IngentaConnect A preliminary account of a new tyrannosauroid theropod from the W...

Authors: Hutt S.¹; Naish D.²; Martill D.M.²; Barker M.J.²; Newbery P.¹

Source: Cretaceous Research, Volume 22, Number 2, April 2001 , pp. 227-242(16)

Abstract:

A new genus and species of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Wessex Formation (Early Cretaceous, Barremian) of the Isle of Wight, England, is described and named. Distinctive characters of the premaxilla, its dentition, maxilla and nasals allow it to be diagnosed. The teeth in the premaxilla are D-shaped in cross-section and the nasals are fused. The hands are elongate and slender and the hindlimbs are gracile. Lack of element fusion elsewhere in the skeleton suggests that it is a subadult. Numerous character states are shared with tyrannosaurids but the new taxon appears to be excluded from the group that comprises aublysodontine and tyrannosaurine tyrannosaurids. We conclude that the taxon is a basal tyrannosauroid and as such it is one of the earliest and (with the exception of some teeth and an isolated ilium from Portugal) the first from Europe. Implications for tyrannosauroid biogeography and evolution are discussed. The animal was part of an unusual taphonomic assemblage in which some elements were partially articulated while others were scattered or broken. Copyright 2001 Academic Press

Keywords: Theropoda; Dinosauria; Wealden Group; Early Cretaceous; Isle of Wight; England; gen. nov.; sp. nov.

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: Museum of Isle of Wight Geology, Sandown, Isle of Wight, PO36 8AF, UK 2: School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, PO1 3QL, UK

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A preliminary account of a new tyrannosauroid theropod from the Wessex Formation (Early Cretaceous) of southern England