A print left by some sort of theropod—a two-legged carnivore.
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"It was a type of theropod dinosaur, a carnivorous one," he said.
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Theropod tracks in the riverbed follow, and sometimes overlap, those of sauropods.
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Moreover, ornamented theropods that weighed over 1,000 kilograms (2,203 pounds) experienced accelerated giantism, meaning they grew larger at about 20 times the rate of unornamented theropod species, suggesting there is a link between extravagant headgear and theropod size.
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The dinosaur in question belongs to a species of theropod called Dilophosaurus wetherilli.
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At first, Elliott thought two of the bones belonged to a theropod dinosaur.
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Like T-rex it was a carnivorous, two-legged creature called a theropod.
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Ms. dePolo plans to explore the Isle of Skye for more sauropod and theropod footprints.
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Unlike a large non-avian theropod it can stand more or less erect in a burrow.
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Over time, a number of other theropod dinosaurs have been found that also have reduced forelimbs.
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Artist's impression of four-legged sauropods and a bipedal theropod wading in a Jurassic-era Scottish lagoon.
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"I realized that the content was a vertebrate, probably theropod, rather than any plant," Xing told CNN.
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It's more parsimonious to suggest it was a known dinosaur, most likely a theropod, possibly a raptor.
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"We modelled what would happen if a theropod combined a long jump with a partial wingbeat," she said.
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Baron's study not only moves them to the bird-hipped Orinthischia category but also creates a separate theropod branch.
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The largest print, belonging to the sauropod, was about 27.5 inches, and the largest theropod track was about 19.6 inches.
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But Halszkaraptor has a battery of characteristics more akin to modern waterfowl and other aquatic animals than to theropod dinosaurs.
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One proposes that the wing evolved from the fusion of the first, second and third fingers of the theropod hand.
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The site also features prints from smaller ornithopod dinosaurs and "chicken-sized" theropod dinosaurs, alongside trampled tracks from other sauropods.
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Tyrannosaurus rex is the most well known type of theropod, but it's just one of a very diverse group of animals.
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Up until now, it wasn't clear if Razana was a massive, meat-eating theropod dinosaur, or some other kind of reptile.
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Introducing Gualicho shinyae, a 1,000-pound, bipedal theropod that featured a pair of short arms with two fingered claws on each.
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Animals that lived alongside it included other four-legged, long-necked sauropods, carnivorous theropod dinosaurs, turtles, and relatives of today's crocodiles.
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That dinosaur, most likely a fleet-footed, meat-eating theropod, had lived near a stream in a forest of towering conifers.
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For the record, an Ozraptor is an abelisauroid theropod dinosaur that lived in modern-day Australia during the Middle Jurassic period.
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The fossilized skeleton of a 150 million-year-old carnivorous theropod dinosaur was sold by French auction house Aguttes for €2,019,680.
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Comparing fossils of 120 different species and 1,500 skeletal features, especially leg bones, researchers constructed a detailed family tree of theropod dinosaurs.
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They concluded that theropod teeth "were not exposed permanently, but covered by reptilian lips" similar to those found on various scaled lizards.
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The feathered theropod featured an iridescent, rainbow colored ring of feathers around its neck, which scientists believe it used to attract mates.
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Earlier this year, our minds were blown when a forelimb or wing of a small theropod dinosaur was found preserved in amber.
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Oviraptorosaurs are not direct ancestors of birds, but share a common theropod dinosaur ancestor with the lineage that later evolved to birds.
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It was once thought that only birds had them, and they aided in flight, until theropod fossils, including T. rex, proved otherwise.
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A new analysis finds that egg color seems to have evolved only once, and that birds maintain this trait from their theropod days.
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But even the daintiest of hummingbirds is endowed with a rich evolutionary heritage that links it to gigantic theropod dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex.
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Eumaniraptorans, part of the larger theropod assemblage of two-legged meat-eating dinosaurs, generally were small and bird-like, covered in colorful plumage.
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While I would like to see mammoths roaming the plains and packs of theropod dinosaurs hunting, I feel the megafauna is better left outside.
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"The exciting discovery that pigmented eggshells evolved in nonavian theropod dinosaurs will change the way we think about dinosaur nesting and incubation behavior," she said.
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Though no fossils have been found, additional footprints found in Poland indicate a similar-sized theropod inhabited the other super-continent of the time, Laurasia.
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"There was, in North America, a large theropod called Acrocanthosaurus, and that is the likely culprit that could potentially be eating these guys," Vinther said.
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Now, as the year closes, we are given the greatest treat any enthusiast of prehistory could ask for: a preserved juvenile theropod tail in amber.
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But that doesn't mean that there weren't enormous animals in the theropod family tree, as evidenced by this climbable display depicting the bizarre Cretaceous dinosaur Gigantoraptor.
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Why has it taken so long to recognize that Huxley had almost certainly been right about the origin of birds from some meat-eating theropod dinosaurs?
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Bigger three-toed footprints with blunter toes may have been left by large-bodied two-legged plant-eaters called ornithopods or perhaps by a large theropod.
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"It's possible that dense feathers were primarily selected for insulation, as body size decreased in theropod dinosaurs on the evolutionary pathway to modern birds," Dawson said.
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The feathers most likely belonged to a baby nonavian theropod, meaning it looked more similar to a velociraptor or Tyrannosaurus rex than to a modern bird.
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Researchers discovered an absorbed tooth in her jaw, which has only ever been seen in one other theropod, the group of dinosaurs T. rex belonged to.
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The tail belonged to a dinosaur called Coelurosaur — a dinosaur about the size of a small bird, from the same theropod group of dinosaurs as Tyrannosaurus rex.
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According to the study, 20 of the 22 largest theropod dinosaur species that left behind well-preserved skulls displayed some form of bony ornamentation on their heads.
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Archaeopteryx was dubbed a "convergently bird-like non-avialan theropod," which means a non-avian feathered dinosaur that acquired bird-like characteristics through the processes of convergent evolution.
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Some 125 million years ago, this theropod walked on two legs and bore a pair of feathery "proto-wings," similar to the fake ones worn by the ostrich.
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He added that because the feathers were found with the vertebrae, there was no question they belonged to a nonavian theropod dinosaur as opposed to a prehistoric bird.
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"The discovery of medullary bone is just one more piece of evidence that blurs the line between birds and other theropod (carnivorous two-legged) dinosaurs like T. rex," she said.
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It is believed to be from the carnivorous, theropod group of dinosaurs, which had hollow bones and three-toed feet, said Eric Mickeler, a paleontological expert working with auction house Aguttes.
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The curled-up posture is positively birdlike, and if Baby Louie had survived, it would have emerged as an oviraptor, a theropod with a parrot-shaped head and a toothless beak.
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Now, new research published on Tuesday in Nature Communications identifies a virtually unexplored correlation between theropod body mass and the presence of flashy cranial "ornaments," such as crests, knobs, or horns.
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Now, the scientists believe they will be able to find differences between male and female dinosaurs of this kind (theropod dinosaurs), and learn more about the evolution of egg-laying in birds.
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Its bone-crushing teeth resemble those of colossal theropod dinosaurs like T. rex, but its squat frame suggests it could be a crocodylomorph, the ancient lineage from which all modern crocodilians descended.
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Both pigments found in today's bird eggs, red-brown protoporphyrin IX and blue-green biliverdin, also occurred in theropod eggs (direct bird ancestors), which had spotted and speckled patterns like bird eggs do.
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To test the hypothesis that lips covered theropod dinosaurs' teeth when the mouth was closed, Reisz and colleague Derek Larson examined dental anatomy and modern-day reptilian predators, including crocodiles and monitor lizards.
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To test their theory they examined tusks, the exposed teeth of terrestrial mammals that don't have enamel, and compared them with the large teeth of theropod dinosaurs, known to have well-preserved enamel.
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Oviraptors are an unusual group of bird-like theropod dinosaurs, featuring shortened, toothless skulls, and ranging in size from a turkey to nearly the length of an elephant, or 23 feet (7 meters).
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By showcasing these careful reconstructions, the exhibit demonstrates the diversity of interesting features in the theropod lineage while simultaneously exposing the similarities that define the entire group, over tens of millions of years.
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Saltriovenator, which demonstrates an early stage in the theropod hand, suggests that the small fourth finger of early theropods disappeared as theropods evolved, while their first three fingers gave rise to bird wings.
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Although the bones were poorly preserved, she could tell by how thin they were that they belonged to a theropod, which is the major group of carnivorous dinosaurs that include allosaurs and tyrannosaurs.
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And a study led by Fiann Smithwick and Jakob Vinther at the University of Bristol, published this week in Current Biology, reports the discovery of remarkable markings on the face of one such theropod.
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For $100,000, Hammacher Schlemmer will sell you a life-size replica of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, but for $2.39 million Theropod Expeditions will sell you the real thing—or at least 45 percent of one.
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The current museum housed in Ms. Brammall's office — where just 5 percent of the collection is displayed — holds delicate, minuscule and beautifully detailed opalized pine cones, a theropod dinosaur's tooth and ancient lungfish toothplates.
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How the theropod mouth transformed has long been a mystery, but a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences provides insight into a potential evolutionary mechanism behind the transition.
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The fossil of an unidentified theropod dinosaur discovered in Wyoming in 2013 was sold for €2,019,680 (~$2.4 million) in a sale organized by French auction house Aguttes at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.
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In earlier research, Dr. Wang's team discovered an emu-like theropod called Limusaurus that began life as a baby with teeth, but lost them as it grew older and morphed into an adult with a beak.
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Her fossilized femur contains traces of medullary bone, which is a calcium-rich bone tissue that is only produced during the reproductive cycle of female birds and their egg-laying ancestors—including theropod dinosaurs like T. rex.
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"'Razana' could outcompete even theropod dinosaurs, at the top of the food chain", said Cristiano Dal Sasso, a paleontologist at the Natural History Museum of Milan and first author on the new paper, in a press release.
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A large reconstructed dinosaur nest, with twin eggs arrayed in a circle, comes with an invitation: Go ahead, sit in the middle of the nest and feel what it must have been like to hatch a theropod.
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The study, published today in Biology Letters, shows that Chilesaurus is not a theropod, as originally thought, but rather a very early member of ornithischia, a group that includes beaked plant-munching dinosaurs like Stegosaurus, Triceratops and Iguanodon.
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So far, no fossilized bones have been found, but the footprints reveal key details about the dinosaur, chiefly that it was a large theropod and part of the same group that included the aforementioned T. rex and Giganotosaurus.
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Since its initial discovery, it has gone through several iterations of body plans and postures, but we were all thrown for quite a loop when a paper was published this year stating it was a quadupedal, semiaquatic theropod.
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Belonging to the theropod family, from which modern birds evolved, these Mesozoic giants were the largest carnivores ever to walk on land, measuring dozens of feet long and tipping the scales at over 40,000 pounds in some cases.
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Dilophosaurus wetherilli (Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto)Injuries are common in the fossilized remains of dinosaurs, but the recent discovery of a severely roughed-up skeleton in Arizona establishes a new record for the most bone injuries sustained by a single theropod.
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As the researchers summarize: These analyses suggest that the impetus of the evolution of powered flight in the theropod lineage that lead to Aves may have been an entirely natural phenomenon produced by bipedal motion in the presence of feathered forelimbs.
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Paleontologist Peter Makovicky, curator of dinosaurs at the Field Museum in Chicago, said Gualicho's short, two-fingered forelimbs strongly resembled those of some members of a theropod group called tyrannosaurs including T. rex, even though Gualicho was only distantly related to them.
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Image: Gabriel Lio via University of Birmingham"What is nice is that Chilesaurus is a halfway animal, the missing link, between theropod dinosaurs and ornithischian dinosaurs, two groups that, until our study was published, were thought to be unrelated," Baron told Gizmodo.
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It's front limbs were strikingly paddle-like, and analyses of their proportions and the chest region showed closer similarities between Halszkaraptor and wing-propelled birds like penguins than with other theropod dinosaurs, suggesting the dinosaur "flew" through the water by using its arms.
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Next, Dr. Golas considered the case of a dilophosaurus — a theropod, or the same dino order as T. Rex — that holds the current record for most injuries found in one forelimb: eight, ranging from a fractured scapula to abscesses on the hand.
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A few years earlier on the grounds of Goddard, Mr. Stanford had come across a loose rock with the footprint of a small three-toed theropod, and the brownish stone was the type of iron-rich sedimentary material that often preserves such prints.
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It had a nearly 27-and-a-half inch (69.7 centimeter) wingspan, and its jaw boasted a row of small, sharp teeth similar to those seen on its theropod relatives (yes, that chicken on your dinner plate shared a common ancestor with Tyrannosauruses and velociraptors).
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"Like these and other gigantic crocs from the [more recent] Cretaceous, Razana could outcompete even theropod dinosaurs at the top of the food chain," Cristiano Dal Sasso, the study's lead author and a researcher at the Natural History Museum of Milan, said in a statement.
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"It shows that there is an overall trend, and that we should go back and reconsider what the ornament itself is doing for the theropod," Terry Gates, a paleontologist based at North Carolina State University and lead author of the study, told me over the phone.
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Equipped with clear adaptations for a life spent part-time in the water, Halszkaraptor (prounounced "halls-ka-raptor") represents the first and only known non-avian theropod dinosaur (a group of bipedal predators that includes T. rex and excludes birds (avians)) to be so at home in the water.
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A two-hour ride down a dirt road, far from cellphone service or any other signs of human life, Picketwire Canyon is a dinosaur lover's dream, largely because of hundreds of hubcap-size theropod and sauropod footprints pressed into a nearby layer of limestone, which abuts the river.
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"Our work with Laser-Stimulated Fluorescence (LSF) has revealed otherwise invisible body outline data of oviraptorosaurs, including Caudipteryx, which will help to refine the models used in this study as well as of other functional models of theropod dinosaurs," Pittman, who wasn't involved in the new study, wrote in an email to Gizmodo.
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The findings do, however, give us an interesting new picture of what dinosaurs were really like—and makes us wish we could build a Jurassic Park to see the dinosaurs dance[Theropod courtship: large scale physical evidence of display arenas and avian-like scrape ceremony behaviour by Cretaceous dinosaurs]Image Credits:University of Colorado Denver
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They also found at least 20 individual coelophysoid theropods (bipedal, mostly meat-eating dinosaurs), the teeth of a much larger theropod, a drepanosaurid (a creature with a head like a bird, arms like a mole and a claw at the end of its tail) and two types of sphenodontids (which looks like the modern tuatara of New Zealand ).
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Another option could be one of the small feathered theropod dinosaurs (the 'raptors')—it might be a handful to have around, seeing that it would be a carnivore—and, well, a dinosaur after all—but having a pet feathered dinosaur the size of a chicken would be something special, and of course they are closely related to birds, which can make very good pets!
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The Unknown Theropod is an unknown species of large, tyrannosaur-like theropod dinosaur from the Cretaceous. Abby Maitland documented this theropod in her diary during the time when she and Connor Temple were marooned in the Cretaceous, and the document on the theropod was ultimately unintentionally burnt by Abby.
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Orionides is a clade of tetanuran theropod dinosaurs from the Middle Jurassic to the Present. The clade includes most theropod dinosaurs, including birds.
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Theropod paleopathology is the study of injury and disease in theropod dinosaurs. In 2001, Ralph E. Molnar published a survey of pathologies in theropod dinosaur bone that uncovered pathological features in 21 genera from 10 theropod families. Pathologies have been seen on most theropod body parts, with the most common sites of preserved injury and disease being the ribs and tail vertebrae. The least common sites of preserved pathology are the weight- bearing bones like the tibia, femur and sacrum.
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Some silicified wood, charcoal fragments, abraded bone fragments, and theropod dinosaur teeth,Oudtshoorn theropod site at Fossilworks.org have been recovered from the Enon Formation. However, fossil preservation is extremely poor.
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Palaeontologists counter that if valid, Protoavis in no way falsifies the theropod origin of birds. The very fact that Chatterjee used his putative bird to defend theropod origin seems to contradict the argument of Alan Feduccia that a true bird from the Triassic would bring about the collapse of the theropod "dogma".
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They included a phylogenetic analysis which placed Chindesaurus as a basal theropod. It was specifically found to be the sister taxon of Tawa hallae, a theropod known from Ghost Ranch in New Mexico.
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Many anatomical features are shared by birds and theropod dinosaurs.
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It is a nomen dubium, perhaps a theropod or some indeterminate predatory archosaur. In 1881, Harry Govier Seeley named two possible theropod teeth found in Austria Megalosaurus pannoniensis. The specific name refers to Pannonia.
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Paronychodon and other indeterminate theropod dinosaurs are known from the formation.
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Timimus is a genus of small coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Australia. It was originally identified as an ornithomimosaur, but now it is thought to be a different kind of theropod, possibly a tyrannosauroid.
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Erectopus is a basal allosauroid theropod from the Lower Cretaceous of France.
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As a small theropod, Sinocoelurus would have been an agile, bipedal carnivore.
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Skin impressions of Bellatoripes preserve small, tuberculate scales, typical of theropod feet.
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Scientific documentation of pathologies in theropod bones goes all the way back to the first description of a large theropod. Nevertheless, Ralph Molnar contends that despite the long history of recognized pathologies in theropod dinosaurs the topic had been almost completely overlooked in the scientific literature. For most of the ensuing 200 years paleopathologies were only noted when scientists describing new species were concerned that such abnormalities would complicate comparisons between different kinds of theropod for classification purposes. Even when paleontologists mentioned pathologies in their research they typically didn't try to ascertain their causes.
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Also a recently discovered dinosaur has turned out to be a new species, not Allosaurus. It's a proceratosaurid tyrannosauroid. Indeterminate theropod remains have been recovered in Utah. Indeterminate theropod tracks have been recovered from both Utah and Arizona.
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The "Shake-N- Bake theropod" is an undescribed species of coelophysoid from the Kayenta Formation.Tykoski, R. S. 1997. A new ceratosaurid theropod from the Early Jurassic Kayenta Formation of northern Arizona. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 17 (3, Supplement):81A.
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Mortimer, M. (2010). "Ornithuromorpha: Ichthyornis." The Theropod Database. Accessed online 23 April 2016.
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Betasuchus is a genus of theropod dinosaur which lived during the Late Cretaceous Period. Betasuchus is, besides Orthomerus, the only dinosaur genus named from remains found in the Netherlands and the only non-avian theropod found in the Maastrichtian Beds.
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Most pathologies preserved in theropod fossils are the remains of injuries like fractures, pits, and punctures, often likely originating with bites. Some theropod paleopathologies seem to be evidence of infections, which tended to be confined only to small regions of the animal's body. Evidence for congenital malformities have also been found in theropod remains. Such discoveries can provide information useful for understanding the evolutionary history of the processes of biological development.
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Tanycolagreus is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod from the Late Jurassic of North America.
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Archaeornithoides is a genus of maniraptoriform theropod dinosaur of the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia.
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A 2019 redescription of its holotype considered it a theropod closely related to Tawa.
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Chuandongocoelurus ( ) is a genus of carnivorous tetanuran theropod dinosaur from the Jurassic of China.
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Tarascosaurus ("Tarasque lizard") is a genus of abelisaurid, theropod dinosaur from Late Cretaceous of France.
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Beishanlong is a genus of giant ornithomimosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of China.
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"Megalosaurus" dunkeri is a dubious species of theropod dinosaur, known only from a single tooth.
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Living alongside it were turtles, dsungaripterid pterosaurs, and theropod, sauropod, stegosaurian, psittacosaurid, and ornithopod dinosaurs.
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Nedcolbertia is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period of North America.
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The interrelationship and evolution of basal theropod dinosaurs. Special Papers in Palaeontology. 69, 1-215.
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Ageroolithus is an oogenus of dinosaur egg. It may have been laid by a theropod.
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Biologist Josef Stiegler and colleagues stated in a 2014 conference abstract that Limusaurus is the earliest known toothless theropod, as well as the only non- bird theropod known to have had strong bilateral reduction of its digits (as the outer fingers were reduced in size).
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Though such structures are known for another theropod, the tyrannosaurid Daspletosaurus horneri, Neovenators neurovascular structures that likely supported these organs are the best preserved and most complete in any known theropod yet discovered.University of Southampton. "Sensitive faces helped dinosaurs eat, woo and take temperature." ScienceDaily.
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Yangchuanosaurus is a large theropod from the Shangshaximiao, and it probably preyed on sauropods. The smaller Xuanhanosaurus was also present. In the Xiashaximiao, another theropod, Gasosaurus, was also present, as was the herbivorous stegosaur Huayangosaurus. The latter probably did not compete with sauropods for food.
