Heptasteornis was no ornithominid, troodontid, dromaeosaurid or owl: the first alvarezsaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from Europe
Heptasteornis was no ornithominid, troodontid, dromaeosaurid or owl: the first alvarezsaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from Europe
A distal tibiotarsus from the Upper Cretaceous of Sinpetru, Hateg Basin, Romania was originally described as belonging to the supposed pelecaniform bird Elopteryx but more recently various authors have proposed that it might belong to a non-maniraptoran tetanuran, ornithomimid, troodontid, dromaeosaurid or strigiform. None of these identifications withstand scrutiny. The recognition of a shared derived character and strong similarity of the specimen to the distal tibiotarsi of members of the Alvarezsauridae, a clade of controversial flightless maniraptoran theropods, leads us to suggest that it represents an alvarezsaurid. This is the first record of this group from Europe and has implications for their biogeography. The Elopteryx femora appear to belong to troodontids or pygostylians, and not to dromaeosaurids as recently argued
385-401
Naish, D.V.
738872f9-707a-4261-8624-547ab5332d9e
Dyke, Gareth J.
600ca61e-b40b-4c86-b8ae-13be4e331e94
2004
Naish, D.V.
738872f9-707a-4261-8624-547ab5332d9e
Dyke, Gareth J.
600ca61e-b40b-4c86-b8ae-13be4e331e94
Naish, D.V. and Dyke, Gareth J.
(2004)
Heptasteornis was no ornithominid, troodontid, dromaeosaurid or owl: the first alvarezsaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from Europe.
Neues Jahrbuch fuer Geologie und Palaeontologie, 2004 (7), .
Abstract
A distal tibiotarsus from the Upper Cretaceous of Sinpetru, Hateg Basin, Romania was originally described as belonging to the supposed pelecaniform bird Elopteryx but more recently various authors have proposed that it might belong to a non-maniraptoran tetanuran, ornithomimid, troodontid, dromaeosaurid or strigiform. None of these identifications withstand scrutiny. The recognition of a shared derived character and strong similarity of the specimen to the distal tibiotarsi of members of the Alvarezsauridae, a clade of controversial flightless maniraptoran theropods, leads us to suggest that it represents an alvarezsaurid. This is the first record of this group from Europe and has implications for their biogeography. The Elopteryx femora appear to belong to troodontids or pygostylians, and not to dromaeosaurids as recently argued
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Published date: 2004
Organisations:
Ocean Biochemistry & Ecosystems
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Local EPrints ID: 205269
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/205269
ISSN: 0077-7749
PURE UUID: 40133c03-6194-4814-a4a4-15edf052f50d
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Date deposited: 08 Dec 2011 12:33
Last modified: 10 Dec 2021 19:54
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Author:
D.V. Naish
Author:
Gareth J. Dyke
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