[dinosaur] New megaraptorid theropod fossils from Lower Cretaceous of Victoria, Australia

Ben Creisler
[email protected]

A new paper:

Stephen F. Poropat, Matt A. White, Patricia Vickers-Rich &Thomas H. Rich
(2019)
New megaraptorid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) remains from the Lower Cretaceous
Eumeralla Formation of Cape Otway, Victoria, Australia.
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology Article: e1666273
doi: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__doi.org_10.1080_02724634.2019.1666273&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=y3M5EcNZyjt8i4B24B3sSiVjNinpC4_EfSJGzqAp6Vw&s=NOG0g6oMEAveq2GHXs9BxfOttgV_Dyyfi3a5q3DWGOM&e= 
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.tandfonline.com_doi_full_10.1080_02724634.2019.1666273&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=y3M5EcNZyjt8i4B24B3sSiVjNinpC4_EfSJGzqAp6Vw&s=DkPBKiZR_eOMxl1lfKitqNtTm89Hi0_DgT1wyqoW-mo&e= 


Megaraptorid theropods thrived in South America and Australia during the
mid-Cretaceous. Their Australian record is currently limited to the upper
Barremian–lower Aptian upper Strzelecki Group and the upper Aptian–lower
Albian Eumeralla Formation of Victoria, the Cenomanian Griman Creek
Formation of New South Wales, and the Cenomanian–lowermost Turonian Winton
Formation of Queensland. The latter has produced Australovenator
wintonensis, the stratigraphically youngest and most complete Australian
megaraptorid. The Eric the Red West (ETRW) site on Cape Otway, Victoria
(Eumeralla Formation; lower Albian), has yielded two teeth, two manual
unguals, and a right astragalus that are almost identical to the
corresponding elements in Australovenator. Herein, we classify these as
Megaraptoridae cf. Australovenator wintonensis. We also reappraise the
'spinosaurid' cervical vertebra from ETRW and suggest that it pertains to
Megaraptoridae. Three other theropod elements from ETRW--a cervical rib
(preserving a bite mark), a caudal vertebra, and a non-ungual manual
phalanx--are also described, although it is not possible to determine their
phylogenetic position more precisely than Tetanurae
(non-Maniraptoriformes). All elements were found in a fluvial deposit,
associated with isolated bones of other theropods, ornithopods, and
turtles, amongst others; consequently, no two can be unequivocally assigned
to the same theropod individual. The new specimens from ETRW demonstrate
that a megaraptorid theropod morphologically similar to Australovenator
lived during the late Early Cretaceous in Victoria, at a higher
paleolatitude than its northern counterpart. Moreover, they attest to the
success of megaraptorids in late Barremian-early Turonian faunas throughout
eastern Australia.

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