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Wiehenvenator is a genus of predatory megalosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic (Callovian) of Germany.
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Variraptor ( ; "Var thief") is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of France.
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This dichotomy was upset by the discovery of Deinonychus and Deinocheirus in 1969, neither of which could be classified easily as "carnosaurs" or "coelurosaurs". In light of these and other discoveries, by the late 1970s Rinchen Barsbold had created a new series of theropod infraorders: Coelurosauria, Deinonychosauria, Oviraptorosauria, Carnosauria, Ornithomimosauria, and Deinocheirosauria. With the advent of cladistics and phylogenetic nomenclature in the 1980s, and their development in the 1990s and 2000s, a clearer picture of theropod relationships began to emerge. Jacques Gauthier named several major theropod groups in 1986, including the clade Tetanurae for one branch of a basic theropod split with another group, the Ceratosauria.
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Bulletin of the Geological Society of China. 22(3-4), 293-309. Three of the teeth catalogued under IVPP V.237 were recognized by Dong et al. (1983) as non-theropod and instead belonging to the mesoeucrocodylian Hsisosuchus, effectively restricting the holotype to the theropod tooth.
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A new alvarezsaurian theropod from the Upper Jurassic Shishugou Formation of western China. Scientific Reports, 9: 11727.
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Lapparentichnus is an ichnogenus of dinosaur footprint, a theropod trackway, made by a member of the Avetheropoda.
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A showcase displays the linked fauna: fishes, crocodiles, shrimps, a pterosaur bone, and maybe a theropod one.
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Proceratosauridae is a family or clade of theropod dinosaurs from the Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous.
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Veterupristisaurus is an extinct genus of carcharodontosaurid theropod dinosaur known from the Jurassic of Tendaguru, southeastern Tanzania.
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Dahalokely is an extinct genus of carnivorous abelisauroid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Turonian) of Madagascar.
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Theropod dinosaurs. In Batten, D. J. (ed.) English Wealden Fossils. The Palaeontological Association (London), pp. 526–559.
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Rauhut, 2003. The interrelationships and evolution of basal theropod dinosaurs. Special Papers in Palaeontology. 69, 96 pp.
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Thus, according to Rauhut Austrocheirus can be only classified as a theropod dinosaur of uncertain phylogenetic placement.
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149 Bothremydidae, crocodile teeth, theropod limbs,Blanco et al., 2015, p.152 and hadrosaur femurs.Blanco et al.
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Other genera such as Sillosuchus and Shuvosaurus were later erected. Like Poposaurus, Shuvosaurus was originally thought to be a theropod dinosaur. Sankar Chatterjee reclassified poposauroids as theropod dinosaurs with his description of the new genus Postosuchus in 1985. Chatterjee even considered poposauroids to be the ancestors of tyrannosaurs.
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Phylogenetic relationships of the Triassic theropod Zupaysaurus rougieri from NW Argentina. Historical Biology 19(1):35-72 This genus may be most closely related to Segisaurus halli.Carrano, M.T., Hutchinson, J.R., & Sampson, S.D. 2005. New information on Segisaurus halli, a small theropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of Arizona.
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Possible early forms Herrerasaurus (large) and Eoraptor (small) During the late Triassic, a number of primitive proto-theropod and theropod dinosaurs existed and evolved alongside each other. The earliest and most primitive of the theropod dinosaurs were the carnivorous Eodromaeus and the herrerasaurids of Argentina (as well as, possibly, the omnivorous Eoraptor). The herrerasaurs existed during the early late Triassic (Late Carnian to Early Norian). They were found in North America and South America and possibly also India and Southern Africa.
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Nomingia is a genus of oviraptorid theropod dinosaur hailing from the Late Cretaceous Bugin Tsav Beds of Mongolia.
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Hagryphus ("Ha's griffin"), is an oviraptorosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous Period of what is now Utah.
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Itemirus is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Turonian age of the Late Cretaceous period of Uzbekistan.
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Corpulentapus is an ichnogenus of Early Cretaceous theropod tracks uncovered at the Zhucheng tracksite in Shandong, PR China.
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Afrovenator (; "African hunter") is a genus of megalosaurid theropod dinosaur from the middle Jurassic Period of northern Africa.
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Caihong () is a genus of small paravian theropod dinosaur from China that lived during the Late Jurassic period.
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Indeterminate dromaeosaurid and possible indeterminate troodontid remains present in Judetul Hunedoara, Romania. An unnamed theropod is also present.
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Continuoolithus was most likely laid by a non-avian theropod dinosaur. Its microstructure is very similar to that of theropods; it differs from avian eggs in its relative size, its lack of a third eggshell layer, and its prominent ornamentation. Like many other types of non-avian theropod eggs, Continuoolithus eggs are typically found paired; this is because the parent dinosaurs had two functional oviducts, each of which would produce an egg simultaneously. Comparing the Maastrictian-aged specimens to the older Campanian specimens of Continuoolithus and other types of theropod eggshells shows a trend of increasing eggshell thickness, which may be correlated with some theropod taxa increasing in body size in the late Cretaceous.
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Therefore, embryologists have identified the primary axis in birds as digit IV, and the surviving digits as II-III-IV. The fossils of advanced theropod (Tetanurae) hands appear to have the digits I-II-III (some genera within Avetheropoda also have a reduced digit IVUniversity of Maryland department of geology home page, "Theropoda I" on Avetheropoda, 14 July 2006.). If this is true, then the II- III-IV development of digits in birds is an indication against theropod (dinosaur) ancestry. However, with no ontogenical (developmental) basis to definitively state which digits are which on a theropod hand (because no non- avian theropods can be observed growing and developing today), the labelling of the theropod hand is not absolutely conclusive.
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Restoration Pterospondylus (meaning "winged vertebra") is a dubious genus of theropod dinosaur from the Late Triassic. It was a coelophysoid theropod which lived in what is now Germany (Trossingen Formation). The type species, Pterospondylus trielbae, was described by Jaekel in 1913-14 for a single back vertebra.Jaekel, O. (1913-14).
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The mesoeucrocodylians Langstonia, Akanthosuchus langstoni and Albertochampsa langstoni; theropod Saurornitholestes langstoni; and pachycephalosaur Texacephale langstoni were named for him.
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Fukuivenator ("hunter of Fukui Prefecture") is an extinct genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Japan.
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Datanglong is a large predatory theropod with a length of roughly . The specimen has a preserved length of about .
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Similicaudipteryx, meaning "similar to Caudipteryx" (which itself means "tail feather"), is a genus of theropod dinosaur of the family Caudipteridae.
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Cannibalism amongst some species of dinosaurs was confirmed by tooth marks found in Madagascar in 2003, involving the theropod Majungasaurus.
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Acrocanthosaurus was the largest theropod in its ecosystem and likely an apex predator which preyed on sauropods, ornithopods, and ankylosaurs.
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A total of 1,128 Albertosaurus bones had been secured, the largest concentration of large theropod fossils known from the Cretaceous.
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Naish, D. 2011. Theropod dinosaurs. In Batten, D. J. (ed.) English Wealden Fossils. The Palaeontological Association (London), pp. 526–559.
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Aviatyrannis is a genus of carnivorous tyrannosauroid theropod dinosaur from the Kimmeridgian stage of the Late Jurassic found in Portugal.
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Varricchio, D. V. (1993). Bone microstructure of the Upper Cretaceous theropod dinosaur Troodon formosus. J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 13, 99–104.
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Responding to the growth of sauropods, their theropod predators grew also, as shown by an Allosaurus-sized coelophysoid from Germany.
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Varricchio, D. V. (1993). Bone microstructure of the Upper Cretaceous theropod dinosaur Troodon formosus. J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 13, 99-104.
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One skull of Tarchia shows tooth marks identified as belonging to the tyrannosaurid, Tarbosaurus, indicating the theropod hunted the ankylosaurid.
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The geographic range of Gilmoreosaurus overlapped with the fast-running tyrannosauroid Alectrosaurus, likely being the prey item for this theropod.
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Gojirasaurus (meaning "Godzilla lizard")K. Carpenter, 1997, "A giant coelophysoid (Ceratosauria) theropod from the Upper Triassic of New Mexico, USA", Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen 205 (#2): 189-208 is a dubious genus of coelophysoid theropod dinosaur named after the giant monster movie character Gojira (the Japanese name for the monster Godzilla).
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A small coelurosaurian theropod from the Yellow Cat Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation (Lower Cretaceous, Barremian) of eastern Utah. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin, 14, 239–248.Galton, P. 1973. The femur of a small theropod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of England. Journal of Paleontology, 47, 996–1001.
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"New information on Segisaurus halli, a small theropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of Arizona". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25 (4): 835-849 Ezcurra (2012) found Sarcosaurus to be the most basal ceratosaur in a large unpublished analysis.Ezcurra, 2012. Phylogenetic analysis of Late Triassic - Early Jurassic neotheropod dinosaurs: Implications for the early theropod radiation.
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Aorun (pron.:"AW-roon") is an extinct genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur first discovered in 2006, with its scientific description published in 2013. It is one of the oldest known coelurosaurian dinosaurs and is estimated to have lived ~161.6 million years ago during the Late Jurassic Period. It is the fifth theropod discovered from Wucaiwan.
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The sediments of the Sao Khua Formation, which comprise red clays, mudstones, sandstones, siltstones and conglomerate rocks, record a fluvial environment dominated by lakes, floodplains, and meandering low-energy rivers. This is consistent with the types of vertebrate fauna present in the formation, which comprise only terrestrial or freshwater animals. Besides Siamosaurus, there were theropod dinosaurs like the metriacanthosaurid Siamotyrannus isanensis, the ornithomimosaur Kinnareemimus khonkaenensis, the megaraptoran Phuwiangvenator yaemniyomi, the basal coelurosaur Vayuraptor nongbualamphuensis, a compsognathid theropod, and indeterminate birds. Theropod eggs with embryos have also been recovered from the formation.
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Mirischia is a small (two meter-long) genus of compsognathid theropod dinosaur from the Albian stage (Early Cretaceous Period) of Brazil.
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Tsaagan (meaning "white") is a genus of carnivorous dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Djadokhta Formation of the late Cretaceous of Mongolia.
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Rativates is a genus of ornithomimid theropod dinosaur from the Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta. The type species is Rativates evadens.
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The Dull Purplish Beds have yielded the possible therizinosaur Eshanosaurus, the possible theropod Lukousaurus, and the "prosauropods" "Gyposaurus" sinensis, Lufengosaurus, Jingshanosaurus, and Yunnanosaurus. Dinosaurs discovered in the Dark Red Beds include the theropod Sinosaurus triassicus, the "prosauropods" "Gyposaurus", Lufengosaurus, and Yunnanosaurus, indeterminate remains of sauropods, and the early armored dinosaurs Bienosaurus and Tatisaurus.Weishampel, et al. 2004.
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Dilophosauridae is a family of medium to large sized theropod dinosaurs.Hendrickx, C., Hartman, S.A., & Mateus, O. (2015). An Overview of Non- Avian Theropod Discoveries and Classification. PalArch’s Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology, 12(1): 1-73. The name Dilophosauridae is derived from Greek, with “di-” meaning “two,” “lophos” meaning “crest,” “sauros” meaning “lizard,” and “-idae” meaning “family”.
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Chilantaisaurus ("Ch'i-lan-t'ai lizard") is a genus of large theropod dinosaur, possibly a neovenatorid or basal coelurosaur, from the late Cretaceous Ulansuhai Formation of China (Turonian stage, about 92 million years ago). The type species, C. tashuikouensis, was described by Hu in 1964. Chilantaisaurus was a large theropod, estimated as weighing between and . In 2010, Brusatte et al.
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The following evolutionary tree illustrates a synthesis of the relationships of the early theropod groups compiled by Hendrickx et al. in 2015, including the position of Liliensternus in which all studies concur.Hendrickx, C., Hartman, S.A., & Mateus, O. (2015). An Overview of Non- Avian Theropod Discoveries and Classification. PalArch’s Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology, 12(1): 1-73.
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Eosinopteryx is an extinct genus of theropod dinosaurs known the late Jurassic period of China. It contains a single species, Eosinopteryx brevipenna.
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Lower and Middle Cretaceous Terrestrial Ecosystems. New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletin 14. p. 205-210 Siamotyrannus is a large theropod.
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The shared presence of medullary tissue in birds and theropod dinosaurs is further evidence of the close evolutionary relationship between the two.
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Australovenator is a possible relative of Joan Wiffen's theropod, an undescribed dinosaur known from a single vertebra from Mangahouanga Stream in New Zealand.
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Xiaotingia is a genus of anchiornithid theropod dinosaur from early Late Jurassic deposits of western Liaoning, China, containing a single species, Xiaotingia zhengi.
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A new species of the theropod dinosaur Syntarsus from the Early Jurassic Kayenta Formation of Arizona. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 9, 125-136.
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Hendrickx, Hartman and Mateus, 2015. An overview of non-avian theropod discoveries and classification. PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology. 12(1), 1-73.
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"New data on small theropod dinosaurs from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Como Bluff, Wyoming, USA" . Volumina Jurassica. 12 (2): 181–196.
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"Giant Dinosaur (theropod) Eggs of the Oogenus Macroelongatoolithus (Elongatoolithidae) from Southeastern Idaho: Taxonomic, Paleobiogeographic, and Reproductive Implications." (Doctoral dissertation, Montana State University, Bozeman).
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An Early Cretaceous, medium-sized carcharodontosaurid theropod (Dinosauria, Saurischia) from the Mulichinco Formation (upper Valanginian), Neuquén Province, Patagonia, Argentina. Cretaceous Research (in press). .
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This discovery further supports the hypothesis that large theropod dinosaurs were oviparous, meaning that they laid eggs and hence that embryonic development occurred outside the body of female dinosaurs. This discovery was made in 2005 by the Dutch amateur fossil-hunter Aart Walen at the Lourinhã Formation in Western Portugal, in fluvial overbank sediments that are considered to be from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic Period, approximately 152 to 145 million years ago. This discovery is significant paleontologically for a number of reasons: (a) these are the most primitive dinosaur embryos known; (b) these are the only basal theropod embryos known; (c) fossilized eggs and embryos are rarely found together; (d) it represents the first evidence of a one-layered eggshell for theropod dinosaurs; and (e) it allows researchers to link a new eggshell morphology to the osteology of a particular group of theropod dinosaurs.Ricardo Araújo, Rui Castanhinha, Rui M. S. Martins, Octávio Mateus, Christophe Hendrickx, F. Beckmann, N. Schell & L. C. Alves (2013) Filling the gaps of dinosaur eggshell phylogeny: Late Jurassic Theropod clutch with embryos from Portugal.
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Aoniraptor is a megaraptoran theropod from the Late Cretaceous of Argentina. It was recovered by Matias Motta from the Violante Farm, part of the Huincul Formation. It was discovered in 2010, but only formally described in 2016. Aoniraptor has been considered as synonymous with the theropod Gualicho, described from the same formation, due to the similarities of their caudal vertebrae.
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A Sauroidichnites abnormis trackway preserves tracks made by a theropod with "an abnormally positioned toe". This could be a result of physical injury or behavioral in the way the foot is positioned or lifted from the substrate.Molnar, R. E., 2001, Theropod paleopathology: a literature survey: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, p. 337-363.
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According to the Theropod Database, a personal website designed by Mickey Mortimer, further research may suggest that Embasaurus may be a basal tyrannosauroid.Embasaurus minax at the Theropod Database George Olshevsky, however, considered Embasaurus to be a megalosaurid, closely related to Magnosaurus, Megalosaurus, and Torvosaurus. The type species, Embasaurus minax, was described by the Soviet paleontologist Anatoly Riabinin in 1931.Riabinin, A.N. (1931).
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In all, over a hundred distinct anatomical features are shared by birds and theropod dinosaurs. Other researchers drew on these shared features and other aspects of dinosaur biology and began to suggest that at least some theropod dinosaurs were feathered. At the same time, paleoartists began to create modern restorations of highly active dinosaurs. In 1969, Robert T. Bakker drew a running Deinonychus.
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Daemonosaurus is typically considered to be a basal theropod that lies outside the clade Neotheropoda,H.D. Sues, S. J. Nesbitt, D. S. Berman and A. C. Henrici. 2011. A late-surviving basal theropod dinosaur from the latest Triassic of North America. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 278:3459-3464 a group that includes more advanced Triassic theropods (like Coelophysis) and their descendants.
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The evolution of birds began in the Jurassic Period, with the earliest birds derived from a clade of theropod dinosaurs named Paraves. Birds are categorized as a biological class, Aves. For more than a century, the small theropod dinosaur Archaeopteryx lithographica from the Late Jurassic period was considered to have been the earliest bird. Modern phylogenies place birds in the dinosaur clade Theropoda.
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In 2001, Ralph E. Molnar published a survey of pathologies in theropod dinosaur bone. He found pathological features in 21 genera from 10 families. Pathologies were found in theropods of all body size although they were less common in fossils of small theropods, although this may be an artifact of preservation. They are very widely represented throughout the different parts of theropod anatomy.
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Coelurosauria (; from Greek, meaning "hollow tailed lizards") is the clade containing all theropod dinosaurs more closely related to birds than to carnosaurs. Coelurosauria is a subgroup of theropod dinosaurs that includes compsognathids, tyrannosaurs, ornithomimosaurs, and maniraptorans; Maniraptora includes birds, the only known dinosaur group alive today.Turner, A.H., Makovicky, P.J., and Norell, M.A. 2012. A review of dromaeosaurid systematics and paravian phylogeny.
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Orthogoniosaurus (meaning "straight angled lizard", referring to the straight posterior edge of its type tooth) was a genus of theropod dinosaur from the late Maastrichtian-age Upper Cretaceous Lameta Formation of Jabalpur, India. It is based on one small, fragmentary tooth (preserved section 27 mm (1.1 in) long).Das-Gupta, H.C. (1931). On a new theropod dinosaur (Orthogoniosaurus matleyi, n. gen.
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Jiangjunosaurus may have been a prey item for the metriacanthosaurid theropod Sinraptor.Paul, Gregory S. The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press, 2010.
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Viavenator is a genus of carnivorous abelisaurid theropod dinosaur discovered in Argentina's Bajo de la Carpa Formation. It coexisted with the megaraptoran Tratayenia rosalesi.
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The dinosaurs Sanxiasaurus, Yunyangosaurus, and indeterminate sauropods are also known from the formation. Theropod and ornithopod tracks have also been reported from the formation.
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Linhevenator is a genus of short-armed troodontid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) Bayan Mandahu Formation of Bayan Mandahu, Inner Mongolia, China.
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The post-cranial (ZPAL MgD-I/108) skeleton has been described as "bird-like", while the skull exhibits features of several different theropod groups.
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Hesperornithoides (meaning "western bird form"; nicknamed "Lori") is a genus of troodontid theropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic period.
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Marshosaurus is a genus of medium-sized carnivorous theropod dinosaur, belonging to the Megalosauroidea, from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation of Utah and possibly Colorado.
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See also A 2011 study focusing on hypsilophodont and theropod bones also concluded that these dinosaurs did not hibernate through the winter, but stayed active.
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Among the features linking theropod dinosaurs to birds are a furcula (wishbone), air-filled bones, brooding of the eggs, and (in coelurosaurs, at least) feathers.
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There are nine therian and prototherians species, together with a tritylodontid. There are also fossils of theropod dinosaurs, crocodilians, pterosaurs, fishes and many shark teeth.
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No dental material is know for this taxon as the isolated tooth initially referred to the holotype was revealed to belong to an abelisaurid theropod.
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He later gave them their own genus, Coelophysis. In 1903, Henry Fairfield Osborn named a second genus of small theropod from the Morrison Formation, Ornitholestes. This genus was based on a partial skeleton from Bone Cabin Quarry, north of Como Bluff. Ornitholestes became intertwined with Coelurus in 1920, when Charles Gilmore, in his influential study of theropod dinosaurs, concluded that the two were synonyms.
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Gorgosaurus libratus Tyrannosaurids are one of the few theropod families with pathologies reported in multiple well known genera. In 2001, Bruce Rothschild and others published a study examining evidence for stress fractures in theropod dinosaurs. Three of the 105 toe bones from indeterminate tyrannosaurids were found to have stress fractures. One of the five finger bones also examined were found to have stress fractures.
