Dataset Information

Martharaptor greenriverensis, a new theropod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Utah.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The Yellow Cat Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation (Early Cretaceous, Barremian?) of Utah has yielded a rich dinosaur fauna, including the basal therizinosauroid theropod Falcarius utahensis at its base. Recent excavation uncovered a new possible therizinosauroid taxon from a higher stratigraphic level in the Cedar Mountain Formation than F. utahensis.

Methodology/principal findings

Here we describe a fragmentary skeleton of the new theropod and perform a phylogenetic analysis to determine its phylogenetic position. The skeleton includes fragments of vertebrae, a scapula, forelimb and hindlimb bones, and an ischium. It also includes several well-preserved manual unguals. Manual and pedal morphology show that the specimen is distinct from other theropods from the Cedar Mountain Formation and from previously described therizinosauroids. It is here named as the holotype of a new genus and species, Martharaptor greenriverensis. Phylogenetic analysis places M. greenriverensis within Therizinosauroidea as the sister taxon to Alxasaurus + Therizinosauridae, although support for this placement is weak.

Conclusions/significance

The new specimen adds to the known dinosaurian fauna of the Yellow Cat Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation. If the phylogenetic placement is correct, it also adds to the known diversity of Therizinosauroidea.

SUBMITTER: Senter P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3430620 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Martharaptor greenriverensis, a new theropod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Utah.

Senter Phil P Kirkland James I JI DeBlieux Donald D DD

PloS one 20120829 8

<h4>Background</h4>The Yellow Cat Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation (Early Cretaceous, Barremian?) of Utah has yielded a rich dinosaur fauna, including the basal therizinosauroid theropod Falcarius utahensis at its base. Recent excavation uncovered a new possible therizinosauroid taxon from a higher stratigraphic level in the Cedar Mountain Formation than F. utahensis.<h4>Methodology/principal findings</h4>Here we describe a fragmentary skeleton of the new theropod and perform a phylogeneti ...[more]

PMID: 22952806

Similar Datasets

Project description:A profound understanding of the influence of trackmaker anatomy, foot movements and substrate properties is crucial for any interpretation of fossil tracks. In this case study we analyze variability of footprint shape within one large theropod (T3), one medium-sized theropod (T2) and one ornithopod (I1) trackway from the Lower Cretaceous of Münchehagen (Lower Saxony, Germany) in order to determine the informativeness of individual features and measurements for ichnotaxonomy, trackmaker identification, and the discrimination between left and right footprints. Landmark analysis is employed based on interpretative outline drawings derived from photogrammetric data, allowing for the location of variability within the footprint and the assessment of covariation of separate footprint parts. Objective methods to define the margins of a footprint are tested and shown to be sufficiently accurate to reproduce the most important results. The lateral hypex and the heel are the most variable regions in the two theropod trackways. As indicated by principal component analysis, a posterior shift of the lateral hypex is correlated with an anterior shift of the margin of the heel. This pattern is less pronounced in the ornithopod trackway, indicating that variation patterns can differ in separate trackways. In all trackways, hypices vary independently from each other, suggesting that their relative position a questionable feature for ichnotaxonomic purposes. Most criteria commonly employed to differentiate between left and right footprints assigned to theropods are found to be reasonably reliable. The described ornithopod footprints are asymmetrical, again allowing for a left-right differentiation. Strikingly, 12 out of 19 measured footprints of the T2 trackway are stepped over the trackway midline, rendering the trackway pattern a misleading left-right criterion for this trackway. Traditional measurements were unable to differentiate between the theropod and the ornithopod trackways. Geometric morphometric analysis reveals potential for improvement of existing discriminant methods.

Project description:Studying the evolution and biogeographic distribution of dinosaurs during the latest Cretaceous is critical for better understanding the end-Cretaceous extinction event that killed off all non-avian dinosaurs. Western North America contains among the best records of Late Cretaceous terrestrial vertebrates in the world, but is biased against small-bodied dinosaurs. Isolated teeth are the primary evidence for understanding the diversity and evolution of small-bodied theropod dinosaurs during the Late Cretaceous, but few such specimens have been well documented from outside of the northern Rockies, making it difficult to assess Late Cretaceous dinosaur diversity and biogeographic patterns. We describe small theropod teeth from the San Juan Basin of northwestern New Mexico. These specimens were collected from strata spanning Santonian - Maastrichtian. We grouped isolated theropod teeth into several morphotypes, which we assigned to higher-level theropod clades based on possession of phylogenetic synapomorphies. We then used principal components analysis and discriminant function analyses to gauge whether the San Juan Basin teeth overlap with, or are quantitatively distinct from, similar tooth morphotypes from other geographic areas. The San Juan Basin contains a diverse record of small theropods. Late Campanian assemblages differ from approximately coeval assemblages of the northern Rockies in being less diverse with only rare representatives of troodontids and a Dromaeosaurus-like taxon. We also provide evidence that erect and recurved morphs of a Richardoestesia-like taxon represent a single heterodont species. A late Maastrichtian assemblage is dominated by a distinct troodontid. The differences between northern and southern faunas based on isolated theropod teeth provide evidence for provinciality in the late Campanian and the late Maastrichtian of North America. However, there is no indication that major components of small-bodied theropod diversity were lost during the Maastrichtian in New Mexico. The same pattern seen in northern faunas, which may provide evidence for an abrupt dinosaur extinction.

Dataset Information

Martharaptor greenriverensis, a new theropod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Utah.

Background

Methodology/principal findings

Conclusions/significance

Publications

Martharaptor greenriverensis, a new theropod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Utah.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets