies had previously been recognized only in flagellicaudatans. Furthermore, the Bajo Barreal fossils constitute the southernmost known occurrences of Diplodocoidea, adding to the globally sparse Late Cretaceous record of these sauropods and augmenting our knowledge of central Patagonian terrestrial vertebrate assemblages during this interval.  相似文献   

15.
吉林九台白垩系一新的蜥脚类恐龙   总被引:4,自引:0,他引:4  
记述了蜥脚类恐龙(Sauropoda)中一新的属种—西地九台龙(Jiutaisaurusxidiensisgen.etsp.nov.),包括18个相关节的尾椎及13个脉弧。化石产于吉林九台白垩纪泉头组的紫色-杂色砂岩中。其主要特征为:中部尾椎椎体两侧出现前后延长的棱脊,前-中部尾椎双凹型,神经弓位于椎体前半部,脉弧不分叉,血管孔长度约占脉弧长度的1/2以上。新属种的发现对进一步研究白垩纪蜥脚类恐龙的系统演化、古地理分布等提供了新的材料。  相似文献   

16.
The informally called ‘Continental intercalaire’ is a series of continental and brackish deposits that outcrops in several regions of North Africa. The age of the series is not well-constrained, but its upper part, visible in the ‘Kem Kem beds’ in Morocco and in Bahariya in Egypt, is regarded as early Cenomanian in age. Spinosaurid remains are an important component of this series, but records of this dinosaur are surprisingly rare in Algerian localities of the ‘Continental intercalaire’. Here, we describe a vertebrate assemblage from two localities, Kénadsa and Menaguir, situated in the Guir basin, Western Algeria. The assemblage comprises hybodont sharks, sarcopterygian fishes, ray-finned fishes, turtles, crocodiles and dinosaurs. Among the latter, only teeth of theropods have been recovered and 94% belong to Spinosaurus. The assemblage is taxonomically very similar to the Moroccan and Egyptian assemblages mentioned above. This study: 1) suggests a likely early Cenomanian age for the Guir basin deposits containing the assemblage; 2) provides a new evidence of the homogeneity of the early Cenomanian vertebrate fauna throughout North Africa; and 3) confirms the overabundance of theropod dinosaurs, especially spinosaurs, in the assemblage showing a possible shortcut in the vertebrate food chain. The northern most locality, Menaguir, shows sedimentological and ichnological evidence of marine influences indicating that the palaeoenvironment shows spatial heterogeneities.  相似文献   

17.
The Early Cretaceous Zhidan Group in the northern Ordos Basin, Inner Mongolia, yielded a large number of tetrapods, including turtles, choristoderes, crocodyliforms, psittacosaurs, stegosaurs, theropods and birds. Well-preserved sauropod teeth have been found in the Luohandong Formation, a middle-upper unit of the Zhidan Group. The large V-shaped wear facet, low slenderness index value, labial grooves, lingual ridge and concavity on the tooth crown suggest that these teeth are from titanosauriforms. Moreover, the presence of the prominent bosses on the lingual side of the tooth crown indicates these teeth should be identified as Euhelopus teeth further. The existence of Euhelopus in Ordos Basin (Inner Mongolia), Shandong Province and western Liaoning Province shows some connections about vertebrate faunas during Early Cretaceous in these areas. Other tetrapod groups such as turtles (Sinemys, Ordosemys), choristoderes (Ikechosaurus), psittacosaurs (Psittacosaurus) and birds (Cathayornis) provide more evidences for this viewpoint.  相似文献   

18.
Based on a partial postcranial skeleton collected from the Lower Cretaceous Napai Formation of Guangxi, China, we erect a new sauropod taxon, Fusuisaurus zhaoi gen. et sp. nov. The holotype specimen consists of the left ilium, left pubis, anterior caudals, most of the dorsal ribs and distal end of the left femur. Fusuisaurus zhaoi is diagnosed by a unique combination of character states among the known sauropods. It displays several synapomorphies of Titanosauriformes but lacks many derived features seen in other titanosauriforms, suggesting that the new taxon represents the basalmost known titanosauriform and providing new evidence that Titanosauriformes originated from Asia. A size comparison suggests that Fusuisaurus zhaoi is among the largest Early Cretaceous sauropods, providing an important addition to the Early Cretaceous Chinese sauropod diversity.  相似文献   

19.
The Bajiu tracksite exposed on a fine sandstone surface at the top of the Feitianshan Formation, close the contact with the overlying Xiaoba Formation, reveals a saurischian dominated ichnofauna consisting of four sauropod and at least eight theropod trackways. The sauropod trackways display a medium-wide gauge pattern characteristic of titanosauriforms, while the theropod trackways can be subdivided into two distinct morphotypes. One is similar to the ichnogenera Eubrontes and Megalosauripus, the other (cf. Dromaeopodus) appears to represent a functionally didactyl dromaeosaur where pedal digit II is represented only by an oval basal pad. A single swim track is possibly attributable to a turtle or crocodylian. Such sauropod-theropod dominated ichnofaunas are consistently typical of the red-bed tracksites in the region and useful for characterizing a fauna that is otherwise poorly known from body fossils. The stratigraphic position and late occurrence of the (typical Jurassic) Eubrontes-Megalosauripus morphotype is well known from other Cretaceous localities in China and seems to reflect a peculiarity in the theropod faunas of East Asia.  相似文献   

20.
首次在山西新荣地区晚白垩世助马堡组发现了巨型蜥脚类恐龙股骨化石。通过详细观测该股骨化石的保存状态、保存长度和股骨近端最大长度,估算该股骨化石实际长度约1.9 m,该蜥脚类恐龙体长可能超过30.0 m。在对化石层沉积相和古流向分析的基础上,分析了该股骨化石的埋藏环境。助马堡组为一套规模大、弯曲度高、水动力强的曲流河沉积,该蜥脚类恐龙死后在曲流河中经短—中距离搬运后被埋藏。新荣地区巨型蜥脚类恐龙股骨化石的发现,不仅扩大了晚白垩世巨型蜥脚类恐龙在中国北方地区的分布范围,同时对左云—新荣地区白垩纪古气候和古环境的研究具有重要意义。  相似文献   

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