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Ilokelesia is an extinct genus of abelisaurid theropod,Coria, R.A.; Salgado, L. & Calvo, J.O. (1991) "Primeros restos de dinosaurios Theropoda del Miembro Huincul, Formación Río Limay (Cretácico Tardío Presenoniano), Neuquén, Argentina." Ameghiniana, 28: 405-406. preserved in the layers of the earliest Late CretaceousCoria, R.A.; Currie, P.J. & Carabajal, A.P. (2006). "A new abelisauroid theropod from northwestern Patagonia" Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 43: 1283--1289\.
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In 2001, Bruce Rothschild and others published a study examining evidence for stress fractures in theropod dinosaurs and the implications for their behavior. Stress fractures are more useful than other paleopathologies for providing evidence for theropod behavior because they are caused by repeated strain rather than individual injuries. The lower end of a theropod's third metatarsal would contact the ground first while a theropod was running, which means it would have borne the most stress and should be most predisposed to suffer stress factors. The lack of such a bias in the examined fossils indicates an origin for stress fractures from a source other than running.
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Stokesosaurus (meaning "Stokes' lizard") is a genus of small (around in length), carnivorous early tyrannosauroid theropod dinosaurs from the late Jurassic period of Utah, United States.
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Tetradactyly (from Greek tetra-="four" plus δακτυλος = "finger") is the condition of having four digits on a limb, as in many amphibians, birds, and theropod dinosaurs.
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Indeterminate theropod tracks have been recovered from both Utah and Arizona."Dinosaur distribution (Late Jurassic; North America; 'Utah' and 'Arizona')." Weishampel, et al. (2004). Pg. 544.
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He has done some research on the dinosaurs ScipionyxRuben. J.A, et al. Pulmonary Function and Metabolic Physiology of Theropod Dinosaurs, p. 514-516. and Sinosauropteryx,Gibbons.
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However, as shown by Cooper (1984), these teeth do not pertain to Vulcanodon but to a theropod dinosaur that may have scavenged on the Vulcanodon carcass.
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"The Interrelationships and Evolution of Basal Theropod Dinosaurs." Special Papers in Palaeontology 69. The Palaeontological Association:London, 213 p.Holtz Jr., T.R., Molnar, R.E., and Currie, P.J. (2004).
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Datanglong is an extinct genus of carcharodontosaurian theropod belonging to the Tetanurae. It existed during the Early Cretaceous (Barremian-Albian) in what is now southeastern China.
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Molnar, R. E., 2001, Theropod paleopathology: a literature survey: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, pp. 337-363.
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This refers to the transitional characteristics seen in this theropod. The specific name refers to Wulatehouqi (Wulate Rear Banner), the county that the holotype was found in.
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42, pp. 248–254. Analogous to Archaeopteryx and older theropod dinosaurs, its pubis appears to be directed more ventrally and terminates distally in a hook-shaped "boot".
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Molnar, R. E., 2001, Theropod paleopathology: a literature survey: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, p. 337-363.
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Gustav Fischer Verlag:Stuttgart, 1-87. although there is no comparable material between the two genera. Modern reviews have regarded it as a dubious theropod,Norman, D.B. (1990).
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Chen, P-J., Dong, Z-M., Zhen, S-N. 1998. An exceptionally well-preserved theropod dinosaur from the Yixian Formation of China. Nature. Vol. 391:14.–152.
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Bird eggshell microstructure is complex and more similar to theropod dinosaurs than to crocodilians. The commonality in eggshell structure is more evidence that birds evolved from theropods.
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Fukuiraptor ("thief of Fukui") was a medium-sized megaraptoran theropod dinosaur of the Early Cretaceous epoch (either Barremian or Aptian) that lived in what is now Japan.
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Among these, it belonged to the Hesperornithidae, along with Hesperornis, the well-known namesake genus.Mortimer, M. (2004). The Theropod Database: Phylogeny of taxa . Retrieved 2013-MAR-02.
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An SVP 2012 abstract considers it as a possible senior synonym of Ornithomimoides.Wilson, 2012. Small theropod dinosaurs from the Latest Cretaceous of India. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
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Molnar, R. E., 2001, Theropod paleopathology: a literature survey: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, p. 337-363.
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A consensus of paleontologists agrees that birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs. The scenario for this hypothesis is that early theropod dinosaurs were endothermic, and evolved simple filamentous feathers for insulation. These feathers later increased in size and complexity and then adapted to aerodynamic uses. Ample evidence for this hypothesis has been found in the fossil record, specifically for such dinosaurs as Kulindadromeus, Sinosauropteryx, Caudipteryx, Microraptor and many others.
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Monolophosaurus ( ; meaning "single-crested lizard") is a genus of tetanuran theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Shishugou Formation in what is now Xinjiang, China.Holtz, Thomas R. Jr. (2011) Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up- to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages, Winter 2010 Appendix. It was named for the single crest on top of its skull. Monolophosaurus was a mid- sized theropod at about 5 metres long.
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Skeleton of Giganotosaurus, one of the largest theropods known. Tyrannosaurus was for many decades the largest and best known theropod to the general public. Since its discovery, however, a number of other giant carnivorous dinosaurs have been described, including Spinosaurus, Carcharodontosaurus, and Giganotosaurus. These large theropod dinosaurs rivaled or even exceeded Tyrannosaurus in size, though more recent studies show some indication that Tyrannosaurus, although shorter, was the heavier predator.
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Cranial design and function in a large theropod dinosaur. Nature 409: 1033-1037. the skull of the theropod dinosaur Allosaurus was analysed using FEA in order to quantitatively assess different feeding hypotheses. This paper was the first use of FEA on a three-dimensional structure in palaeontology (in collaboration with CT scanning), and spurred the current trend of CT-scanned skull FEA on feeding biomechanics in zoology and palaeontology.
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Carcharodontosaurinae (from the Greek καρχαροδοντόσαυρος, carcharodontósauros: "jagged-toothed lizards") was group of theropod dinosaurs known from the Aptian to the Cenomanian/Turonian of Africa and South America. The clade was first named in 2007 by Steve Brusatte and Paul Sereno. The subfamily consists of gigantic derived carcharodontosaurids, among the largest theropod dinosaurs known, comparable in size to Tyrannosaurus. Carcharodontosaurinae is defined as the least inclusive clade containing Carcharodontosaurus and Giganotosaurus.
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Broken tooth Szechuanosaurus ("Szechuan lizard") is an extinct Chure, D.J. (2000) A new species of Allosaurus from the Morrison Formation of Dinosaur National Monument (UT–CO) and a revision of the theropod family Allosauridae. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, New York genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic. Fossils referred to the genus have been found in China, Asia in the Oxfordian (Peng et al., 2005).
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Prismatoolithids were previously hypothesized to be eggs of hypsilophodonts or ceratopsians, but later research found that they in fact are the eggs of theropods, based on analysis of preserved embryos of Prismatoolithus levis which showed them to be Troodon formosus. Therefore, Trigonoolithus was also probably laid by a theropod. Based on its phylogenetic position, Moreno-Azanza et al. concluded it was most likely a non-dromaeosaurian, non-oviraptorid coelurosaur theropod dinosaur.
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Restoration Eodromaeus is regarded as one of the earliest members of Theropoda, the group that includes the carnivorous dinosaurs. The discovery of Eodromaeus lead some to believe that Eoraptor (typically regarded as a theropod) likely represented one of the most basal sauropodomorphs, the group that includes animals like Apatosaurus. This has since been questioned however, with Bergman and Sues reclaiming Eoraptor as a theropod, like Eodromaeus.Bergman D.S., Sues H-D.
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Several features of the tibia led the describers of the genus and species to consider Nhandumirim waldsangae the earliest theropod, but some analyses offer alternative positions within Saurischia.
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Velocipes (meaning "quick foot") is a possible theropod dinosaur genus from the Late Triassic. Its fossils were found in the Norian-age Lissauer Breccia, now in southern Poland.
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A partial skeleton has been discovered with preserved puncture marks.Jacobsen, A.R. 2001. Tooth-marked small theropod bone: An extremely rare trace. p. 58-63. In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life.
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Carpenter et al. described a new small theropod, Tanycolagreus, whose skeleton was found in Bone Cabin Quarry only a few hundred yards from AMNH 587.Carpenter et al.
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Despite the presence of numerous avian features, Archaeopteryx had many non-avian theropod dinosaur characteristics. Unlike modern birds, Archaeopteryx had small teeth, as well as a long bony tail, features which Archaeopteryx shared with other dinosaurs of the time. Because it displays features common to both birds and non-avian dinosaurs, Archaeopteryx has often been considered a link between them. In the 1970s, John Ostrom, following Thomas Henry Huxley's lead in 1868, argued that birds evolved within theropod dinosaurs and Archaeopteryx was a critical piece of evidence for this argument; it had several avian features, such as a wishbone, flight feathers, wings, and a partially reversed first toe along with dinosaur and theropod features.
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Tongtianlong (meaning "Tongtianyan dragon") is a genus of oviraptorid theropod dinosaurs that lived in the late Maastrichtian epoch of the late Cretaceous period. It contains one species, T. limosus.
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The cladogram below is based on the phylogenetic analysis conducted in 2017 by Cau et al. using updated data from the Theropod Working Group in their description of Halszkaraptor.
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It is the third youngest carnosaur known from the European Lower Cretaceous, after the "Montmirat theropod" (Valanginian) of southern France and Neovenator salerii (Barremian) from the Isle of Wight.
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Noasaurus ("Northwestern Argentina lizard") is a genus of ceratosaurian theropod dinosaur genus from the late Campanian-Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) of Argentina. The type and only species is N. leali.
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Calamospondylus (meaning "quill vertebrae") is a genus of theropod dinosaur. It lived during the Early Cretaceous, and its fossils were found on the Isle of Wight in southern England.
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Appalachiosaurus ( ; "Appalachian lizard") is a genus of tyrannosauroid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period of eastern North America. Like almost all theropods, it was a bipedal predator. Only a juvenile skeleton has been found, representing an animal over 7 meters (23 ft) long and weighing over 600 kilograms (1300 lb), which indicates an adult would have been even larger. It is the most completely known theropod from the eastern part of North America.
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Size of adult and sub-adult specimens, compared with a human Sinosauropteryx was a small bipedal theropod, noted for its short arms, large first finger (thumbs), and long tail. The taxon includes some of the smallest known adult non-avian theropod specimens, with the holotype specimen measuring only in length, including the tail. However, this individual was relatively young. The longest known specimen reaches up to in length, with an estimated weight of .
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Three skeletons of a theropod were discovered in 1993 by Christopher Whittle near Cisco in the basal Yellow Cat Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah, dating to the Barremian. These were subsequently studied and reported in 1995 by Kirkland, Britt, Madsen and Burge.J. I. Kirkland, C. H. Whittle, B. B. Britt, S. Madsen and D. Burge. A Small Theropod from the Basal Cedar Mountain Formation (Lower Cretaceous, Barremian) of Eastern Utah.
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However, such frame shifts are rare in amniotes and—to be consistent with the theropod origin of birds—would have had to occur solely in the bird-theropod lineage forelimbs and not the hindlimbs (a condition unknown in any animal).Developmental Biology 8e Online. Chapter 16: Did Birds Evolve From the Dinosaurs? This is called Lateral Digit Reduction (LDR) versus Bilateral Digit Reduction (BDR) (see also LimusaurusVargas AO, Wagner GP and Gauthier, JA. 2009.
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With a fully erect stance, Stratiotosuchus has many features convergent with theropod dinosaurs, which are fully bipedal. In Stratiotosuchus, a roughly surfaced region on the upper part of the femur is analogous to the accessory trochanter common to tetanuran theropods. These projections are thought to have anchored the same muscle, called the puboischiofemoralis internus pars dorsalis. A crest on the forward edge of the tibia is similar to those seen in early theropod dinosaurs.
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New information on Segisaurus halli, a small theropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of Arizona. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 25 (#4), 835–849. However, later study by Nesbitt et al.
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Rugops (meaning "wrinkle face") is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur that inhabited what is now Africa approximately 95 million years ago, during the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous.
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The specimens, MAFI ob. 3106, were later lost. It represents an indeterminate theropod. In 1903, Louis Dollo named Megalosaurus lonzeensis based on a manual claw found near Lonzee in Belgium.
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Nesbitt S. 2007. The anatomy of Effigia okeeffeae (Archosauria, Suchia), theropod-like convergence, and the distribution of related taxa. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 302: 84 pp.
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Despite this, they placed Epidendrosaurus firmly within Maniraptora.Zhang, F., Zhou, Z., Xu, X. & Wang, X. (2002). "A juvenile coelurosaurian theropod from China indicates arboreal habits." Naturwissenschaften, 89(9): 394-398.
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The following tables list the global geological sites where tracks of theropod dinosaurs have been found, together with the proper names of the rock formations (stratigraphic units) that contain them.
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The Shendi Formation is a Late Cretaceous geologic formation of the Atbara- Shendi Basin in northern Sudan.Eltayib et al., 2018, p.2 Indeterminate theropod remains have been recovered from it.
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Dinosaur remains (ankylosaurid and theropod remains) have been recovered from the formation, although none have yet been referred to a specific genus.Weishampel, et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution." Pp. 517-607.
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Richardoestesia is a medium-sized (about ) genus of theropod dinosaur from the late Cretaceous Period of what is now North America. It currently contains two species, R. gilmorei and R. isosceles.
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Two of the trackways consist of large ornithopod footprints (average footprint length and average width ). Two other trackways consist of small theropod footprints (less than long).Moreno et al., 2012, p.
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However, Wings and Sander (2007) showed that the polished nature and the abundance of those stones precluded a use as an effective gastric mill in most non-theropod dinosaurs, including Massospondylus.
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Restoration with hypothetical feathers. Marshosaurus was medium-sized for a theropod. In 2010, Gregory S. Paul estimated its length at and its weight at . The holotype ilium has a length of .
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Jacobsen, A.R. 2001. Tooth-marked small theropod bone: An extremely rare trace. p. 58–63. In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life. Ed.s Tanke, D. H., Carpenter, K., Skrepnick, M. W. Indiana University Press.
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BBC News. January 31, 2011. Retrieved February 9, 2011. clavicles in non-avian theropod dinosaurs, and neck, pectoral region, and upper limb musculature in primates, including the lineage leading to humans.
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Holtz, Thomas R., Brinkman, Daniel L., Chandler, Chistine L. (1998) Denticle Morphometrics and a Possibly Omnivorous Feeding Habit for the Theropod Dinosaur Troodon. Gaia number 15. December 1998. pp. 159-166.
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Archaeornithomimus (meaning "ancient bird mimic") is a genus of ornithomimosaurian theropod dinosaur that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous period, around 96 million years ago in the Iren Dabasu Formation.
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As the archetypal theropod, Tyrannosaurus has been one of the best-known dinosaurs since the early 20th century, and has been featured in film, advertising, postal stamps, and many other media.
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Foster, J. (2007). "Appendix." Jurassic West: The Dinosaurs of the Morrison Formation and Their World. Indiana University Press. pp. 327–329. Few theropod skeletons have been found, most discoveries being fragments.
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The Gansu dinosaur trackway located in the Liujiazia National Dinosaur Geopark in Yanguoxia, China contains hundreds of tracks including 245 dinosaur, 350 theropod, 364 sauropod and 628 ornithopod tracks among others.
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Indiana University Press, Bloomington, Indiana.Simon, D. J. (2014). "Giant Dinosaur (theropod) Eggs of the Oogenus Macroelongatoolithus (Elongatoolithidae) from Southeastern Idaho: Taxonomic, Paleobiogeographic, and Reproductive Implications." (Doctoral dissertation, Montana State University, Bozeman).
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The discovery of this genus gave North American paleontologists the opportunity to observe an articulated, albeit incomplete, theropod skeleton. During the 19th century, this genus unfortunately became a wastebasket taxon for the referral of isolated theropod elements from across North America given that tyrannosauroids were not recognized as a distinct group of large theropods in the late 19th century, and numerous theropod species were assigned to it (often as Lælaps or Laelaps) only to be later reclassified. The genus name Dryptosaurus, means "tearing lizard", and is derived from the Greek words "dryptō" (δρύπτω), meaning "I tear" and "sauros" (σαυρος) meaning "lizard". The specific name aquilunguis, is derived from the Latin for "having claws like an eagle's", a reference to the claws on its three-fingered hand.
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Birds and theropod dinosaurs (from which birds evolved) have three digits on their hands. Paradoxically the two digits that are missing are different: the bird hand (embedded in the wing) is thought to derive from the second, third and fourth digits of the ancestral five-digit hand. In contrast, the theropod dinosaurs seem to have the first, second and third digits. Recently a Jurassic theropod intermediate fossil Limusaurus has been found in the Junggar Basin in western China that has a complex mix: it has a first digit stub and full second, third and fourth digits but its wrist bones are like those that are associated with the second, third and fourth digits while its finger bones are those of the first, second and third digits.
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Specimens such as Sue and Scotty are both estimated to be the most massive theropods known to science. There is still no clear explanation for exactly why these animals grew so much larger than the land predators that came before and after them. The largest extant theropod is the common ostrich, up to tall and weighs between . The smallest non-avialan theropod known from adult specimens may be Anchiornis huxleyi, at in weight and in length.
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If Yutyrannus did prey on sauropods, it would have been one of two predatory animals known from the Yixian formation capable of doing so, the other being an as-of-yet undescribed large theropod known from a tooth embedded in the rib of a Dongbeititan.Xing L., Bell, P.R., Currie, P.J., Shibata M., Tseng K. & Dong Z. (2012). "A sauropod rib with an embedded theropod tooth: direct evidence for feeding behaviour in the Jehol group, China." Lethaia, (advance online publication). .
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Richards sent the remains to the Museum of Isle of Wight Geology and the British Museum of Natural History. In the latter institution paleontologist Alan Jack Charig determined that the bones belonged to two kinds of animal: Iguanodon and some theropod. The "Iguanodon", later referred to Mantellisaurus, generated the most interest and in the early 1980s a team was sent by the BMNH to secure more of its bones. On that occasion an additional theropod tail vertebra was discovered.
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Neovenator salerii: A new theropod dinosaur from the Wealden of the Isle of Wight: its status and significance for Theropod evolution. A thesis submitted for the award of degree of Master of Philosophy (unpublished). University of Portsmouth In 2008, Stephen Louis Brusatte, Roger Benson and Hutt redescribed the species in great detail. In 2014, teeth indistinguishable from those of the holotype of Neovenator were found in the Angeac lignitic bone bed, France, dating to the Barremian.
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Theropod tracks have been found in South Dakota. A second footprint that may have been made by a specimen of Tyrannosaurus was first reported in 2007 by British paleontologist Phil Manning, from the Hell Creek Formation of Montana. This second track measures long, shorter than the track described by Lockley and Hunt. Whether or not the track was made by Tyrannosaurus is unclear, though Tyrannosaurus is the only large theropod known to have existed in the Hell Creek Formation.
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Daemonosaurus is an extinct genus of possible theropod dinosaur from the Late Triassic of New Mexico. Fossils have been found from deposits in the Chinle Formation, which is latest Triassic in age. While theropods had diversified into several specialized groups by this time, Daemonosaurus is likely a very basal theropod (if one at all), and lies outside the clade Neotheropoda. Daemonosaurus is unusual among putative early theropods in that it had a short skull with long protruding teeth.
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Yates, A.M., 2006 (for 2005). "A new theropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of South Africa and its implications for the early evolution of theropods." Palaeontologia Africana, 41: 105-122. But later studies found Zupaysaurus to be a sister taxon sister to a clade containing dilophosaurids, ceratosaurs and tetanurans.Smith N.D., Makovicky P. J., Hammer W. R. & Currie P. J. 2007 Osteology of Cryolophosaurus ellioti (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Early Jurassic of Antarctica and implications for early theropod evolution. Zool.
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Elaphrosaurus ( ) is a genus of ceratosaurian theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 154 to 150 million years ago during the later part of the Jurassic Period in what is now Tanzania in Africa. Elaphrosaurus was a medium- sized but lightly built member of the group that could grow up to long. Morphologically, this dinosaur is significant in two ways. Firstly, it has a relatively long body but is very shallow-chested for a theropod of its size.
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The vertebra used to name Tanystrosuchus (specimen SMNS 4385) was originally found by S.F.J. von Kapff in the 1860s. Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer described the vertebra in 1865, but did not attempt to classify it. In 1907, Friedrich von Huene examined the fossil and recognized it as part of a theropod dinosaur. He thought it probably belonged to the genus Tanystropheus (thought to be a theropod at the time), and named a new species for it, Tanystropheus posthumus.
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Taurovenator is a medium-sized carcharodontosaurid theropod from the late Cretaceous of Argentina. Discovered by Matias Motta in 2005 and formally described in 2016, it is represented by an isolated right postorbital.
