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Pol D, Baiano MA, Černý D, Novas FE, Cerda IA, Pittman M. A new abelisaurid dinosaur from the end Cretaceous of Patagonia and evolutionary rates among the Ceratosauria. Cladistics 2024; 40:307-356. [PMID: 38771085 DOI: 10.1111/cla.12583] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2024] [Revised: 04/24/2024] [Accepted: 04/24/2024] [Indexed: 05/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Gondwanan dinosaur faunae during the 20 Myr preceding the Cretaceous-Palaeogene (K/Pg) extinction included several lineages that were absent or poorly represented in Laurasian landmasses. Among these, the South American fossil record contains diverse abelisaurids, arguably the most successful groups of carnivorous dinosaurs from Gondwana in the Cretaceous, reaching their highest diversity towards the end of this period. Here we describe Koleken inakayali gen. et sp. n., a new abelisaurid from the La Colonia Formation (Maastrichtian, Upper Cretaceous) of Patagonia. Koleken inakayali is known from several skull bones, an almost complete dorsal series, complete sacrum, several caudal vertebrae, pelvic girdle and almost complete hind limbs. The new abelisaurid shows a unique set of features in the skull and several anatomical differences from Carnotaurus sastrei (the only other abelisaurid known from the La Colonia Formation). Koleken inakayali is retrieved as a brachyrostran abelisaurid, clustered with other South American abelisaurids from the latest Cretaceous (Campanian-Maastrichtian), such as Aucasaurus, Niebla and Carnotaurus. Leveraging our phylogeny estimates, we explore rates of morphological evolution across ceratosaurian lineages, finding them to be particularly high for elaphrosaurine noasaurids and around the base of Abelisauridae, before the Early Cretaceous radiation of the latter clade. The Noasauridae and their sister clade show contrasting patterns of morphological evolution, with noasaurids undergoing an early phase of accelerated evolution of the axial and hind limb skeleton in the Jurassic, and the abelisaurids exhibiting sustained high rates of cranial evolution during the Early Cretaceous. These results provide much needed context for the evolutionary dynamics of ceratosaurian theropods, contributing to broader understanding of macroevolutionary patterns across dinosaurs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diego Pol
- Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Mattia Antonio Baiano
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
- School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Área Laboratorio e Investigación, Museo Municipal Ernesto Bachmann, Villa El Chocón, Neuquén, Argentina
- Universidad Nacional de Río Negro (UNRN), General Roca, Río Negro, Argentina
| | - David Černý
- Department of the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Fernando E Novas
- Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Ignacio A Cerda
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Universidad Nacional de Río Negro (UNRN), General Roca, Río Negro, Argentina
- Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología y Geología (IIPG), General Roca, Río Negro, Argentina
- Museo Provincial Carlos Ameghino, Cipolletti, Río Negro, Argentina
| | - Michael Pittman
- School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China
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Ballell A, Mai B, Benton MJ. Divergent strategies in cranial biomechanics and feeding ecology of the ankylosaurian dinosaurs. Sci Rep 2023; 13:18242. [PMID: 37880323 PMCID: PMC10600113 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-45444-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 10/19/2023] [Indexed: 10/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Ankylosaurs were important megaherbivores of Jurassic and Cretaceous ecosystems. Their distinctive craniodental anatomy and mechanics differentiated them from coexisting hadrosaurs and ceratopsians, and morphological evidence suggests dietary niche partitioning between sympatric ankylosaurids and nodosaurids. Here, we investigate the skull biomechanics of ankylosaurs relative to feeding function. First, we compare feeding functional performance between nodosaurids and ankylosaurids applying finite element analysis and lever mechanics to the skulls of Panoplosaurus mirus (Nodosauridae) and Euoplocephalus tutus (Ankylosauridae). We also compare jaw performance across a wider sample of ankylosaurs through lever mechanics and phylogenetic comparative methods. Mandibular stress levels are higher in Euoplocephalus, supporting the view that Panoplosaurus consumed tougher foodstuffs. Bite force and mechanical advantage (MA) estimates indicate that Panoplosaurus had a relatively more forceful and efficient bite than Euoplocephalus. There is little support for a role of the secondary palate in resisting feeding loads in the two ankylosaur clades. Several ankylosaurs converged on similar jaw mechanics, while some nodosaurids specialised towards high MA and some ankylosaurids evolved low MA jaws. Our study supports the hypothesis that ankylosaurs partitioned dietary niches in Late Cretaceous ecosystems and reveals that the two main ankylosaur clades evolved divergent evolutionary pathways in skull biomechanics and feeding habits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Ballell
- Bristol Palaeobiology Group, School of Earth Sciences, Life Sciences Building, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK.
| | - Bohao Mai
- Bristol Palaeobiology Group, School of Earth Sciences, Life Sciences Building, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Michael J Benton
- Bristol Palaeobiology Group, School of Earth Sciences, Life Sciences Building, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK.
