[dinosaur] Chindesaurus (Triassic theropod) holotype redescribed

Ben Creisler
[email protected]


A new paper:

Adam D. Marsh, William G. Parker, Max C. Langer & Sterling J. Nesbitt (2019)
Redescription of the holotype specimen of Chindesaurus bryansmalli Long and
Murry, 1995 (Dinosauria, Theropoda), from Petrified Forest National Park,
Arizona.
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology Article: e1645682
doi:  https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__doi.org_10.1080_02724634.2019.1645682&d=DwIBaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=DMCMrDwh6sMRjNjkbTQBUpN1tut4346JK59biSKXMig&s=8Tz0YJLc_CuLmfIqR_Wv7pt4Sa8EDKo0U6rIwjcxAPs&e= 
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.tandfonline.com_doi_full_10.1080_02724634.2019.1645682&d=DwIBaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=DMCMrDwh6sMRjNjkbTQBUpN1tut4346JK59biSKXMig&s=41XQCn6eCbBiX1alt6nGha9vgBZx2ACxiYP0ZaxdvPA&e= 



Chindesaurus bryansmalli is an early dinosaur of uncertain affinities from
the Late Triassic Chinle Formation at Petrified Forest National Park,
Arizona. Since its first description in 1995, the taxon has been considered
a plateosaurid, a non-eusaurischian saurischian, a herrerasaurid, and/or a
non-neotheropod member of Theropoda. Chindesaurus bryansmalli is usually
scored for about 25% of the characters in a given phylogenetic analysis,
and many characters have been scored secondhand from misidentified
elements. Here, we provide a redescription of the holotype specimen of C.
bryansmalli, correct misidentifications, introduce previously unknown
elements, and discuss novel morphological character observations.
Chindesaurus bryansmalli is supported as the sister taxon to the
non-neotheropod theropod Tawa hallae from the Chinle Formation at Ghost
Ranch, New Mexico. The same two most parsimonious trees, with increasing
node support, result from iteratively removing the three most incomplete
taxa in the employed data set, suggesting that the relationships of
stem-averostran theropods are not highly affected by the inclusion of
fragmentary specimens. The Chindesaurus + Tawa clade recovered here may
represent a potentially diverse group of early theropods prior to the
end-Triassic mass extinction.

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