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Restoration A general resemblance to the theropod Allosaurus was noted by Benton (1992); however there are key differences between the two.Benton, M. (1992). Dinosaur and other prehistoric animal factfinder. 1st American ed.
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The following family tree illustrates a synthesis of the relationships of the early theropod groups compiled by Hendrickx et al. in 2015, and follows more recent research showing a more restricted Dilophosauridae.
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The 6-metre-(20 ft-) long carnivorous theropod Dracovenator lived during the same period (Hettangian to Sinemurian stages) as Massospondylus and has also been found in the Elliot Formation of South Africa.
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They identified O. cluniculus as a theropod dinosaur. Specifically, they suggested it was a troodontid, based on its similarity to the supposed troodontid specimen BMNH R4463.Howse, S.C.B. and Milner, A.R. (1993).
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New information on Segisaurus halli, a small theropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of Arizona. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25(4): 835-849.Tykoski, 2005. Anatomy, ontogeny and phylogeny of coelophysoid theropods.
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Dinosaur remains from this formation include those of the abelisaurid theropod Xenotarsosaurus bonapartei, the sauropods Drusilasaura, Epachthosaurus and Campylodoniscus, the hadrosaur Secernosaurus as well as indeterminate teeth belonging to carcharodontosaurids and dromaeosaurids.
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Arkansaurus (meaning "Arkansas lizard") is an extinct genus of ornithomimosaurian theropod dinosaur. It lived during the Albian and Aptian stages of the Early Cretaceous. The type and only species is Arkansaurus fridayi.
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Larsson HCE (2001). "Endocranial anatomy of Carcharodontosaurus saharicus (Theropoda: Allosauroidea) and its implications for theropod brain evolution". pp. 19–33. In: Tanke DH, Carpenter K, Skrepnick MW (editors) (2001). Mesozoic Vertebrate Life.
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Examples of fluctuating asymmetry are too rare among theropod fossils to observe any patterns, but during periods of extinction, if the cause was gradual and sustained, asymmetries should be seen more frequently.
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It is unknown how fast Eodromaeus could run, but it has been suggested to about .Weise E, "New dog-sized dinosaur discovered", www.usatoday.com, 2011-01-23. It is a basal carnivorous theropod.
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He has argued for an alternative theory in which birds share a common stem-ancestor with theropod dinosaurs among more basal archosaurian lineages, with birds originating from small arboreal archosaurs in the Triassic.
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Currie, P. J., K. J. Rigby, and R. E. Sloan. 1990. "Theropod teeth from the Judith River Formation of southern Alberta, Canada". Pp. 107–125. In P. J. Currie, and K. Carpenter, eds.
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Erliansaurus (meaning "Erlian lizard") is a genus of therizinosaur theropod dinosaur that lived in Asia during the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous period in what is now Nei Mongol, Iren Dabasu Formation.
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Dilophodelphis is distinguished from other extinct relatives of the South Asian river dolphin in having enlarged supraorbital crests resembling a twin mountain arrangement, quite similar to the crests of the theropod dinosaur Dilophosaurus.
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Morrison ornithopod trace fossils are represented by three toed tracks which are generally small. The toes of Morrison ornithopod tracks are usually more widely splayed than the theropod tracks preserved in the formation.
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Novas F.E., Ezcurra M.D., and Agnolin F.L. 2006. Humerus of a basal abelisauroid theropod from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia. Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales 8: 63-68.Ezcurra M.D. 2006.
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Neotheropoda was named by Robert T. Bakker in 1986 as a group including the relatively derived theropod subgroups Ceratosauria and Tetanurae, and excluding coelophysoids.Bakker, R.T. 1986. The Dinosaur Heresies. William Morrow, New York.
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It is the best Weald Clay reptile site, with crocodile teeth, coprolites and part of an Iguanodon. The holotype specimen of the fish eating theropod dinosaur, Baryonyx walkeri was discovered on the site.
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Wakinosaurus (meaning "Wakino lizard") is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Hauterivian-Barremian) Sengoku Formation of Kyushu, Japan. The genus is a tooth taxon, based solely on a single tooth.
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Walgettosuchus (meaning "Walgett crocodile") is a dubious or invalid genus of extinct tetanuran theropod dinosaur that lived in Australia during the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian). It is only known from a single caudal vertebra.
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Paraxenisaurus (meaning "strange lizard") is a genus of deinocheirid theropod dinosaur that lived in what is now Mexico during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period, 73 to 72.1 million years ago.
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Siamotyrannus (meaning "Siamese tyrant") is a genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur from the early Cretaceous of Thailand. In 1993, Somchai Traimwichanon found a partial skeleton of a large theropod at the Phu Wiang 9 site in Khon Kaen. In 1996, Eric Buffetaut, Varavudh Suteethorn and Haiyan Tong named and described the type species Siamotyrannus isanensis. The generic name is derived from the old Thai kingdom of Siam, and a Latinised Greek tyrannus, meaning "tyrant", in reference to a presumed membership of the Tyrannosauridae.
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Their study also noted the similaritires between Aoniraptor, the enigmatic theropod Deltadromeus, and Bahariasaurus, a giant African theropod with remains destroyed by World War II bombings. Therefore, they suggested that Bahariasaurus and Deltadromeus were also basal megaraptorans, and that Aoniraptor, Bahariasaurus, and Deltadromeus could have formed a distinct family, the Bahariasauridae. A 2019 redescription of Murusraptor by Rolando, Novas, & Agnolín continued to find Megaraptora in a polytomy at the base of Tyrannosauroidea, based on the dataset of Apesteguia et al. (2016).
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The claws on its hands differ in shape where the claws of the first and second digits are recurved and the third claw is not. This trait is unusual in theropod dinosaurs, however, it has been observed in some ornithomimosaurs such as Struthiomimus. Nqwebasaurus also lacks serrations on its maxillary teeth, has a reduced dentition, and contains gastroliths in its abdominal cavity. Again this is unusual trait for carnivorous theropod dinosaurs as gastroliths are more commonly found in herbivorous vertebrates and modern ostriches.
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The differences in the morphology of the hand of basic Alvarezsauroidea and the derived members are characterized by digit reduction. In the evolution of theropod dinosaurs, modifications of the hand were typical. The digital reduction, for instance, is a striking evolutionary phenomenon that is clearly exemplified in theropod dinosaurs. The enlargement of the manual digit II in alvarezsauroids and the concurrent reduction of the lateral digits, created one functional medial digit and two very small, and presumably vestigial, lateral digits.
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Yangchuanosaurus is an extinct genus of metriacanthosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in China from the Middle to Late Jurassic periods (Bathonian to Oxfordian stages), and was similar in size and appearance to its North American and European relative, Allosaurus. Yangchuanosaurus hails from the Upper Shaximiao Formation and was the largest predator in a landscape that included the sauropods Mamenchisaurus and Omeisaurus and the stegosaurs Chialingosaurus, Tuojiangosaurus and Chungkingosaurus. This theropod was named after the area in which was discovered, Yongchuan, in China.
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The position of Compsognathus and its relatives within the coelurosaur group is uncertain. Some, such as theropod expert Thomas Holtz Jr. and co-authors Ralph Molnar and Phil Currie in the landmark 2004 text Dinosauria, hold the family as the most basal of the coelurosaurs, while others as part of the Maniraptora. For almost a century, Compsognathus longipes was the only well-known small theropod species. This led to comparisons with Archaeopteryx and to suggestions of an especially close relationship with birds.
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The largest sauropods increased their size by five orders of magnitude after hatching, more than in any other amniote animals. Hallett and Wedel argued size increases in the evolution of sauropods were commonly followed by size increases of their predators, theropod dinosaurs. Argentinosaurus might have been preyed on by Mapusaurus, which is among the largest theropods known. Mapusaurus is known from at least seven individuals found together, raising the possibility that this theropod hunted in packs to bring down large prey including Argentinosaurus.
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In 2001, Bruce Rothschild and others published a study examining evidence for stress fractures and tendon avulsions in theropod dinosaurs and the implications for their behavior. They found that only one of the 17 Chirostenotes foot bones checked for stress fractures actually had them.Rothschild, B., Tanke, D. H., and Ford, T. L., 2001, Theropod stress fractures and tendon avulsions as a clue to activity: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, p. 331-336.
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Though initially beginning his research career in palaeontology with the intention of working on fossil marine reptiles, Naish became known for his doctoral work on the basal tyrannosauroid theropod Eotyrannus, a dinosaur that he, together with Steve Hutt and colleagues, named in 2001. He has published articles on the Wealden Supergroup theropods Thecocoelurus, Calamospondylus and Aristosuchus. With Martill and Dino Frey, he named a new illegally acquired Brazilian compsognathid theropod Mirischia. In 2004, Naish and Gareth Dyke reinterpreted the controversial Romanian fossil Heptasteornis.
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He also recognized elongatoolithids to be theropod eggs, demonstrating their numerous structural differences from the supposed Protoceratops eggs. In 1994, when Mikhailov described and reviewed the fossil elongated eggs from Mongolia, he named four new oospecies of Elongatoolithus (E. excellens, E. frustrabilis, E. subtitectorius, and E. sigillarius) as well as mentioning two other unnamed forms. Also in 1994, the theropod parentage of Elongatoolithus was confirmed when an oviraptorid embryo was discovered preserved inside an elongatoolithid egg, which Mikhailov (1997) tentatively referred to Elongatoolithus.
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These two classifications have become the most persistent, with Rauhut (2003) and Bittencourt and Kellner (2004) favoring the early theropod hypothesis, and Max Langer (2004), Langer and Benton (2006), and Randall Irmis and his coauthors (2007) favoring the basal saurischian hypothesis. If Herrerasaurus were indeed a theropod, it would indicate that theropods, sauropodomorphs, and ornithischians diverged even earlier than herrerasaurids, before the middle Carnian, and that "all three lineages independently evolved several dinosaurian features, such as a more advanced ankle joint or an open acetabulum". This view is further supported by ichnological records showing large tridactyl (three-toed) footprints that can be attributed only to a theropod dinosaur. These footprints date from the Ladinian (Middle Triassic) of the Los Rastros Formation in Argentina and predate Herrerasaurus by 3 to 5 million years.
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Elmisaurus is an extinct genus of dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous. It was a theropod belonging to the Oviraptorosauria. Its fossils have been found in Mongolia. It is known from foot and hand bones.
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Lepidus is a genus of extinct coelophysoidean theropod from the Upper Triassic of the United States. It lived in the Otis Chalk localities of the Dockum Group in Texas, around 223 million years ago.
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Currie, P.J., and A.R. Jacobsen. 1995. "An azhdarchid pterosaur eaten by a velociraptorine theropod". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 32: 922–925 Its bones were not articulated but associated. It represents an immature individual.
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The quadratojugal of most dromaeosaurids is T-shaped, but in Wulong this bone is L‐shaped. The ascending process of this theropod is about 6 mm tall, the jugal process is 5 mm long.
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Magnosaurus (meaning 'large lizard') was a genus of basal tetanuran theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of England. It is based on fragmentary remains and has often been confused with or included in Megalosaurus.
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Inosaurus is the name given to a dubious genus of theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Niger and possibly from the Late Cretaceous of Egypt. The type, and only species, is Inosaurus tedreftensis.
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Zhuchengtyrannus (meaning "Zhucheng tyrant") is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur known from the Late Cretaceous period of Shandong Province, China. It belongs to the tyrannosaurinae subfamily, and contains a single species, Zhuchengtyrannus magnus.
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Though its relationships to other members of this group are inadequately known, Pasquiaornis appears to have been one of the more basal lineages. (2004): The Theropod Database: Phylogeny of taxa . Retrieved 2013-MAR-02.
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Trigonoolithus is an oogenus of dinosaur egg, representing a basal prismatoolithid. Its eggshell, like avian eggs, is composed of three structural layers, but cladistic analysis suggests that its parent was a non- avian theropod.
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Cruxicheiros (meaning "cross hand") is a genus of tetanuran theropod dinosaur which lived in the Middle Jurassic of England. The type species is C. newmanorum, described by Roger Benson and Jonathan Radley in 2010.
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Benson, R.B.J. and Xu, X. (2008). "The anatomy and systematic position of the theropod dinosaur Chilantaisaurus tashuikouensis Hu, 1964 from the Early Cretaceous of Alanshan, People’s Republic of China." Geol. Mag., 145: 778–789.
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In 1832 however, the German paleontologist Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer split the material. Steneosaurus rostrominor was renamed Metriorhynchus geoffroyii while Steneosaurus rostromajor became Streptospondylus altdorfensis. To the last species the theropod remains were referred.
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The Benkersandstein (German for Benker Sandstone) is a geologic formation in Germany. It preserves fossils dating back to the Late Triassic (Carnian) period. Fossil theropod tracks have been reported from the formation.Weishampel, et al. (2004).
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While working for Marsh, he also discovered the type species of the sauropod dinosaur Diplodocus,Marsh, 1878. and the theropod dinosaur Allosaurus, with his protégé Samuel Wendell Williston.Marsh, 1877.A Short History of Dinosaur Collecting.
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Brusatte, Choiniere, Benson, Carr and Norell, 2012. Theropod dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous of Eastern North America: Anatomy, systematics, biogeography and new information from historic specimens. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Program and Abstracts 2012, 70.
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Overoraptor (meaning "piebald thief") is a genus of paravian theropod dinosaurs, which was closely related to Rahonavis, from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) Huincul Formation of Gondwana, present-day Argentina. It includes one species, Overoraptor chimentoi.
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Only the tail end is missing. In small areas impressions or remains of the soft parts are present. The fossil was considered the most complete specimen of a non-avian theropod ever found in Europe.
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In addition, therizinosaurids are estimated to have had more advanced feathers in comparison to primitive therizinosaurs (Beipiaosaurus or Jianchangosaurus). The unique and bizarre features of group has encourage research into the paleobiology and paleoecology of the family. A fair portion of modern research has concentrated on the feeding-patterns of these dinosaurs, as they are considered to be the best regarded theropod canditates for herbivory. While other theropod groups are fully carnivorous, members of Therizinosauridae diverged and adopted an herbivorous and possibly omnivorous lifestyle.
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The neck vertebrae of these dinosaurs are wider from side to side, about 50%, than they are long from front to back. Whether the neck as a whole was particularly short, is unknown: the holotype vertebra is a cervicodorsal, from the transition between the neck and the back, which would not be long anyway. The exact position of Sigilmassasaurus within the theropod family tree is unknown, but it belongs somewhere inside the theropod subgroup known as Tetanurae and most likely was a member of the family Spinosauridae.
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Rather than standing with their backs parallel to the ground like a normal theropod, they usually maintain a semi-erect posture, although while running they do stoop forward into a traditional theropod-like stance. They are far more intelligent than their ancestors. While they are indeed dinosaurs, Quintaglios possess a variety of traits that are more reminiscent of lizards. They are capable of limited regeneration; a Quintaglio can grow back a severed limb or tail, although complex, vital structures such as organs cannot be grown back.
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Further similarities between the proximal humerus of Protoavis and that of non-tetanuran theropods are found in the shared presence of an enlarged obturator ridge, whose morphology in Protoavis is again, uncannily like that observed in robust ceratosaurs, e.g., "Syntarus" kayentakatae. The resemblance between the femur of Protoavis and that of a non-tetanuran theropod becomes ever more pronounced at the distal end of the bone. Both share a crista tibiofibularis groove, a feature of a non-tetanuran theropod separating the medial and lateral condyles.
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At least a couple of the corrections (the anterior tympanic recess, and the relatively kinetic quadrate-squamosal contact) make Troodon more bird-like then Chatterjee made out in his Protoavis paper, but overall these particular corrections seem to have little bearing on the avian features of Protoavis. Currie and Zhao do not explicitly state whether or not they consider Protoavis to be a theropod, however they suggest that although Protoavis has characters suggesting avian affinities, most of these are also found in theropod dinosaurs.
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In 2013, Lee and O'Connor observed that Masiakasaurus would be a good subject for an analysis of theropod growth, considering that there is an abundance of fossil material to examine from a broad range of ontogenetic stages. The study showed that Masiakasaurus grew determinately, and reached full maturity at a small body size. Competing theories that Masiakasaurus specimens represent the juvenile form of a larger-bodied theropod were not supported by the data. Masiakasaurus took 8 to 10 years to grow the size of a large dog.
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Bahariasaurus (meaning "Bahariya lizard") is a genus of theropod dinosaur found in the Bahariya Formation in El-Waha el-Bahariya or Bahariya (Arabic: الواحة البحرية meaning the "northern oasis") oasis in Egypt, and the Farak Formation of Niger of North Africa, which date to the late Cretaceous Period, (Cenomanian age), about 95 million years ago. It was a huge theropod, in the same size range as Tyrannosaurus and the contemporary genus Carcharodontosaurus. It was about 11-12 meters in length and 4 tonnes in weight.
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Megalosauridae is a monophyletic family of carnivorous theropod dinosaurs within the group Megalosauroidea, closely related to the family Spinosauridae. Some members of this family include Megalosaurus, Torvosaurus, Eustreptospondylus, and Afrovenator. Appearing in the Middle Jurassic, megalosaurids were among the first major radiation of large theropod dinosaurs, although they became extinct by the end of the Jurassic period. They were a relatively primitive group of basal tetanurans containing two main subfamilies, Megalosaurinae and Afrovenatorinae, along with the basal genus Eustreptospondylus, an unresolved taxon which differs from both subfamilies.
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The divot appears to be located at the origin of the deltoid or teres major muscles. The localization in theropod scapulae as evidenced by the tendon avulsion in Sue suggests that theropods may have had a musculature more complex and functionally different from those of their descendants, the birds.Rothschild, B., Tanke, D. H., and Ford, T. L., 2001, Theropod stress fractures and tendon avulsions as a clue to activity: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, p. 331-336.
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"Futabasaurus" is an informal name for a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Japan, known only from a partial shin bone discovered in the Coniacian-age Ashizawa Formation of the Futaba Group. It was coined by David Lambert in 1990 as a conversion from the Japanese nickname "Futaba-ryu", for an undescribed theropod. Dong Zhiming and coauthors briefly discussed the fossil shin bone it was based on that same year, publishing a photograph. They considered the bone to belong to an indeterminate tyrannosaurid.
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Bannykus, along with Xiyunykus, fills a 70-million year gap in alvarezsaur evolution by exhibiting morphologies intermediate between the typical theropod forelimb of Haplocheirus and the highly reduced forelimbs and minute teeth of Late Cretaceous alvarezsaurids.
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Vayuraptor ("wind raptor") is a genus of basal coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous period in what is now Thailand. It contains a single species, V. nongbualamphuensis, recovered from the Sao Khua Formation.
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The exposure of the Csehbánya Formation that produced Hungarosaurus tormai has also yielded remains of bony fishes, turtles, lizards, crocodiles, and pterosaurs, along with teeth from a diminutive dromaeosaurid-like theropod and a Rhabdodon-like ornithopod.
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Tugulusaurus (meaning "Tugulu lizard") is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur that possibly belongs to the Alvarezsauria. It is known from the Early Cretaceous Tugulu Group in the Urhe area of the People's Republic of China.
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Altispinax (; "with high spines") is a genus of large predatory theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous period (Valanginian, 140 to 133 million years ago) of what is now the Wadhurst Clay Formation of East Sussex, England.
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For a long time, these teeth were thought to belong to a theropod. The teeth of Clasmodosaurus spatula were polygonal in cross section rather than round, an unusual trait also found in the titanosaur Bonitasaura salgadoi.
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The location of avulsion injuries in theropod scapulae as evidenced by the tendon avulsion in Sue the T. rex suggests that theropods may have had a musculature more complex and functionally different from those of birds.
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It contains only a single oospecies, E. khedaensis. The species was found in the Upper Sandy Carbonate Member of the Lameta Formation of India. These eggs were probably laid by a theropod dinosaur.D. M. Mohabey. 1998.
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Timurlengia is an extinct genus of tyrannosauroid theropod dinosaur found in Uzbekistan, in the Bissekty Formation in the Kyzylkum Desert, hailing from the Turonian age of the early Late Cretaceous. The type species is Timurlengia euotica.
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It lived alongside European species of Allosaurus (A. europaeus), Ceratosaurus, Stegosaurus and presumably Camptosaurus. Theropod Lourinhanosaurus also stalked the area. Lusotitan was the largest sauropod in the region, while the diplodocids Dinheirosaurus and Lourinhasaurus were also present.