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Alarcón-Muñoz J, Vargas AO, Püschel HP, Soto-Acuña S, Manríquez L, Leppe M, Kaluza J, Milla V, Gutstein CS, Palma-Liberona J, Stinnesbeck W, Frey E, Pino JP, Bajor D, Núñez E, Ortiz H, Rubilar-Rogers D, Cruzado-Caballero P. Relict duck-billed dinosaurs survived into the last age of the dinosaurs in subantarctic Chile. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadg2456. [PMID: 37327335 PMCID: PMC10275600 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adg2456] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2022] [Accepted: 05/11/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
In the dusk of the Mesozoic, advanced duck-billed dinosaurs (Hadrosauridae) were so successful that they likely outcompeted other herbivores, contributing to declines in dinosaur diversity. From Laurasia, hadrosaurids dispersed widely, colonizing Africa, South America, and, allegedly, Antarctica. Here, we present the first species of a duck-billed dinosaur from a subantarctic region, Gonkoken nanoi, of early Maastrichtian age in Magallanes, Chile. Unlike duckbills further north in Patagonia, Gonkoken descends from North American forms diverging shortly before the origin of Hadrosauridae. However, at the time, non-hadrosaurids in North America had become replaced by hadrosaurids. We propose that the ancestors of Gonkoken arrived earlier in South America and reached further south, into regions where hadrosaurids never arrived: All alleged subantarctic and Antarctic remains of hadrosaurids could belong to non-hadrosaurid duckbills like Gonkoken. Dinosaur faunas of the world underwent qualitatively different changes before the Cretaceous-Paleogene asteroid impact, which should be considered when discussing their possible vulnerability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jhonatan Alarcón-Muñoz
- Red Paleontológica U-Chile, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- Área Paleontología, Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Alexander O. Vargas
- Red Paleontológica U-Chile, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Hans P. Püschel
- Red Paleontológica U-Chile, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Grant Institute, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Sergio Soto-Acuña
- Red Paleontológica U-Chile, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- KayTreng Consultores SpA, Ñuñoa, Santiago, Chile
- Escuela de Geología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Mayor, Manuel Montt 367, Providencia, Santiago, Chile
| | | | - Marcelo Leppe
- Laboratorio de Paleobiología, Instituto Nacional Antártico Chileno, Punta Arenas, Chile
| | - Jonatan Kaluza
- Fundación Félix de Azara, Argentina, CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Verónica Milla
- Red Paleontológica U-Chile, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile
| | - Carolina S. Gutstein
- Red Paleontológica U-Chile, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- Paleo Consultores, Pedro de Valdivia 273, Providencia 1602, Chile
| | - José Palma-Liberona
- Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Wolfgang Stinnesbeck
- Institut für Geowissenschaften, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 234-236, Heidelberg 69120, Germany
| | - Eberhard Frey
- Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe (SMNK), Erbprinzenstraße 13, Karlsruhe 76133, Germany
| | - Juan Pablo Pino
- Red Paleontológica U-Chile, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Dániel Bajor
- Red Paleontológica U-Chile, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Elaine Núñez
- Red Paleontológica U-Chile, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Héctor Ortiz
- Red Paleontológica U-Chile, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- Universidad de Magallanes, Punta Arenas, Chile
| | - David Rubilar-Rogers
- Área Paleontología, Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Penélope Cruzado-Caballero
- Área de Paleontología, Departamento de Biología Animal, Edafología y Geología, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
- Grupo Aragosaurus-IUCA, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
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Riguetti FJ, Apesteguía S, Pereda-Suberbiola X. A new Cretaceous thyreophoran from Patagonia supports a South American lineage of armoured dinosaurs. Sci Rep 2022; 12:11621. [PMID: 35953515 PMCID: PMC9372066 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-15535-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2021] [Accepted: 06/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The early evolution of thyreophoran dinosaurs is thought to have occurred primarily in northern continents since most evidence comes from the Lower and Middle Jurassic of Europe and North America. The diversification into stegosaurs and ankylosaurs is obscured by a patchy fossil record comprising only a handful of fragmentary fossils, most with uncertain phylogenetic affinities. Here we report the discovery of a new armoured dinosaur from the early Late Cretaceous of Argentina, recovered phylogenetically using various datasets either as a basal thyreophoran or a stem ankylosaur, closely related to Scelidosaurus. It bears unusual anatomical features showing that several traits traditionally associated with the heavy Cretaceous thyreophorans did not occur universally. Jakapil kaniukura gen. et sp. nov. is the first definitive thyreophoran species from the Argentinian Patagonia. Unlike most thyreophorans, it seems to show a bipedal stance, as in Scutellosaurus. Jakapil also shows that early thyreophorans had a much broader geographic distribution than previously thought. It is a member of an ancient basal thyreophoran lineage that survived until the Late Cretaceous in South America.
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Affiliation(s)
- Facundo J Riguetti
- Fundación de Historia Natural Félix de Azara, Centro de Ciencias Naturales Ambientales y Antropológicas, Universidad Maimónides, CONICET, Hidalgo 775, 7mo piso (1405), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
| | - Sebastián Apesteguía
- Fundación de Historia Natural Félix de Azara, Centro de Ciencias Naturales Ambientales y Antropológicas, Universidad Maimónides, CONICET, Hidalgo 775, 7mo piso (1405), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Xabier Pereda-Suberbiola
- Departamento de Geología, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Apartado 644, 48080, Bilbao, Spain
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