Dataset Information

New theropod (Tetanurae: Avetheropoda) material from the 'mid'-Cretaceous Griman Creek Formation at Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia [corrected].

ABSTRACT: The limited fossil record of Australian Cretaceous theropods is dominated by megaraptorids, reported from associated and isolated material from the Early Cretaceous of Victoria and the 'Mid'-Cretaceous of central-north New South Wales and central Queensland. Here, we report on new postcranial theropod material from the early Late Cretaceous Griman Creek Formation at Lightning Ridge. Among this new material is an associated set consisting of two anterior caudal vertebrae and a pubic peduncle of the ilium, to which a morphologically similar partial vertebral centra from a separate locality is tentatively referred. These elements display a combination of characteristics that are present in megaraptorid and carcharodontosaurid theropods, including camellate internal organization of the vertebral centra, ventrally keeled anterior caudal centra and a pubic peduncle of the ilium with a ventral surface approximately twice as long anteroposteriorly as mediolaterally wide. Unfortunately, a lack of unambiguous synapomorphies precludes accurate taxonomic placement; however, avetheropodan affinities are inferred. This new material represents the second instance of a medium-sized theropod from this interval, and only the third known example of associated preservation in an Australian theropod. Additional isolated theropod material is also described, including an avetheropodan femoral head that shows similarities to Allosaurus and Australovenator, and a mid-caudal vertebral centrum bearing pneumatic foraminae and extensive camellae that is referrable to Megaraptora and represents the first axial skeletal element of a megaraptorid described from Lightning Ridge.

SUBMITTER: Brougham T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6366187 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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New theropod (Tetanurae: Avetheropoda) material from the 'mid'-Cretaceous Griman Creek Formation at Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia [corrected].

Brougham Tom T Smith Elizabeth T ET Bell Phil R PR

Royal Society open science 20190130 1

The limited fossil record of Australian Cretaceous theropods is dominated by megaraptorids, reported from associated and isolated material from the Early Cretaceous of Victoria and the 'Mid'-Cretaceous of central-north New South Wales and central Queensland. Here, we report on new postcranial theropod material from the early Late Cretaceous Griman Creek Formation at Lightning Ridge. Among this new material is an associated set consisting of two anterior caudal vertebrae and a pubic peduncle of t ...[more]

PMID: 30800346

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Project description:The Australian Mesozoic crocodyliform record is sparse in comparison to other Gondwanan localities. A single formally-named taxon is known from this interval; Isisfordia duncani (Winton Formation, Albian-Turonian, Queensland). We present a previously undescribed crocodyliform braincase from the Griman Creek Formation (Cenomanian), New South Wales, which we assign to Isisfordia molnari sp. nov. Assignment to the genus is based on the possession of a newly-defined autapomorphy of Isisfordia: a broadly exposed prootic within the supratemporal foramen. A second autapomorphy of I. duncani (maximum diameter of the caudal aperture of the cranioquadrate siphonium approximately one-third the mediolateral width of the foramen magnum, with the lateral wall of the caudal aperture formed exclusively by the quadrate) may also be present in I. molnari; however, definitive recognition of this feature is marred by incomplete preservation. The new taxon is differentiated from I. duncani based on the absence of a median ridge on the parietal, and the lack of characteristic ridges on the parietal that form the medial margin of the supratemporal foramina. Reanalysis of a second specimen (the former holotype of the nomen dubium,'Crocodylus (Bottosaurus) selaslophensis') allows for its referral to the genus Isisfordia. Crucial to this reappraisal is the reinterpretation of the specimen as a partial maxilla, not the dentary as previously thought. This maxillary fragment possesses specific characteristics shared only with I. duncani; namely an alveolar groove. However, several key features differentiate the maxillary fragment from I. duncani, specifically the presence of continuous alveolar septa, the thickening of the medial alveolar rim, and the alveolar and crown base morphology. These findings constitute the first evidence of Isisfordia outside of the type locality and indicate its widespread occurrence on the freshwater floodplains along the eastern margin of the epeiric Eromanga Sea during the Albian-Cenomanian.

Dataset Information

New theropod (Tetanurae: Avetheropoda) material from the 'mid'-Cretaceous Griman Creek Formation at Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia [corrected].

Publications

New theropod (Tetanurae: Avetheropoda) material from the 'mid'-Cretaceous Griman Creek Formation at Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia [corrected].

Similar Datasets

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