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Dromaeosaur teeth probably belonging to a velociraptorine are known from the same formation, but are too large to have belonged to Ornithodesmus; rather, these must have come from a theropod closer in size to the giant Utahraptor.
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STM1–3 is believed to be a sub-adult, with features including the incomplete fusion of skeletal parts during ontogeny. The holotype of Tianyuraptor preserves no soft tissues, unlike many other theropod specimens from the Jehol Group.
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Dinosaurs of the Air: The Evolution and Loss of Flight in Dinosaurs and Birds. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. 472 pp. () On July 31, 2014, scientists reported details of the evolution of birds from other theropod dinosaurs.
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Koparion is a genus of small coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs (probably troodontids), from the late Jurassic Period (Kimmeridgian stage), of Utah. It contains the single named species Koparion douglassi which is known only from a single isolated tooth.
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Also found at the site were fish fragments, a theropod tooth, and a variety of plant fossils, including woody stems, branch impressions, cones and cone scales, and pieces of leaves. The Winton Formation had a faunal assemblage including bivalves, gastropods, insects, the lungfish Metaceratodus, turtles, the crocodilian Isisfordia, pterosaurs, and several types of dinosaurs, such as the theropod Australovenator, the sauropod Diamantinasaurus, and unnamed ankylosaurians and hypsilophodonts. Wintonotitan bones can be distinguished from Diamantinasaurus bones because Wintonotitan bones are not as robust. Plants known from the formation include ferns, ginkgoes, gymnosperms, and angiosperms.
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However, with the discovery of an almost complete skeleton and skull in 1988, Herrerasaurus has been classified as either an early theropod or an early saurischian in at least five recent reviews of theropod evolution, with many researchers treating it at least tentatively as the most primitive member of Theropoda.Holtz, Thomas R. Jr. (2011) Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages, Winter 2010 Appendix. It is a member of the Herrerasauridae, a family of similar genera that were among the earliest of the dinosaurian evolutionary radiation..
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Reconstructed T. tanneri skull, Museo Capellini of Bologna Fossilized remains of Torvosaurus have been found in North America and Portugal. In 1971, Vivian Jones, of Delta, Colorado (USA), in the Calico Gulch Quarry in Moffat County, discovered a single gigantic thumb claw of a theropod. This was shown to James Alvin Jensen, a collector working for Brigham Young University. In an effort to discover comparable fossils, Vivian's husband Daniel Eddie Jones directed Jensen to the Dry Mesa Quarry, where abundant gigantic theropod bones, together with Supersaurus remains, proved present in rocks of the Morrison Formation.
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In: D. B. Weishampel, H. Osmólska, and P. Dodson (eds.), The Dinosauria. University of California Press, Berkeley and to a basal position in Spinosauroidea by Oliver Walter Mischa Rauhut in 2003O. W. M. Rauhut. 2003. The interrelationships and evolution of basal theropod dinosaurs. Special Papers in Palaeontology 69:1-213 and to a very basal position in the Tetanurae by Thomas Holtz in 1994;T.R. Holtz, 1994, "The phylogenetic position of the Tyrannosauridae: implications for theropod systematics", Journal of Paleontology 68'(5): 1100-1117 all these assignments are not supported by present phylogenetic analysis.
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Lockley, p. 191. Large slabs of the trackways were excavated and are on display at the AMNH and the Texas Memorial Museum in Austin, Texas, among other institutions. Theropod and sauropod tracks under water in the Paluxy River The sauropod tracks, now given the ichnogenus name Brontopodus, were made by an animal of 30 to 50 feet in length, perhaps a brachiosaurid such as Pleurocoelus, and the theropod tracks by an animal of 20 to 30 feet in length, perhaps an Acrocanthosaurus. A variety of scenarios was proposed to explain the tracks.
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In July 1993 Armando Díaz Romeral discovered a theropod skeleton at the Las Hoyas Unit 3 site. In 1994 this was named and described by Bernardino Pérez Pérez- Moreno, José Luis Sanz, Angela Buscalioni, José Moratalla, Francisco Ortega and Diego Rasskin-Gutman as a new species: Pelecanimimus polyodon. The generic name is derived from Latin pelecanus, "pelican", and mimus, "mimic", in reference to the long snout and throat pouch. The specific name is a reference to the large number of teeth possessed by this theropod and is derived from Greek πολύς ('), "many" and ὀδούς (') "tooth".
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Life restoration and size comparison In total, two partial skeletons are known (a fractured skull and parts of two postcranial skeletons, among which paratype MACN CH 895) and is the most completely known theropod from the Middle-Late Jurassic Period of the Southern Hemisphere. Piatnitzkysaurus was a relatively lightly built medium-sized bipedal carnivore that was around long and around in mass, though such estimates apply to the holotype, which is a subadult.Mazzetta, G. V., Fariiia, R. A., & Vizcaino, S. F. 2000. On the palaeobiology of the South American homed theropod Carnotaurus sastrei Bonaparte.
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Since the lower end of the third metatarsal would have contacted the ground first while a theropod was running it would have borne the most stress and should be most predisposed to suffer stress fractures. The lack of such a bias in the examined fossils indicates an origin for the stress fractures from a source other than running. The authors conclude that these fractures occurred during interaction with prey. They suggest that such injuries could occur as a result of the theropod trying to hold struggling prey with its feet.
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Ceratosaurus gives its name to the Ceratosauria, a clade of theropod dinosaurs that diverged early from the evolutionary lineage leading to modern birds. Within the Ceratosauria, some paleontologists proposed it to be most closely related to Genyodectes from Argentina, which shares the strongly elongated teeth. The geologically older genus Proceratosaurus from England, although originally described as a presumed antecedent of Ceratosaurus, was later found to be unrelated. Ceratosaurus shared its habitat with other large theropod genera including Torvosaurus and Allosaurus, and it has been suggested that these theropods occupied different ecological niches to reduce competition.
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It came from a bonebed in the Bighorn Basin of north-central Wyoming, and was found near the shoulder blade of a Sauroposeidon. An assortment of other fragmentary theropod remains from the formation may also belong to Acrocanthosaurus, which may be the only large theropod in the Cloverly Formation. Acrocanthosaurus may be known from less complete remains outside of Oklahoma, Texas, and Wyoming. A tooth from southern Arizona has been referred to the genus, and matching tooth marks have been found in sauropod bones from the same area.
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Digital fly-through over the Glen Rose trackway, reconstructed from photographs The famous Glen Rose trackway on display in New York City includes theropod footprints belonging to several individuals which moved in the same direction as up to twelve sauropod dinosaurs. The theropod prints are sometimes found on top of the sauropod footprints, indicating that they were formed later. This has been put forth as evidence that a small pack of Acrocanthosaurus was stalking a herd of sauropods. While interesting and plausible, this hypothesis is difficult to prove and other explanations exist.
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They noted it could have been made by a very large Dilophosaurus individual, but found that unlikely, as they estimated the trackmaker would have been tall at the hips, compared to the of Dilophosaurus. Cast of a resting track from Massachusetts, which was argued to have been made by a theropod like Dilophosaurus and to include feather impressions around the belly (arrow), but this has been questioned The paleontologist Gerard Gierliński examined tridactyl footprints from the Holy Cross Mountains in Poland and concluded in 1991 that they belonged to a theropod like Dilophosaurus.
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One consistently confounding issue Heilmann had encountered in his research into the bird-reptile link was that modern birds possess a wishbone and theropod dinosaurs, by his observations, did not. Since ancient reptilian fossils that predated dinosaurs clearly possessed a different sort of wishbone, Heilmann concluded that this feature could not have been lost and regained again over the course of evolution. Based on this law, he therefore rejected the possibility of a direct theropod ancestor of birds, though he acknowledged that theropods and birds must have shared a close relationship.Heilmann (1926) pp. 139.
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By predating Archaeopteryx, Anchiornis proves the existence of a modernly feathered theropod ancestor, providing insight into the dinosaur-bird transition. The specimen shows distribution of large pennaceous feathers on the forelimbs and tail, implying that pennaceous feathers spread to the rest of the body at an earlier stage in theropod evolution. The development of pennaceous feathers did not replace earlier filamentous feathers. Filamentous feathers are preserved alongside modern-looking flight feathers — including some with modifications found in the feathers of extant diving birds — in 80 million year old amber from Alberta.
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When originally described, Coria could not find a more precise placement for Quilmesaurus than Theropoda. The presence of a notch in the distal articular surface of the tibia was cited by him as evidence of a possible relationship with basal Tetanurae, which would be surprising as Quilmesaurus lived during a time when South American theropod assemblages were dominated by abelisaurids and carcharodontosaurs. Other theropod material has been recovered from within these same strata and has in 2005 also provisionally been referred to the Tetanurae.Coria, R.A. & Salgado, L. 2005.
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While Sauropelta was an important part of the Cloverly herbivore guild, the most abundant herbivorous dinosaur of the time was the large ornithopod Tenontosaurus. The smaller ornithopod Zephyrosaurus, rare titanosaur sauropods, and an unknown type of ornithomimosaur also lived alongside Sauropelta. The dromaeosaurid theropod Deinonychus fed upon some of these herbivores, and the sheer number of Deinonychus teeth scattered throughout the formation are a testament to its abundance. Microvenator, a small basal oviraptorosaur, hunted smaller prey, while the apex predators of the Cloverly was the large allosauroid theropod Acrocanthosaurus.
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Baryonyx was the first theropod dinosaur demonstrated to have been piscivorous (fish-eating), as evidenced by fish scales in the stomach region of the holotype specimen. It may also have been an active predator of larger prey and a scavenger, since it also contained bones of a juvenile iguanodontid. The creature would have caught and processed its prey primarily with its forelimbs and large claws. Baryonyx may have had semiaquatic habits, and coexisted with other theropod, ornithopod, and sauropod dinosaurs, as well as pterosaurs, crocodiles, turtles and fishes, in a fluvial environment.
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The affinities of Segnosaurus were originally obscure and it received its own theropod family, Segnosauridae, and later when related genera were identified, an infraorder, Segnosauria. Alternative classification schemes were proposed until more complete relatives were described in the 1990s, which confirmed them as theropods. The new fossils also showed Segnosauridae was a junior synonym of the earlier named family Therizinosauridae. Segnosaurus and its relatives are thought to have been slow-moving animals that, as indicated by their unusual features, were mainly herbivorous, whereas most other theropod groups were carnivorous.
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529 pp At the time, the remains represented the most complete skeleton of a large theropod ever found. Eustreptospondylus is still the most complete of any large Jurassic European theropod. In 1890, the skeleton was bought by Oxford University, and Arthur Smith Woodward examined it and referred it to Megalosaurus bucklandi. In 1905 and 1906 Baron Franz Nopcsa reassigned the skeleton to the species, Streptospondylus cuvieri, which had been first described by Sir Richard Owen in 1842, based on a now lost vertebra from the Bathonian stage of the Jurassic period.
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Ostromia (Thick feet of John Ostrom) is a genus of anchiornithid theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Painten Formation of Germany. The genus contains a single species, O. crassipes, named by Christian Foth and Oliver Rauhut in 2017.
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Geminiraptor (meaning "twin seizer") is a genus of troodontid theropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Early Cretaceous period. Geminiraptor was a small, ground-dwelling bipedal carnivorous paravian. The type species of Geminiraptor is G. suarezarum.
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Larsson, H. C. E. (2001). "Endocranial anatomy of Carcharodontosaurus saharicus (Theropoda: Allosauroidea) and its implications for theropod brain evolution". In: Tanke, D. H.; Carpenter, K.; Skrepnick, M. W. (eds.) Mesozoic Vertebrate Life. Indiana University Press. pp. 19–33.
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Zinke, J., 1998, "Small theropod teeth from the Upper Jurassic coal mine of Guimarota (Portugal)", Paläontologische Zeitschrift 72(1/2): 179-189 Rauhut also hypothesised that a number of specimens referred to Stokesosaurus might actually belong to Aviatyrannis.
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More recent cladistic analyses have disagreed on the placement of Guaibasaurus. Some analyses have found it to be a basal theropod,Bittencourt Rodrigues, 2010. Revisao filogenetica dos dinossauriformes basais: Implicacoes para a origem dod dinossauros. Unpublished Doctoral Thesis.
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By contrast, in the lower Aguja Formation. the teeth of Dryadissector outnumber those of all theropod species combined. The lower Aguja may therefore preserve a rare ecosystem in which varanoid lizards outcompeted small theropods as the dominant mesopredators.
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Alnashetri is an extinct genus of alvarezsauroid coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur known from the early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian stage) of La Buitrera, Río Negro Province, Argentina. It contains one known species, Alnashetri cerropoliciensis. Its remains were discovered in Candeleros Formation.
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20 march 1998 between the two, with both a large obturator process and a proximodorsal process. Makovicky, Peter J., Apestguia, Sebastian, Agnolin, Frederico L. (2005) "The earliest dromaeosaurid theropod from South America" "Nature" 437:1007-1011 13 October 2005.
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Palaeontology 34:503–513.Buscalioni, A. D., Ortega, F., Pérez-Moreno, B. P., and Evans, S. E. (1996). The Upper Jurassic maniraptoran theropod Lisboasaurus estesi (Guimarota, Portugal) reinterpreted as a crocodylomorph. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 16(2):358–362.
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New information on Late Jurassic theropod dinosaurs from Southern Germany. IV Congresso Latinoamericano Paleontologia de Vertebrados. but not formally described and named until the following year. Although originally classified as a basal megalosauroid, later phylogenetic analyses dispute this placement.
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Xiyunykus, along with Bannykus, fills a 70-million year gap in alvarezsaur evolution by exhibiting cranial and postcranial morphologies intermediate between the typical theropod forelimb of Haplocheirus and the highly reduced forelimbs and minute teeth of Late Cretaceous alvarezsaurids.
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"New information on Segisaurus halli, a small theropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of Arizona." Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 25(4):835-849. The cladogram below was recovered in a study by Martin D. Ezcurra and Gilles Cuny, 2007.
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Rothschild, B., Tanke, D. H., and Ford, T. L., 2001, Theropod stress fractures and tendon avulsions as a clue to activity: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, p. 331-336.
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"Embryos and eggs for the Cretaceous theropod dinosaur Troodon formosus." Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 22(3): 564–576. Elongatoolithidae contains the oogenera Nanhsiungoolithus, Elongatoolithus, Macroolithus, Macroelongatoolithus, Ellipsoolithus, Trachoolithus, Heishanoolithus, Ornitholithus, Paraelongatoolithus, Undulatoolithus, and Rodolphoolithus.Vianey-Liaud, M., & Garcia, G. (2003).
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Calamosaurus (meaning "reed lizard") was a genus of small theropod dinosaur from the Barremian-age Lower Cretaceous Wessex Formation of the Isle of Wight, England. It is based on two cervical vertebrae (BMNH R901), collected by Reverend William Fox.
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Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 50: 306-314 A subsequent study confirmed this in 2019.Alexander Averianov & Hans-Dieter Sues. 2019. "Morphometric analysis of the teeth and taxonomy of the enigmatic theropod Richardoestesia from the Upper Cretaceous of Uzbekistan".
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Further research would be required to determine which of the bones belonged together, and what kind of theropod Halticosaurus was. However, most of the bones have been lost. For these reasons, Halticosaurus is considered to be a nomen dubium.
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Thecocoelurus is a dubious genus of theropod dinosaur from the early Cretaceous period of England. It is paleontologically significant for being one of the first ornithomimosaur specimens known from England and represents the earliest record of Ornithomimosauria in Europe.
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Macroelongatoolithus is an oogenus of large, fossil theropod eggs (probably representing a giant oviraptorid). They are known from Asia and from North America.Carpenter, K. 1999. Eggs, Nests, and Baby Dinosaurs: A Look at Dinosaur Reproduction (Life of the Past).
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Simon, D. J. (2014). "Giant Dinosaur (theropod) Eggs of the Oogenus Macroelongatoolithus (Elongatoolithidae) from Southeastern Idaho: Taxonomic, Paleobiogeographic, and Reproductive Implications." (Doctoral dissertation, Montana State University, Bozeman). This ornamentation is less pronounced than that of the closely related Macroolithus.
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When Australovenator was described, it was considered either an alvarezsaurid, or an intermediate theropod. Hocknull et al. (2009) identified a few distinguishing characters between the taxa, based on a poorly preserved metacarpal I from the holotype of Australovenator. Agnolin et al.
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It has been suggested that Taurovenator is synonymous with Mapusaurus.Coria, R.A., Currie, P.J., Ortega, F., & Baiano, M.A. (2019). An Early Cretaceous, medium-sized carcharodontosaurid theropod (Dinosauria, Saurischia) from the Mulichinco Formation (upper Valanginian), Neuquén Province, Patagonia, Argentina. Cretaceous Research (in press). .
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Pelecanimimus (meaning "pelican mimic") is a genus of basal ("primitive") ornithomimosaurian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Spain. It is notable for possessing more teeth than any other member of the Ornithomimosauria (or any other theropod), most of which were toothless.
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Dal Sasso, C. and Signore, M. (1998). "Exceptional soft tissue preservation in a theropod dinosaur from Italy." Nature, 392: 383-387. The generic name Scipionyx comes from the Latin name Scipio and the Greek ὄνυξ, onyx, the combination meaning "Scipio's claw".
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Ceratonykus (meaning 'horned claw') is a genus of alvarezsaurid theropod dinosaur that existed in the late Cretaceous period (Campanian). The discovery of a fragmented skeleton in Mongolia in early 2009 has led scientists to question where alvarezsaurids fit taxonomically into Theropoda.
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It preserves fossils dating back to the Kimmeridgian stage of the Jurassic period.Torleite Formation at Fossilworks.org examples of animals that lived in the formation include the a small primitive megalosaurid theropod dinosaur known as Sciurumimus and the extinct bony fish Anaethalion.
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Embasaurus (meaning "Emba lizard") is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous period. It is known from two vertebrae found in the Neocomian Sands of Kazakhstan."Table 4.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 78 Weishampel, et al. (2004).
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Dinosaur tracksite of the Chacarilla Formation Fossil stegosaur, sauropod and theropod tracks and fossil flora have been reported from the formation.Weishampel et al., 2004, pp.517-607 The fourteen trackways of the Chacarilla III tracksite consist of 76 individual footprints.
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Skorpiovenator ("scorpion hunter") is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian to Turonian) Huincul Formation of Argentina. It is one of the most complete and informative abelisaurids yet known, described from a nearly complete and articulated skeleton.
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Neotheropoda (meaning "new theropods") is a clade that includes coelophysoids and more advanced theropod dinosaurs, and is the only group of theropods that survived the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event. All neotheropods became extinct during the early Jurassic period except for Averostra.
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It is most likely Maastrichtian in age, and records a seasonal, semiarid environment with rivers that had greatly varying discharges. Notable animal fossils recovered include the theropod dinosaur Majungasaurus and the early birds Rahonavis and Vorona, and the titanosaurian sauropod Rapetosaurus.
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A similar bone structure had only been found in birds before this fossil was discovered. As other oviraptorids such as Chirostenotes, N. gobiensis would have been a medium-sized theropod sporting beaked jaws and, probably, a crest used for display.
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Thanos shared its environment with an undescribed larger theropod believed to be a megaraptoran of which a vertebra, specimen MPMA 08–0003/94, has been found at Ibirá. This would imply that Thanos was not the apex predator of its habitat.
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Rayfield, E. J. 2005. Aspects of comparative cranial mechanics in the theropod dinosaurs Coelophysis, Allosaurus and Tyrannosaurus. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 144 (3): 309–316. Prof. Rayfield is currently (2018–2020) president of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.
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Therrien, F., & Henderson, D. M. (2007). My theropod is bigger than yours… or not: estimating body size from skull length in theropods. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 27(1), 108-115. Sinosauropteryx is the most similar to Compsognathus, measuring at most long.
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Neuquenraptor (meaning Neuquén thief) is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaurs that lived in South America during the Late Cretaceous in what is now the Portezuelo Formation of Argentina. It is one of the first dromaeosaurids found in the Southern Hemisphere.
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Tipoolithus is an oogenus of fossil egg native to the Irbzer Formation in Morocco. Its classification is uncertain, but it most closely resembles Laevisoolithids, and like members of that oofamily, it was laid by an enantiornithine bird or small theropod.
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Reconstructed skeleton with hypothetical head, Bishop Museum Traditionally thought to be a megalosauroid,Dong and Tang, 1985. A new Mid-Jurassic theropod (Gasosaurus constructus gen et sp. nov.) from Dashanpu, Zigong, Sichuan Province, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 23(1), 77-82.
