[dinosaur] Carnotaurus endocranial morphology

Ben Creisler
[email protected]

A new paper:


Mauricio A. Cerroni & Ariana Paulina-Carabajal (2019)
Novel information on the endocranial morphology of the abelisaurid theropod
Carnotaurus sastrei.
Comptes Rendus Palevol (advance online publication)
doi: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__doi.org_10.1016_j.crpv.2019.09.005&d=DwIBaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=OYix7woTMQoJLhVltqb4hqQJmyeqqj8q3G4k7qLz-qw&s=uEpESNYXPs-CjdDOc_DZr-zmaRKVuA-b_I9CANqfDK0&e= 
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.sciencedirect.com_science_article_abs_pii_S1631068319301824&d=DwIBaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=OYix7woTMQoJLhVltqb4hqQJmyeqqj8q3G4k7qLz-qw&s=2dcuG26sl_Ha_F0I8IoZGhjgck6R6OHjz5bBLWVlR7U&e= 


The endocranial morphology of the abelisaurid Carnotaurus sastrei, from the
Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia, is studied using X-ray Computed Tomography
(CT). The CT scans provided information that allowed the first
reconstruction of the brain, inner ear and braincase pneumaticity for this
South American taxon. The endocranial morphology confirms that abelisaurids
share an overall conformation of the brain and inner ear. However, some
traits, such as the height of the dorsal sinuses and the length of the
flocculus in the cranial endocast, and a large subsellar recess in the
basicranium, appear to characterize the South-American abelisaurids only.
Moreover, the olfactory acuity of Carnotaurus resembles that reported for
other abelisaurids (e.g., Majungasaurus, Viavenator), suggesting that the
sense of smell had an important role. However, some attributes of the
endocranial features of Carnotaurus (i.e. development and orientation of
the olfactory bulbs and tracts) may imply particular olfactory capacities
when compared with other abelisaurids.