کد مقاله کد نشریه سال انتشار مقاله انگلیسی نسخه تمام متن
4729018 1640233 2012 17 صفحه PDF دانلود رایگان
عنوان انگلیسی مقاله ISI
New information on Nqwebasaurus thwazi, a coelurosaurian theropod from the Early Cretaceous Kirkwood Formation in South Africa
موضوعات مرتبط
مهندسی و علوم پایه علوم زمین و سیارات زمین شناسی
پیش نمایش صفحه اول مقاله
New information on Nqwebasaurus thwazi, a coelurosaurian theropod from the Early Cretaceous Kirkwood Formation in South Africa
چکیده انگلیسی

We performed additional preparation on the holotype skeleton of Nqwebasaurus thwazi and discovered new skeletal material. We describe this material, which includes a maxilla with small, conical, unserrated teeth and bones of the braincase, as well as parts of the holotype postcranial anatomy that were previously poorly documented. We incorporate this new anatomical information into a broadly sampled matrix designed to test theropod relationships. Our phylogenetic results hypothesize that Nqwebasaurus is the basalmost ornithomimosaur, and recover numerous characters supporting this relationship, including features of the maxilla, frontal, dentition, axial skeleton, forelimb and hindlimb. Nqwebasaurus is the first African ornithomimosaur and the first Gondwanan member of this group known from articulated skeletal material, supporting the hypothesis that coelurosaurian groups were cosmopolitan during their early evolutionary history. The presence of reduced dentition and a gastric mill in Nqwebasaurus strongly suggest that this taxon was herbivorous.


► New preparation of Nqwebasaurus thwazi holotype reveals small, unserrated maxillary teeth.
► Phylogenetic analysis shows Nqwebasaurus to be basalmost ornithomimosaur.
► Nqwebasaurus is the first ornithomimosaur from Gondwana and oldest known member of the group.
► Coelurosaurs were likely widespread before Pangean breakup.

ناشر
Database: Elsevier - ScienceDirect (ساینس دایرکت)
Journal: Journal of African Earth Sciences - Volumes 71–72, 16 August 2012, Pages 1–17
نویسندگان
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