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It has been argued that if valid, Protoavis will represent the death knell to the theropod descent of birds.Tarsitano, S. (1991). Archaeopteryx: Quo vadis? In: Schultze, H. P. and Trueb, L. (eds.), Origins of the Higher Groups of Tetrapods, 319–332.
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Modern birds that forage in trees have much more curved toe-claws than those that forage on the ground. The toe-claws of Mesozoic birds and of closely related non-avian theropod dinosaurs are like those of modern ground-foraging birds.
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Sinosaurus (meaning "Chinese lizard") was a tetanuran theropod dinosaur which lived during the Early Jurassic Period. It was a bipedal carnivore approximately in length. Fossils of the animal were found at the Lufeng Formation, in the Yunnan Province of China.
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361 p. [German] It is based on teeth that were once confused with prosauropod remains, as with Teratosaurus. Because of this, it is sometimes listed in older dinosaur books as an early theropod,Lambert, D. (1983). A Field Guide to Dinosaurs.
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Dromiceiomimus is a genus of ornithomimid theropod from the Late Cretaceous (early Maastrichtian) of Alberta, Canada. The type species, D. brevitertius, is considered a synonym of Ornithomimus edmontonicus by some authors, while others consider it a distinct and valid taxon.
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Harpymimus is a basal ornithomimosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period of what is now Mongolia. Unlike later, more derived ornithomimosaurs, Harpymimus still possessed teeth, although they appear to have been restricted to the dentary of the lower jaw.
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An ulna of an indeterminate pterosaur known has also been found in this formation. Other fossils include Onchopristis dunklei, Mauisaurus haasti and Tuarangisaurus keyesi.Mangahouanga Stream at Fossilworks.org The theropod from the Tahora Formation would have been bipedal and likely carnivorous.
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The Broadford Beds Formation is a Sinemurian geologic formation in western Scotland. An indeterminate partial tibia of a theropod dinosaur are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation Weishampel, et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution." Pp. 517-607.
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The composite term Gojirasaurus is derived from the name of the giant Japanese movie monster "Gojira" (Godzilla) and the Greek word "sauros" (σαυρος) meaning "lizard"; thus, "Godzilla lizard". In addition, a theropod dinosaur with the name Godzillasaurus exists in the Heisei era of Godzilla films, and in that continuity is explained to be the unmutated form of Godzilla. "Gojira" was selected as a reference to the great size of this theropod, which exceeded that of its Triassic counterparts. The specific name quayi, is a reference to Quay County, New Mexico, where the holotype specimen was discovered.
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Mark Norell is the direct discoverer of the enigmatic theropod Shuvuuia, co-led the group that discovered Ukhaa Tolgod, the richest Cretaceous terrestrial vertebrate fossil locality in the world, discovered the first embryo of a theropod dinosaur, described a series of dinosaurs with feathers, and discovered the first direct evidence of dinosaur brooding. Norell's theoretical work has a focus of data evaluation in large cladistic sets, as well as fossil pattern estimation through phylogeny, in order to see trends in diversity and extinction. He has authored several papers that discuss the relationship between stratigraphic position and phylogenetic topology.
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Like virtually all other theropods, Dakotaraptor likely possessed a furcula, or “wishbone”, as part of the shoulder girdle. Theropod wishbones are quite varied and often different from the strongly U-shaped furculae most modern birds possess; the elements originally identified as the furcula of Dakotaraptor were U- to V-shaped, similar to many other dromaeosaurids such as Velociraptor, and even the large spinosaurid theropod Suchomimus. In 2015, a study by Victoria Megan Arbour et al. proposed that the presumed Dakotaraptor furculae in fact represented a part of a turtle armour, the entoplastron of Axestemys splendida, a member of the Trionychidae.
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Aucasaurus is a genus of medium-sized theropod dinosaur from Argentina that lived during the Late Cretaceous (Santonian to Campanian stage) of the Anacleto Formation.The Theropod Database on Aucasaurus It was smaller than the related Carnotaurus, although more derived in some ways, such as its extremely reduced arms and almost total lack of fingers. The type skeleton is complete to the thirteenth caudal vertebra, and so is relatively well understood, and is the most complete abelisaurid yet described. However, the skull is damaged, causing some paleontologists to speculate that it was involved in a fight prior to death.
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Rajasaurus is a genus of carnivorous abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of India, containing one species: Rajasaurus narmadensis. The bones were excavated from the Lameta Formation in the Gujarat state of Western India, probably inhabiting what is now the Narmada River Valley. It was formally described by palaeontologist Jeffrey A. Wilson and colleagues in 2003 based on a partial skeleton comprising the braincase, spine, hip bone, legs, and tail–a first for an Indian theropod. The dinosaur likely measured , and had a single horn on the forehead which was probably used for display and head-butting.
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Some Texas counties where large theropod tracks have been discovered in the Glen Rose Formation. The Glen Rose Formation of central Texas preserves many dinosaur footprints, including large, three-toed theropod prints. The most famous of these trackways was discovered along the Paluxy River in Dinosaur Valley State Park, a section of which is now on exhibit in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, although several other sites around the state have been described in the literature. It is impossible to say what animal made the prints, since no fossil bones have been associated with the trackways.
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Most Middle Jurassic theropods from china are 'medium-sized', as are the majority of Middle Jurassic theropods globally. These similar dinosaurs show an intriguing combination of derived tetanuran synapomorphies and primitive features shared with non-tetanurans, which suggest they occupy a basal position within Tetanurae. Understanding the anatomy of Chinese Jurassic taxa may reveal further details of primitive tetanuran anatomy and help resolve the early evolution of this successful theropod clade. Future exploration of the Chinese Middle Jurassic theropod record may bring new insights into the diversification of Tetanurae, the origin of larger body sizes among more derived theropods, and Middle Jurassic paleobiogeography.
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Anchiornis huxleyi is an important source of information on the early evolution of birds in the Late Jurassic period. Based on fossil and biological evidence, most scientists accept that birds are a specialised subgroup of theropod dinosaurs, and more specifically, they are members of Maniraptora, a group of theropods which includes dromaeosaurids and oviraptorosaurs, among others. As scientists have discovered more theropods closely related to birds, the previously clear distinction between non-birds and birds has become blurred. Recent discoveries in the Liaoning Province of northeast China, which demonstrate many small theropod feathered dinosaurs, contribute to this ambiguity.
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Skeletal diagram During the late 1980s, a field crew from the Universidad Nacional Tucumán, led by Jaime Powell, uncovered forty kilometres south of Roca City, in Río Negro province, southern Argentina, the remains of a theropod near the Salitral Ojo de Agua. In 2001, Rodolfo Aníbal Coria named and described the type species Quilmesaurus curriei. The genus name is derived from the Quilme, a Native American people, and the specific name honours Dr. Philip John Currie, a Canadian theropod specialist. The holotype and currently only specimen was designated the collection number MPCA-PV-100, in the Museo Provincial "Carlos Ameghino".
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The trackway of a swimming theropod, the first in China of the ichnogenus named Characichnos, was discovered at the Feitianshan Formation in Sichuan. These new swim tracks support the hypothesis that theropods were adapted to swimming and capable of traversing moderately deep water. Dinosaur swim tracks are considered to be rare trace fossils, and are among a class of vertebrate swim tracks that also include those of pterosaurs and crocodylomorphs. The study described and analyzed four complete natural molds of theropod foot prints that are now stored at the Huaxia Dinosaur Tracks Research and Development Center (HDT).
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These teeth of the general "Paronychodon" type have been reported from a wide variety of times and places, including the Early Cretaceous Una Formation of Spain, dating to the late Barremian age 125 million years ago. Paronychodon has been considered a coelurid, an ornithomimosaur, a dromaeosaurid, an archaeopterygid, and a troodontid, though it could also be another kind of coelurosaurian theropod. While most researchers have therefore considered it simply represents indeterminate theropod teeth, a small consensus has found them to be Deinonychosauria. The teeth assigned to Paronychodon are all small, and may have come from various juvenile deinonychosaurs.
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The dinosaur had been presented earlier the same year during a lecture at a conference about dinosaur systematics in Drumheller, Canada. Due to ongoing work on the bones (70 percent had been prepared at the time), they called their article preliminary and promised a more detailed description at a later date. Baryonyx was the first large Early Cretaceous theropod found anywhere in the world by that time. Before the discovery of Baryonyx the last significant theropod find in the United Kingdom was Eustreptospondylus in 1871, and in a 1986 interview Charig called Baryonyx "the best find of the century" in Europe.
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Size of C. bauri compared to a human Coelophysis is known from a number of complete fossil skeletons of the species C. bauri, which was a lightly built dinosaur which measured up to in length and which was more than a meter tall at the hips. Paul (1988) estimated the weight of the gracile form at , and the weight of the robust form at . Coelophysis was a bipedal, carnivorous, theropod dinosaur that was a fast and agile runner. Despite being an early dinosaur, the evolution of the theropod body form had already advanced greatly from creatures like Herrerasaurus and Eoraptor.
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Saurornitholestes was found on both sides of the Western Interior Seaway. Alberta, the location of Saurornitholestes langstoni, had a habitat similar to the United States Middle West being plains and floodplain swamps. In its eastern range, Saurornitholestes lived alongside hadrosaurs like Eotrachodon and Hypsibema, large theropods like Appalachiosaurus and Dryptosaurus, an unidentified ornithomimosaur, and another unidentified small theropod that was likely either a dromaeosaurid or a troodontid. Saurornitholestes appears to have been the most common small theropod in Dinosaur Provincial Park, and teeth and bones are much more common than those of its more massive contemporary, Dromaeosaurus.
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Restoration José Bonaparte and colleagues, in their 1999 description of the genus, found it to be possible basal theropod and placed it in its own family, Guaibasauridae. Bonaparte and colleagues (2007) found another early Brazilian dinosaur Saturnalia to be very similar to it, and placed the two in the Guaibasauridae which was found to be a primitive saurischian group. Bonaparte found that these forms may have been "prosauropods" (primitive sauropodomorphs), or an assemblage of forms close to the common ancestor of the sauropodomorphs and theropods. Overall, Bonaparte considered that both Saturnalia and Guaibasaurus were more theropod-like than "prosauropod"-like.
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Knee-joint and a claw of Merosaurus "Merosaurus" is the informal name given to an indeterminate genus of dinosaur from the Early Jurassic (Sinemurian stage, around 190 million years ago) of Charmouth, Dorset It originates either from the Blue Lias Formation or the Charmouth Mudstone Formation. It was theropod, possibly a tetanuran which lived in what is now England. The type species, "Merosaurus newmani", was coined by paleontologists Samuel Welles, H.P. Powell, and A. Pickering in 1995, and is based solely on some leg bones (a knee joint) once thought to belong to Scelidosaurus.Mortimer, M (2004) "The Theropod Database" .
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Yurgovuchia (meaning "coyote") is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaurs that lived in North America during the Early Cretaceous period in what is now the Cedar Mountain Formation. It contains a single species, Yurgovuchia doellingi. The remains were discovered in Utah, United States.
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The Javkhlant Formation is a geological formation in Mongolia whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous possibly Santonian to Campanian. Ceratopsian, ornithopod and theropod remains been found in the formation. A prominent fossilized therizinosauroid nesting site is also known from the formation.
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A 2018 study reported gastric pellets in association with Anchiornis specimens; some of the Anchiornis were even preserved with pellets still inside their bodies. Anchiornis is the earliest theropod known to have produced pellets. The pellets contained lizard bones and ptycholepid fish scales.
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He discovered tree fossils (Araucarioxylon hoffetti), turtles, and a sauropod, Tangvayosaurus hoffetti. Aptian age findings include a Psittacosaurus. In Pha Lane, on the banks of the Sê San River, a theropod was discovered. ;Museums Fossils are exhibited in a dinosaur museum in Savannakhet.
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New information on the skull of the enigmatic theropod Spinosaurus, with remarks on its size and affinities. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25 (4), 888–896. Two other formations comprise the Kem Kem beds: the underlying Ifezouane Formation and the overlying Akrabou Formation.
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Caenagnathidae is a family of bird-like maniraptoran theropod dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous of North America and Asia. They are a member of the Oviraptorosauria, and close relatives of the Oviraptoridae.Osmólska, H., P. J. Currie, et al. (2004). Oviraptorosauria. The Dinosauria.
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The discovery of tooth marks in the fibula of a Hypacrosaurus specimen inflicted by a bite from the teeth of a tyrannosaurid indicated that this, and other hadrosaurids were either preyed upon or scavenged by large theropod dinosaurs during the Late Cretaceous period.
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Foster, J. (2007). "Appendix." Jurassic West: The Dinosaurs of the Morrison Formation and Their World. Indiana University Press. pp. 327-329. Allosaurus accounted for 70 to 75% of theropod specimens and was at the top trophic level of the Morrison food web.
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The first cladogram presented follows one proposed analysis by Novas et al. in May 2011. In this review, Herrerasaurus is found to be a basal saurischian, but not a theropod. The second cladogram is based on an analysis by Sues et al.
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Zhongjianosaurus is a genus of dromaeosaurid belonging to the Microraptoria. Believed to hail from the Yixian Formation, specifically the middle of the Jehol Biota, it is the smallest known microraptorine thus far discovered and one of the smallest non-avian theropod dinosaurs.
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These "theropod" teeth were actually mammalian. The mammal T. since seems to have fallen from use. Be that all as it may, Meniscoessus is a valid multituberculate, and is known from some quite good remains, as well as a great many teeth.
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Timothy Rowe originally assigned the holotype specimen of Kayentavenator to the coelophysoid Syntarsus kayentakatae (now Megapnosaurus kayentakatae or Coelophysis kayentakatae).Rowe, T. 1989. A new species of the theropod dinosaur Syntarsus from the early Jurassic Kayenta Formation. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. vol.
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Some species of lizard also have a gular fold and consequently, gular scales. The theropod dinosaur Pelecanimimus, which lived in the early Cretaceous Period 130 million years ago, also had a gular pouch, similar to the pelican after which it is named.
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Naish, D., 2006. The Osteology and Affinities of Eotyrannus lengi and Other Lower Cretaceous Theropod Dinosaurs From England. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of Portsmouth. The holotype of Eotyrannus is estimated to have measured about long and around 91-227 kg (200-500 lbs).
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The same year, American palaeontologist David Weishampel and colleagues considered Siamosaurus an indeterminate theropod. In 2012, an analysis by American palaeontologist Matthew Carrano and colleagues agreed with the possibility of confusion with other reptiles, and regarded the genus as a possible indeterminate spinosaurid.
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Vespersaurus is a genus of noasaurine theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period, found in the Rio Paraná Formation in the Paraná Basin, Brazil. The type and only species is V. paranaensis, which would have lived in the giant prehistoric Botucatu Desert.
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The specific name means "southern" in Latin. The holotype is BMNH R.3719, the opalised lower end of a femur, indicating a total body length of 1 to 1.5 metres. Von Huene thought it was a theropod, a member of the Ornithomimidae.
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The specific name honours Hilmar Sallee, whose bequest helped finance the research. The specific age for the holotype specimen is 161.2 to 155.2 million years ago. The holotype is considered by Thomas R. Holtz Jr. to be from almost certainly a juvenile theropod.
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Deltadromeus (meaning "delta runner") is a genus of theropod dinosaur from Northern Africa. It had long, unusually slender hind limbs for its size, suggesting that it was a swift runner. The skull is not known. One fossil specimen of a single species (D.
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These fossils, although possibly sinraptorid, are now considered to be non- diagnostic, making S. campi a nomen dubium.X.-C. Wu, P. J. Currie, Z. Dong, S. Pan, and T. Wang. 2009. A new theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Lufeng, Yunnan, China.
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Chicago A cladistic analysis in 2010 by Jin et al. found Dictyoolithus to be basal theropod eggs. Similarly, Sellés and Galobart in 2015 found Dictyoolithus to be basal theropods, and considered it to be the eggs of megalosauroids.Sellés, A. G., & Galobart, À. (2015).
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The infections from both tyrannosaurs were received by being bitten during a fight, like the Herrerasaurus specimen.Molnar, R. E., 2001, "Theropod paleopathology: a literature survey": In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, pp. 337–63.
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Indeterminate dinosaur remains have been recovered from the formation, including indeterminate theropod, titanosaur, nodosaurid, and hypsilophodont remains.Weishampel, et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution" Pp. 517-607. in Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press.
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Xixianykus is a genus of alvarezsauroid theropod dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period of China.Xu, X., Wang, D.Y., Sullivan, C., Hone, D.W.E., Han, F.L., Yan, R.H. and Du, F.M. (2010). "A basal parvicursorine (Theropoda: Alvarezsauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous of China.". Zootaxa, 2413: 1-19.
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Roboreptile was released in China on the 28 April 2006 and to the rest of the world later that year. It is superficially similar to a theropod or a prosauropod dinosaur but being quadrupedal it's better equated to a silesaurid or a monitor lizard.
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Streptospondylus (meaning "reversed vertebra") is a genus of tetanuran theropod dinosaur known from the Late Jurassic period of France, 161 million years ago. It was a medium-sized predator with an estimated length of 6 meters (19.5 ft) and a weight of 500 kg (1,100lbs).
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Overall, Bonaparte found that both Saturnalia and Guaibasaurus were more theropod-like than prosauropod-like. However, all more recent cladistic analyses found it to be a very basal sauropodomorph, possibly guaibasaurid, as the family was found to nest in a basal position within Sauropodomorpha.
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Lourinhanosaurus (meaning "Lourinhã lizard") was a genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur that lived during the Late Jurassic Period (Kimmeridgian/Tithonian) in Portugal. It is one of many large predators discovered at the Lourinhã Formation and probably competed with coeval Torvosaurus gurneyi, Allosaurus europaeus, and Ceratosaurus.
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The fossil shows many details of these, even the internal structure of some muscle and bone cells. Cristiano Dal Sasso also described Saltriovenator, considered as the earliest known Ceratosauria and largest Early Jurassic theropod, discovered in 1996 in a quarry in Saltrio, in northern Italy.
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Yulong is an extinct genus of derived oviraptorid theropod dinosaur known from the Late Cretaceous Qiupa Formation of Henan Province, central China. It contains a single species, Yulong mini. It is known from many juvenile specimens that represent some of the smallest known oviraptorids.
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A rationale for phylogenetic definitions, with application to the higher-level taxonomy of Dinosauria. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen. 210, 41-83. The following family tree illustrates a synthesis of the relationships of the early theropod groups compiled by Hendrickx et al.
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" Vertebrata PalAsiatica, 37(4): 278-284. While no remains of Heishanoolithus have been associated with skeletal remains, strong evidence links Elongatoolithid eggs to Oviraptorosaurs.Simon, D. J. (2014). "Giant Dinosaur (theropod) Eggs of the Oogenus Macroelongatoolithus (Elongatoolithidae) from Southeastern Idaho: Taxonomic, Paleobiogeographic, and Reproductive Implications.
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During the Sinemurian and Pliensbachian ages of the Early Jurassic, the Kayenta Formation had a diverse fauna, with the remains of caecilians, frogs, turtles, at least five other taxa of crocodylomorphs, pterosaurs, theropod, sauropodomorph, and ornithischian dinosaurs, and early relatives of mammals (tritylodontids and morganucodontids).
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A study in 2017 found that Mahakala was a member of the enigmatic, basal subfamily Halszkaraptorinae. The cladogram below is based on the phylogenetic analysis conducted in 2017 by Cau et al. using updated data from the Theropod Working Group in their description of Halszkaraptor.
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In H. J. Birx (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Anthropology (Vol. 4, p. 1818). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Reference. One of the most well-known is the chase sequence, which contains the tracks of a herd of sauropods and at least one theropod following the herd.
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John Willis Stovall (1891– July 24, 1953) was an American paleontologist at the University of Oklahoma. Along with his student Wann Langston, Jr., he named the theropod dinosaur Acrocanthosaurus in 1950. Most of his research centered on the Cimarron Valley region of extreme northwestern Oklahoma.
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Kelmayisaurus is an extinct genus of carcharodontosaurid theropod dinosaur from the early Cretaceous. It was roughly 9–11 meters (30–36 feet) and its name refers to the petroleum-producing city of Karamay in the Xinjiang province of western China near where it was found.
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Beijing Science Press. and Maryańska et al. Others, such as Stephen Czerkas and Larry Martin have concluded that Caudipteryx is not a theropod dinosaur at all. They believe that Caudipteryx, like all maniraptorans, is a flightless bird, and that birds evolved from non-dinosaurian archosaurs.
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Bradycneme is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Maastrichtian-age Upper Cretaceous Sânpetru Formation of the Hațeg Basin, Transylvania, Romania. It is known only from a partial right lower leg (specimen BMNH A1588), which its original describers believed came from a giant owl.
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Starting with Pierce Brodkorb,Brodkorb (1978): pp.223-224 the specimens were soon compared to small theropod dinosaurs. These three genera Bradycneme, Elopteryx and Heptasteornis have been synonymized, split, and reassessed numerous times since thenPaul (1988), Weishampel et al. (1991), Le Loeuff et al.
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Elisabete Malafaia; José Miguel Gasulla; Fernando Escaso; Iván Narváez; José Luis Sanz; Francisco Ortega (2019). "A new spinosaurid theropod (Dinosauria: Megalosauroidea) from the late Barremian of Vallibona, Spain: Implications for spinosaurid diversity in the Early Cretaceous of the Iberian Peninsula". Cretaceous Research. in press: 104221. .
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Sinocoelurus (meaning "Chinese hollow tail", in reference to location and to relate the new genus to the North American Coelurus) is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Oxfordian-?Tithonian-age Upper Jurassic Kyangyan Series of Sichuan, China. It is an obscure tooth taxon.
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Tykoski, R.S. & Rowe, T. (2004). "Ceratosauria": In: Its neck and tail were long and slender. The pelvis and hindlimbs of C. bauri are also slight variations on the theropod body plan. It has the open acetabulum and straight ankle hinge that define the Dinosauria.
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The metotic strut of Stenonychosaurus was enlarged from side-to-side, similar to Dromaeosaurus and primitive birds like Archaeopteryx and Hesperornis.Larsson, H.C.E. 2001. Endocranial anatomy of Carcharodontosaurus saharicus (Theropoda: Allosauroidea) and its implications for theropod brain evolution. pp. 19–33. In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life.
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Skull Morphology of the First Theropod Skeleton (Saurischia, Dinosauria) from Switzerland (Late Triassic; Frick, Canton Aargau). Master thesis, University of Zurich, 122 pp In 2019, the type species Notatesseraeraptor frickensis gen. et sp. nov. was named and described by Marion Zahner and Winand Brinkmann.
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It is based on a tibia, with an associated partial skeleton that may belong to the same individual. Initially described as a basal tetanuran,Rauhut, 2005. Osteology and relationships of a new theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Patagonia. Palaeontology. 48(1), 87-110.
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Several similarities with the Dromaeosauridae were explained as a case of convergent evolution.Azuma, Y., Xu X., Shibata, M., Kawabe, S., Miyata, K., and Imai, T. 2016. "A bizarre theropod from the Early Cretaceous of Japan highlighting mosaic evolution among coelurosaurians". Scientific Reports, 6(20478).
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Juravenator is a genus of small (75 cm long) coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur, which lived in the area which would someday become the top of the Franconian Jura of Germany, about 151 or 152 million years ago. It is known from a single, juvenile specimen.
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The Miria Formation is a Late Cretaceous geologic formation. Possible indeterminate theropod remains have been recovered from it,Weishampel, et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution" Pp. 517-607. in Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press.
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Feduccia responded by arguing that the origin of birds was a complex and as yet unresolved problem to which the theropod hypothesis as presently formulated was a simplistic answer, ignoring contrary evidence. Prum in turn responded to this paper by again criticizing Feduccia's failure to use cladistics and to specify an explicit alternative sister-group with which to ally birds. He particularly singled out Feduccia's adoption of the view that some theropod taxa are actually birds that have been mistaken for theropods through convergence associated with flight loss and secondary adoption of cursoriality. Prum argued, finally, that Feduccia's methodology and view of the origin and early evolution of birds are pseudoscientific.
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Allain used this situation to remove all the crocodilian material from the Streptospondylus type by designating the complete (postcranial) theropod material as the lectotype. As Steneosaurus rostromajor had been based on the composite skull, the epithet rostromajor now no longer had priority over altdorfensis. This way in 2001 Streptospondylus altdorfensis became the valid name and type species of a theropod. Laelaps gallicus and Megalosaurus cuvieri are its objective junior synonyms. The lectotype specimens, MNHN 8605-09, 8787-89, 8793-94, 8907, were probably found at the coast in layers of the Falaises des Vaches Noires near Calvados, dating from the late Callovian or early Oxfordian, about 161 million years old.
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Since the lower end of the third metatarsal would contact the ground first while a theropod was running it would have borne the most stress and should be most predisposed to suffer stress factors more frequently. The lack of such a bias in the examined fossils indicates an origin for the stress fractures from a source other than running, like interaction with prey. They suggested that such injuries could occur as a result of the theropod trying to hold struggling prey with its feet. Contact with struggling prey is also the likely cause of tendon avulsions found in the forelimbs of Allosaurus and Tyrannosaurus.
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Oxalaia may have reached a length of between and a weight of . The largest known genus is Spinosaurus, which was capable of reaching lengths of or more and weighed around , making it the largest known theropod dinosaur and terrestrial predator. Supplementary Information The closely allied Sigilmassasaurus may have grown to a similar or greater length, though its taxonomic relationship with Spinosaurus is uncertain. This consistency in large body size among spinosaurids could have evolved as a byproduct of their preference for semiaquatic lifestyles, as without the need to compete with other large theropod dinosaurs for food, they would have been able to grow to massive lengths.
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In his 1920 revision, Gilmore argued that the genus was the most basal theropod known from after the Triassic, so not closely related to any other contemporary theropod known at that time; it thus warrants its own family, the Ceratosauridae. It was not until the establishment of cladistic analysis in the 1980s, however, that Marsh's original claim of the Ceratosauria as a distinct group gained ground. In 1985, the newly discovered South American genera Abelisaurus and Carnotaurus were found to be closely related to Ceratosaurus. Gauthier, in 1986, recognized the Coelophysoidea to be closely related to Ceratosaurus, although this clade falls outside of Ceratosauria in most recent analyses.
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Nests at least of Neornithes are usually quite easy to identify as such due to the unique structures of their eggshells; there is some uncertainty as regards the origin of certain Mesozoic eggshells, which makes nests of this age problematic. Mesozoic fossil footprints are hardest to attribute. "Proto-bird" and related theropod feet were very much alike; non-avian theropod tracks such as the ichnogenus Grallator were initially attributed to ratites because in the early 19th century when these were described, the knowledge about dinosaurian diversity was marginal compared to today, whereas ratites were well-known. Also, under the creationist dogma, scientists would believe that e.g.
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Dromaeosaurids are so bird-like that they have led some researchers to argue that they would be better classified as birds. First, since they had feathers, dromaeosaurids (along with many other coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs) are "birds" under traditional definitions of the word "bird", or "Aves", that are based on the possession of feathers. However, other scientists, such as Lawrence Witmer, have argued that calling a theropod like Caudipteryx a bird because it has feathers may stretch the word past any useful meaning.Witmer, L.M. (2005) "The Debate on Avian Ancestry; Phylogeny, Function and Fossils.” In "Mesozoic Birds: Above the Heads of Dinosaurs”, pp. 3–30.
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Barsbold found that segnosaurids were so peculiar compared to more typical theropods that they were either a very significant deviation in theropod evolution, or were possibly outside the group; he nevertheless retained them within Theropoda. Later in 1983, Barsbold stated the segnosaurian pelvis deviated significantly from the theropod norm and found the configuration of their ilia generally similar to those of sauropods. Outdated restoration of a prosauropod-like, quadrupedal Erlikosaurus. "Segnosaurs" were often depicted this way until they were definitively identified as theropods. Gregory S. Paul concluded in 1984 that segnosaurs had no theropodan features but were derived, late-surviving Cretaceous prosauropods with adaptations similar to those of ornithischians.
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Labocania is a genus of carnivorous theropod, possibly tyrannosauroid, dinosaur from Baja California, Mexico, which lived 73 million years ago, in the Campanian stage of the late Cretaceous Period. In the summer of 1970, the National Geographic Society and the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History organized a joint paleontological expedition, led by geologist William J. Morris, to the Arroyo del Rosario in Baja California. While prospecting, volunteer Harley James Garbani discovered the skeleton of a theropod north of Punta Baja near Cerro Rayado. Garbani excavated the site in 1970 and 1971. The type species, Labocania anomala, was described and named by Ralph Molnar in 1974.
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The theropod dinosaur Elaphrosaurus bambergi Janensch, 1920, from the Late Jurassic of Tendaguru, Tanzania. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, (advance online publication) A 2017 paper describing ontogenetic changes in Limusaurus and the affect of juvenile taxa on phylogenetic analyses placed Deltadromeus as a noasaurid in every analysis regardless of which Limusaurus specimen was used, although the analyses did not include Gualicho or Aoniraptor. According to the writers of the paper, resolving the phylogenetic positions of Gualicho, Aoniraptor, Deltadromeus, and megaraptorans is one of the most critical issues presently facing theropod systematics. The cladogram below follows a 2016 analysis by Oliver Rauhut, and Matthew Carrano.
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Comptes Rendus Palevol 15 : 595–605 (in French with an abridged English version).Brignon, A. (2016) Le premier "chasseur de dinosaures" en France : l'abbé Charles Bacheley (1716-1795). Fossiles: Revue française de Paléontologie 27 : 36-42. These fossil materials contained theropod vertebrae and marine crocodilian remains.
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Benson (2008, 2010) placed Monolophosaurus in a clade with Chuandongocoelurus that is more basal than Megalosauridae and Spinosauridae in the Megalosauroidea.Benson, 2008. A new theropod phylogeny focussing on basal tetanurans, and its implications for European 'megalosaurs' and Middle Jurassic dinosaur endemism. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 51A.
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Life reconstruction of Linheraptor in its arid desert habitat. Linheraptor was a bird-like theropod dinosaur. It was a dromaeosaurid which measured approximately in length, and weighed up to approximately . At that size, Linheraptor would have been a fast and agile predator, perhaps preying on small ceratopsians.
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Lingyuanosaurus (meaning "the lizard of Lingyuan") is a genus of therizinosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of China. It contains a single species, L. sihedangensis. It was found within a layer of the Jehol Group. According to Mickey Mortimer, Lingyuanosaurus may have been an oviraptorosaur.
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Halszkaraptor was placed in the Dromaeosauridae in 2017. A new clade Halszkaraptorinae was coined, containing Halszkaraptor and its close relatives Hulsanpes and Mahakala. The cladogram below is based on the phylogenetic analysis conducted in 2017 by Cau etal. using updated data from the Theropod Working Group.
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Life restoration Skeletal restoration Cladogram following the results of a phylogenetic study by Lefèvre et al., 2017.Ulysse Lefèvre, Andrea Cau, Aude Cincotta, Dongyu Hu, Anusuya Chinsamy, François Escuillié & Pascal Godefroit (2017). A new Jurassic theropod from China documents a transitional step in the macrostructure of feathers.
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The type species is Shidaisaurus jinae. Generic name and specific name in combination refer to the Jin-Shidai ("Golden Age") Company that exploits the Jurassic World Park near the site. This theropod according to Gregory Paul was about long and it weighed around .Paul, G. S. (2010).
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Anserimimus ( ; "goose mimic") is a genus of ornithomimid theropod dinosaur, from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now Mongolia. It was a lanky, fast- running animal, possibly an omnivore. From what fossils are known, it probably closely resembled other ornithomimids, except for its more powerful forelimbs.
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Currently, the largest-known theropod skull belongs to another huge carcharodontosaurid dinosaur, the closely related Giganotosaurus (with skull length estimates up to 1.95 meters) (6.4 ft). Gregory S. Paul estimates Carcharodontosaurus iguidensis at and .Paul, G.S., 2010, The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs, Princeton University Press.
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Kaijiangosaurus (meaning "Kiijiang lizard") is a genus of carnivorous tetanuran theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of China. In 1984 He Xinlu named and described the type species Kaijiangosaurus lini. The generic name refers to the River (jiang) Kai. The specific name honours the paleontologist Lin Wenqiu.
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Tooth-marked small theropod bone: An extremely rare trace. p. 58-63. In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life. Ed.s Tanke, D. H., Carpenter, K., Skrepnick, M. W. Indiana University Press. Tyrannosaurid teeth were used as holdfasts for pulling meat off a body, rather than knife- like cutting functions.
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Size of D. maximus D. andiniensis pursuing ichthyosaurs with Cricosaurus in the background When isolated Dakosaurus teeth were first discovered in Germany, they were mistaken for belonging to the theropod dinosaur Megalosaurus.Quenstedt FA. 1843. Das Flötzgebirge Württembergs: mit besonderer rücksicht auf den Jura. Tübingen: Laupp, 493.
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Elopteryx is a genus of, perhaps troodontid, maniraptoran theropod dinosaur based on fragmentary fossils found in late Cretaceous Period rocks of Romania. The single species, Elopteryx nopcsai, is known only from very incomplete material, and therefore is considered a nomen dubium ("dubious name") by most paleontologists.
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An opalised vertebra of a theropod dinosaur was discovered in 1905 by T.C. Wollaston in an opal bearing sandstone at Lightning Ridge near Walgett, in New South Wales.von Huene, F. (1932). Die fossile Reptil-Ordnung Saurischia, ihte Entwicklung und Geschichte. Monographien zur Geologie und Palaeontologie 1(4).
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Von Huene assigned Walgettosuchus to the Ornithomimidae in 1932. In his 1990 review, Ralph Molnar noted that the type cannot be distinguished from tail vertebrae from ornithomimids or allosaurids, and considered it to be an indeterminate theropod and a nomen dubium or (more likely) an invalid taxon.
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Hypothetical restoration Aristosuchus was a bipedal, meat-eating (carnivorous) theropod dinosaur. This predator is thought to have been about and is estimated to have weighed about . According to Gregory S. Paul, its weight was .Paul, G.S., 2010, The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs, Princeton University Press p.
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It is usually considered a dubious name of either coelurosaurian\coelurid affinities (if the source predates the acceptance of Coelurosauria as a wastebasket taxon as traditionally used), or uncertain theropod affinities (if published after this). The most recent review classifies it as Tetanurae incertae sedis and dubious.
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Austrocheirus is an extinct genus of theropod dinosaur, possibly a neoceratosaurian, which existed during the Late Cretaceous period. It was named and described by Martin Ezcurra, Federico Agnolin and Fernando Novas in 2010. It contains the type species Austrocheirus isasii. The generic name means "southern hand".
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The De Queen Formation, formerly known as the DeQueen Limestone Member is a Mesozoic geological formation located in southwestern Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. Fossil sauropod and theropod tracks have been reported from the formation.Weishampel, et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution." pp. 517–607.
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Aepyornithomimus (meaning "Aepyornis mimic") is a genus of ornithomimid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Djadokhta Formation in Mongolia. It lived in the Campanian, around 80 million years ago, when the area is thought to have been a desert. The type and only species is A. tugrikinensis.
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This locality has also produced the ankylosaur Tianzhenosaurus, theropod material referred to cf. Szechuanosaurus campi (now regarded as a nomen dubium), and indeterminate hadrosaurid material. This species also coexisted with ostracods and charophytes, and the ankylosaurian Shanxia, considered by Weishampel et al. to be ankylosauria indet.
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Tanystrosuchus is a dubious genus of theropod dinosaur from the late Triassic period (middle Norian stage, around 208 million years ago). It is known from a single fossil neck vertebra of the species T. posthumus, found in the Middle Stubensandstein formation of what is present-day Germany.
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Initially the skeleton was provisionally referred to Coelophysidae. In 2008, parts of the postcranial skeleton were described in a master's thesis by Jasmina Christine Hugi.Hugi, J.C. 2008. The Axial and Appendicular Morphology of the First Theropod Skeleton (Saurischia, Dinosauria) of Switzerland (Late Triassic; Frick, Canton Aargau).
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It was a huge theropod, it was described by Ernst Stromer in 1934,Stromer, E.: Ergebnisse der Forschungsreisen Prof. E. Stromers in den Wüsten Ägyptens : II. Wirbeltierreste der Baharîje-Stufe (unterstes Cenoman). 13. Dinosauria, in: Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch- Naturwissenschaftliche Abteilung, Neue Folge, vol.
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Pachycorioolithus is an oogenus of small, thin-shelled fossil egg from the early Cretaceous in China. It probably belongs to a bird, though there is a possibility the parent was a non-avian theropod. It was named in 2016, based on a single specimen found in Zhejiang.
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Vegetation varied from river-lining forests of tree ferns, and ferns (gallery forests), to fern savannas with occasional trees such as the Araucaria-like conifer Brachyphyllum. In Oklahoma, Stovall unearthed a considerable number of Apatosaurus specimens, which may have represented possible prey for a large theropod like Saurophaganax.
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Sinraptor is a genus of metriacanthosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic. The name Sinraptor comes from the Latin prefix "Sino", meaning Chinese, and "raptor" meaning robber. The specific name dongi honours Dong Zhiming. Despite its name, Sinraptor is not related to dromaeosaurids (often nicknamed "raptors") like Velociraptor.
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In 2019, it was given the name Imperobator antarcticus. It was large, about the size of Utahraptor. It is the second Antarctic theropod discovered, after Cryolophosaurus. An ornithopod was found in the Snow Hill Island Formation by Argentine paleontologists Rodolfo Aníbal Coria and Juan José Moly in 2008.
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Monodactyly (from Greek monos- = "one" plus δακτυλος = "finger") is the condition of having a single digit on a limb, as in modern horses and other equidae. Functional monodactyly, where the weight is supported on only one of multiple toes, can also occur, as in the theropod dinosaur Vespersaurus.
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Paleornithology, also known as avian paleontology, is the scientific study of bird evolution and fossil birds. It is a hybrid of ornithology and paleontology. Paleornithology began with the discovery of Archaeopteryx. The reptilian relationship of birds and their ancestors, the theropod dinosaurs, are important aspects of paleornithological research.
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The specific name, steini, honours paleontologist Walter W. Stein. Dakotaraptor was one of eighteen dinosaur taxa from 2015 to be described in open access or free-to-read journals. Proposed furcula compared with other theropod dinosaurs. Said furcula was later shown to be an element from a trionychid turtle.
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Sculptors Stephen and Sylvia Czerkas manufactured a life-sized sculpture of Carnotaurus that was previously on display at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. This sculpture, ordered by the museum during the mid-1980s, is probably the first life restoration of a theropod showing accurate skin.
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The generic name Laelaps, used by Cope to denote a theropod, had been preoccupied by a mite. Marsh had therefore provided the replacement name Dryptosaurus, but Henry Fairfield Osborn, a partisan of Cope, rejected this replacement and thus in 1898 renamed Laelaps aquilunguis Cope 1866 into Megalosaurus aquilunguis.
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In 2016, a third hypothesis for megaraptoran relations was derived from Porfiri et al. (2014)'s revision to the Novas et al. dataset. That year, Sebastian Apesteguía and his colleagues described an unusual new theropod, Gualicho. The addition of Gualicho, Deltadromeus, and several corrections within the Novas et al.
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Graciliraptor (meaning "graceful thief") is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the early Cretaceous Period. It is a microraptorine dromaeosaurid. The type species Graciliraptor lujiatunensis was first named and described in 2004 by Xu Xing and Wang Xiaoling. The generic name is derived from Latin gracilis and raptor.
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Abelisaurus (; "Abel's lizard") is a genus of predatory abelisaurid theropod dinosaur alive during the Late Cretaceous Period (Campanian) of what is now South America. It was a bipedal carnivore that probably reached about in length, although this is uncertain as it is known from only one partial skull.
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It is believed to have attained lengths of up to and weighed up to . One genus, Suchosaurus, once thought to be a pholidosaur,Carroll, R.L. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. WH Freeman and Company, New York has since been shown to be a spinosaurid theropod dinosaurBuffetaut, E. (2007).
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"Ornithodesmus—a maniraptoran theropod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of the Isle of Wight, England." Palaeontology, 36: 425–437. However, later study by Peter Makovicky and Mark Norell showed this specimen to be a dromaeosaurid; because of this mis-identification, they suggested Ornithodesmus was likely a dromaeosaurid as well.
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Although not recognized as such at the time of its discovery, Compsognathus is the first theropod dinosaur known from a reasonably complete fossil skeleton. Until the 1990s, it was the smallest- known non-avialan dinosaur, with the preceding centuries incorrectly labelling them as the closest relative of Archaeopteryx.
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Ornithomimids appear to have been preyed upon at least occasionally by other theropods, as evidenced by an ornithomimid tail vertebra that preserves tooth drag marks attributed to a dromaeosaurid (Saurornitholestes).Jacobsen, A.R. 2001. Tooth-marked small theropod bone: An extremely rare trace. p. 58-63. In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life.
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Due to the scope of Marsh's Order Theropoda, it came to replace a previous taxonomic group that Marsh's rival E. D. Cope had created in 1866 for the carnivorous dinosaurs: Goniopoda ("angled feet").Rauhut, O.W. (2003). The Interrelationships and Evolution of Basal Theropod Dinosaurs. Blackwell Publishing, 213 pp.
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Gobivenator is an extinct genus of troodontid theropod dinosaur known from the late Campanian Djadokhta Formation of central Gobi Desert, Mongolia. It contains a single species, Gobivenator mongoliensis. G. mongoliensis is known from a single individual, which represents the most complete specimen of a Late Cretaceous troodontid currently known.
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Based on this specimen, the authors proposed a new evolutionary model for the transition between "normal" theropod teeth, to those of spinosaurids. The tooth is oval in cross section, is recurved, and bears small serrations, as well as strong fluting that does not reach the tip of the crown.
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Teinurosaurus (meaning "extended tail lizard") is a genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur. Teinurosaurus lived during the Late Jurassic in what is now Portugal. The type species is Teinurosaurus sauvagei. It's been estimated to be 11.4 m (37.4 ft) in length and 3.6 tonnes (~4 short tons) in weight.
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Metriacanthosaurus was a medium-sized theropod with a femur length of . Gregory S. Paul in 1988 estimated its weight at . Thomas Holtz gave a length of 8 meters (26.2 feet). Metriacanthosaurus was named for the height of its neural spines, which are actually not overly tall for theropods.
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"New information on Segisaurus halli, a small theropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of Arizona." Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 25(4): 835-849. In this study, Carano et al. found that although it was very unusual, Segisaurus was firmly a coelophysoid, and probably a close relative of Procompsognathus.
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Murusraptor ("wall thief") is a genus of carnivorous megaraptoran theropod dinosaur from the Sierra Barrosa Formation, part of the Neuquén Group of Patagonia, in Argentina, South America. It is known from a single specimen that consists of a partial skull, ribs, partial pelvis, leg and other assorted skeletal elements.
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Skeletal restoration showing known remains. At an estimated in length, Smok was the largest carnivorous archosaur in central Europe at the time. It was larger than any other known theropod dinosaur or pseudosuchian living in central Europe during either the Late Triassic or Early Jurassic. The skull is long.
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The landscape of Wiehen Hills, in which the remains of Wiehenvenator have been found In 1998, geologist Friedrich Albat, prospecting for the Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe Museum of Natural History, discovered the remains of a large theropod at the abandoned Pott quarry in the Wiehen Hills near Minden, Westphalia. The remains were discovered within the Ornatenton Formation, a geological formation composed mainly of mudstone, sandstones, and a horizon of carbonate concretions. The fragmentary theropod skeleton was excavated between October 1998 and October 2001, and was found alongside abundant marine invertebrates and fossil wood. At the time of their discovery, the bones were heavily weathered out of the surrounding sediments and are somewhat poorly preserved.
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As an example, the first known therizinosaur taxon, Therizinosaurus, was interpreted to represent turtle-like animals that used the elongated claws to feed on seaweed. Translated paper However, in 1970, Rozhdestvensky proposed the idea that therizinosaurs (then known as segnosaurs) instead of being non-dinosaur creatures, they were in fact, theropods. Later, in 1980, segnosaurs were thought to be slow, semiaquatic animals, with this, Gregory S. Paul claimed that these controversial animals had no theropod characteristics and they were prosauropods with ornithischian adaptations, also, they shared evolutionary relationships. However, with the description of more genera such as Alxasaurus, Nanshiungosaurus, and the redescription of the skull of Erlikosaurus, more theropod evidence began to be supported.
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However this family is invalid as must include the genus Tetrapteryx, which is the junior synonym of Grus – therefore Tetrapterygidae is a junior synonym of Gruidae. In their description of Wiehenvenator Rauhut and colleagues had informally called the group as "Anchiornithosaurs" which they placed outside of Avialae.Rauhut, O.W.M., Hübner T.R., and Lanser, K., 2015, "A new theropod dinosaur from the late Middle Jurassic of Germany and theropod faunal turnover during the Jurassic", Libro de resúmenes del V Congreso Latinoamericano de Paleontología de Vertebrados. 62 The clade was originally named as "Anchiornithinae" by Xu et al. (2016) and defined as for "the most inclusive clade including Anchiornis but not Archaeopteryx, Gallus, Troodon, Dromaeosaurus, Unenlagia, or Epidexipteryx".
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Balaur bondoc compared in size to a human Balaur is a genus of theropod dinosaurs estimated to have lived about years ago in the late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian), and contains the single species B. bondoc. The bones of this species were shorter and heavier than those of basal paravians. While the feet of most early paravians bore a single, large "sickle claw" on the second toe which was held retracted off the ground, Balaur had large retractable sickle claws on both the first and second toes of each foot. In addition to its strange feet, the type specimen of Balaur is unique for its status of being the most complete theropod fossil from the late Cretaceous of Europe.
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Given the completeness of the specimen, the newly described genus was at the time the best-known theropod discovered in America. In 1898 and 1899, the specimen was transferred to the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, together with many other fossils originally described by Marsh. Only part of this material was fully prepared when it arrived in Washington; subsequent preparation lasted from 1911 to the end of 1918. Packaging and shipment from New Haven to Washington caused some damage to the Ceratosaurus specimen. In 1920, Charles Gilmore published an extensive redescription of this and the other theropod specimens received from New Haven, including the nearly complete Allosaurus specimen recovered from the same quarry.
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Dilophosaurus was the first well-known theropod from the Early Jurassic, and remains one of the best-preserved examples of that age. In 2001, the paleontologist Robert J. Gay identified the remains of at least three new Dilophosaurus specimens (this number is based on the presence of three pubic bone fragments and two differentially sized femora) in the collections of the Museum of Northern Arizona. The specimens were found in 1978 in the Rock Head Quadrangle, away from where the original specimens were found, and had been labeled as a "large theropod". Though most of the material is damaged, it is significant in including elements not preserved in the earlier specimens, including part of the pelvis and several ribs.
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In addition, one of Cope's collectors, H. F. Hubbell, found a specimen in the Como Bluff area of Wyoming in 1879, but apparently did not mention its completeness, and Cope never unpacked it. Upon unpacking in 1903 (several years after Cope had died), it was found to be one of the most complete theropod specimens then known, and in 1908 the skeleton, now cataloged as AMNH 5753, was put on public view. This is the well-known mount poised over a partial Apatosaurus skeleton as if scavenging it, illustrated as such by Charles R. Knight. Although notable as the first free-standing mount of a theropod dinosaur, and often illustrated and photographed, it has never been scientifically described.
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Pterosaurs were the next to evolve flight, approximately 228 million years ago. These reptiles were close relatives of the dinosaurs (and sometimes mistakenly considered dinosaurs by laymen), and reached enormous sizes, with some of the last forms being the largest flying animals ever to inhabit the Earth, having wingspans of over 9.1 m (30 ft). However, they spanned a large range of sizes, down to a 250 mm (10 in) wingspan in Nemicolopterus. Birds have an extensive fossil record, along with many forms documenting both their evolution from small theropod dinosaurs and the numerous bird-like forms of theropod which did not survive the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous.
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Another specimen has a poorly healed fracture of the right fibula, which left a large callus on the bone. In a 2001 study conducted by Bruce Rothschild and other paleontologists, 54 foot bones referred to Gorgosaurus were examined for signs of stress fracture, but none were found.Rothschild, B., Tanke, D. H., and Ford, T. L., 2001, Theropod stress fractures and tendon avulsions as a clue to activity: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, p. 331–336.Molnar, R. E., 2001, Theropod paleopathology: a literature survey: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, p. 337–363.
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Baryonyx () is a genus of theropod dinosaur which lived in the Barremian stage of the Early Cretaceous period, about 130–125 million years ago. The first skeleton was discovered in 1983 in the Weald Clay Formation of Surrey, England, and became the holotype specimen of Baryonyx walkeri, named by palaeontologists Alan J. Charig and Angela C. Milner in 1986. The generic name, Baryonyx, means "heavy claw" and alludes to the animal's very large claw on the first finger; the specific name, walkeri, refers to its discoverer, amateur fossil collector William J. Walker. The holotype specimen is one of the most complete theropod skeletons from the UK (and remains the most complete spinosaurid), and its discovery attracted media attention.
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In 1993, Daniel Chure and Brooks Britt reported the discovery of small theropod remains, found by screenwashing large amounts of earth in the Rainbow Park near Dinosaur National Monument in Uintah County, Utah.Chure, D.J. and Britt, B.B., 1993, "New data on theropod dinosaurs from the Late Jurassic Morrison Fm. (MF)", Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 13(3): 30A In 1994, Chure named and described a unique tooth as the type specimen of the new species Koparion douglassi. The generic name Koparion comes from the Ancient Greek κοπάριον, "small surgical knife", in reference to the small size of the tooth. The specific name honors Earl Douglass, who, in the early twentieth century, excavated the Dinosaur National Monument quarry.
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The articular surface of the tibia that attaches to the femur is laterally compressed, which is unlike the more circular surface in living crocodilians and more like that of a theropod dinosaur. On the hip of Stratiotosuchus, a depression on the ilium is convergent with the brevis fossa of dinosaurs, and the small bump anchoring the puboischiotibialis muscle is convergent with the obturator tubercle of maniraptoriform theropods. Along with anatomical similarities, Stratiotosuchus and other baurusuchids are thought to have had lifestyles very similar to those of theropod dinosaurs. While many small carnivorous crocodyliforms are known from the Adamantina Formation, Stratiotosuchus and Baurusuchus are believed to have been the only large carnivores the Adamantina ecosystem.
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Decades of paleontological exploration in these deposits have uncovered only a few theropod dinosaur bones, so it appears that baurusuchids like Stratiotosuchus occupied the niche of top predators in the absence of these dinosaurs. A nearby Cretaceous deposit in Argentina called the Neuquén Group also contains baurusuchids, but they are much smaller than Stratiotosuchus and were likely out-competed by the wide range of theropod dinosaurs known from these deposits. In the absence of large theropods, carnivores like Stratiotosuchus may have fed on large herbivorous titanosaurs, including Adamantisaurus, Aeolosaurus, Gondwanatitan, and Maxakalisaurus. Pseudosuchians superficially resembling Stratiotosuchus were the top predators of the Triassic period, until they were decimated by the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event and replaced by large theropods.
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Camarillasaurus (meaning "Camarillas lizard") is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period (Barremian) of Camarillas, Teruel Province, in what is now northeastern Spain. It may have been a spinosaur, according to a 2019 paper, or a ceratosaur, according to the 2014 paper in which it was described.
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In 2011, Martinez et al. described Eodromaeus, a basal theropod from the same formation as Herrerasaurus. In a phylogenetic analysis, Eoraptor was placed within Sauropodomorpha, Herrerasauridae was placed as the most basal theropods, and Eodromaeus was placed as the next most basal. A more recent analysis, by Bittencourt et al.
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Pycnonemosaurus (meaning 'dense forest lizard') is a genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur that belonged to the family Abelisauridae. It was found in the Upper Cretaceous Bauru-type red conglomerate sandstones of the Adamantina Formation, Mato Grosso, Brazil, and it lived about 70 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian stage).
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Ozraptor ("Australian thief") is a genus of possibly abelisauroid theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic (Bajocian) Colalura SandstoneTykoski, R. and Rowe, T. (2004). "Ceratosauria". in Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 109. . of Australia, known from fragmentary remains.
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Piatnitzkysaurus ( meaning "Piatnitzky's lizard") is a genus of megalosauroid theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 166 to 164 million years ago during the middle part of the Jurassic Period in what is now Argentina. Piatnitzkysaurus was a moderately large, lightly built, bipedal, ground- dwelling carnivore that could grow up to long.
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The authors recommended caution when referring to isolated teeth from the Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous to the Dromaeosauridae (explicitly citing Milner's 2002 study and Sweetman's 2004 study as examples of studies that identified isolated theropod teeth as belonging to dromaeosaurids), as these teeth might belong to proceratosaurid tyrannosauroids instead.
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Prodeinodon (meaning "before Deinodon") is a wastebasket taxon and a dubious genus of theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Barremian to Aptian stages) from the Xinlong Formation in the Napai Basin of China and from the Oosh Formation of Mongolia.Lambert D (1993). The Ultimate Dinosaur Book. Dorling Kindersley, New York, 180. .
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The archosauriforms went to further extremes of diversity, encompassing giant sauropod dinosaurs, flying pterosaurs and birds, semiaquatic crocodilians, phytosaurs, and proterochampsians, and apex predators such as erythrosuchids, pseudosuchians, and theropod dinosaurs. Despite the staggering diversity of archosauromorphs, they can still be united as a clade thanks to several subtle skeletal features.
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77 The other ten trackways were made by large theropods (footprint length more than ). The large theropod tracks are tri− and tetradactyl, mesaxonic, and have lengths and widths between and , respectively. Nearly all digit impressions possess claw marks, but they lack clear impressions of digital pads. The stride length varies between .
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Xingtianosaurus is an extinct genus of oviraptorosaurian theropod dinosaur that lived in what is now China during the Early Cretaceous. The type and only species, X. ganqi, was named and described in 2019. It was placed in the Caudipteridae, alongside Caudipteryx and Similicaudipteryx.Osmólska, H., Currie, P. J. & Brasbold, R. Oviraptorosauria.
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Carnotaurinae is a subfamily of the theropod dinosaur family Abelisauridae. It includes the dinosaurs Aucasaurus (from Argentina), Carnotaurus (from Argentina), and Rajasaurus (from India). The group was first proposed by American paleontologist Paul Sereno in 1998, defined as a clade containing all abelisaurids more closely related to Carnotaurus than to Abelisaurus.
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"An exceptionally well-preserved theropod dinosaur from the Yixian Formation of China". Nature. 391 (8): 147–152. . After this, more evidence of feather structure was found in other genera of Compsognathidae. Evidence of protofeathers bearing resemblance to Sinosauropteryx was found on Sinocalliopteryx specimens, including on the foot of the specimen.
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Luanchuanraptor (meaning "Luanchuan thief") is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous of China. The genus is based on a partial skeleton from the Qiupa Formation in Luanchuan, Henan. They were medium-sized dromaeosaurids, the first Asian dromaeosaurid taxa described from outside the Gobi Desert or northeastern China.
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Piveteausaurus (meaning "Jean Piveteau's lizard") is a genus of theropod dinosaur known from a partial skull discovered in the Middle Jurassic Marnes de Dives formation of Calvados, in northern France and lived about 164.7-161.2 million years ago. In 2012 Thomas Holtz gave a possible length of 11 meters (36 feet).
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Trace fossils are relatively abundant in the Wahweap Formation, and suggest the presence of crocodylomorphs, as well as ornithischian and theropod dinosaurs. Evidence of invertebrate activity in this formation ranged from fossilized insect burrows in petrified logs to fossils of mollusks, large crabs, and a wide diversity of gastropods and ostracods.
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However, this classification has not been accepted, and Maleevosaurus is still considered a juvenile Tarbosaurus or Tyrannosaurus. This classification has not been accepted. Albertosaurus is a member of the theropod family Tyrannosauridae, in the subfamily Albertosaurinae. Its closest relative is the slightly older Gorgosaurus libratus (sometimes called Albertosaurus libratus; see below).
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Coelophysidae is a family of primitive carnivorous theropod dinosaurs. Most species were relatively small in size. The family flourished in the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic periods, and has been found on numerous continents. Many members of Coelophysidae are characterized by long, slender skulls and light skeletons built for speed.
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Procompsognathus is an extinct genus of coelophysid theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 210 million years ago during the later part of the Triassic Period, in what is now Germany. Procompsognathus was a small-sized, lightly built, ground-dwelling, bipedal carnivore, that could grow up to 1 m (3.3 ft) long.
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Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press:Berkeley and Los Angeles, p. 306-317. he believed it had elongate prezygapophyses. He also suggested that if more material was known, it could prove to be synonymous with other Lightning Ridge "coelurosaurs" (i.e. Rapator; coelurosaur in the outdated sense of any small theropod).
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Originally thought to be a coelophysoid related to Dilophosaurus and Cryolophosaurus, Oliver Rauhut in 2003 showed Sinosaurus to be a more advanced theropod, related to Cryolophosaurus and "Dilophosaurus" sinensis. In 2013, in an unpublished work, Carano agreed that Sinosaurus is a theropod.M. T. Carrano. 2013. Taxonomic opinions on the Dinosauria.
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Caseosaurus ( ) is a dubious genus of herrerasaurid theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 237 to 227 million years ago during the latter part of the Triassic Period in what is now Texas, in North America. Caseosaurus was a small, lightly-built, bipedal, ground-dwelling carnivore, that could grow up to long.
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It also found that Incisivosaurus had reduced olfactory lobes and expanded optic lobes similar to ornithomimosaurs. It suggested that the most birdlike features of oviraptorosaurs may have been convergent with birds.Balanoff, Amy M., Xu, Xing, Kobayashi, Yoshimura, Matsufune, Yusuke, Norell, Mark. "Cranial Osteology of the Theropod Dinosaur Incisivosaurus gauthieri (Theropoda: Oviraptorosauria)".
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Many other tetrapods were found in association with Tikisuchus representing a diverse Carnian paleofauna. Tetrapods from the Tiki site include Paleorhinus, a phytosaur, Metoposaurus, a temnospondyl, and Paradapedon, a rhynchosaur. The Tiki fauna is similar to that of the German Keuper. Theropod dinosaurs were also present in the Tiki Formation.
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A juvenile theropod was found unconscious in the North Sea and taken on board a naval submarine. After awakening, it attacked and killed a crewman. It was stunned by Abby and Connor, and then expelled through a torpedo-like tube into the Jurassic seas where it was eaten by a Liopleurodon.
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Its remains were found with those of the early sauropod Tazoudasaurus. Also from the Early Jurassic of the High Atlas, but from another formation, are the fossils of another, smaller theropod (currently in preparation). It's been estimated to be 5.1 meters (16.7 ft) long and 220 kg (485 lbs) in weight.
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J.D. Lees, Marc Cerasini (May 1998) The Official Godzilla Compendium, p,106. Dakosaurus andiniensis is a marine reptile of the Jurassic Period. It had a uniquely defined head similar to that of theropod dinosaurs, which has led to researchers nicknaming the species "Godzilla".Gasparini Z, Pol D, Spalletti LA. 2006.
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Most pathologies preserved in theropod fossils are the remains of injuries, but infections and congenital deformities have also been documented. Pathologies are less frequently documented in small theropods, although this may simply be because the larger bones of correspondingly larger animals would be more likely to fossilize in the first place.
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This inattention towards theropod paleopathology kept science in the dark about the subject and many pathological specimens probably went completely unnoticed. By 2001, 13 species in 13 genera had reported pathologies. That year, Ralph Molnar performed a comprehensive review of the subject and found pathologies in 21 genera from 10 families.
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A small theropod track from Jurassic Morocco shows a specimen with a limp inferrable from its alternating step length. Its third and fourth toe were held unusually close to each other, possibly because of the injury that caused the limp. However, several non-pathological causes for alternating step length are possible.
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New multituberculate mammal from the Early Cretaceous of eastern North America. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 50(3):315–323 Trace fossils included theropod tracks known as Eubrontes and others assigned to the ichnogenus Pteraichinus belonging to a pterosaur, which demonstrate that these animals were present in abundance.A. Bibbins. 1895.
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The Unspecified Theropod resembles an Allosaurus. It was spotted feeding on an unknown carcass by one of the soldiers on her binoculars. It has a small row of spines on its back and also has an unusual red pigmentation. Stock footage from "100 Million BC" was used for the creature.
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Austroraptor ( ) is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous Period in what is now Argentina. Austroraptor was a medium-sized, moderately-built, ground-dwelling, bipedal carnivore. It is one of the largest dromaeosaurids known, with only Achillobator, Dakotaraptor, and Utahraptor approaching or surpassing it in length.
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Moros is a genus of tyrannosauroid theropod that lived during the Late Cretaceous period in what is now Utah, United States. It contains a single species, M. intrepidus. Moros represents the earliest known diagnostic tyrannosauroid material from the Cretaceous of North America by a margin of about 15 million years.
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Ornitholestes, a theropod dinosaur of the Late Jurassic, is shown with a small crest atop its head. However, subsequent studies have concluded that it most likely did not have such a crest, and that the misconception that it did came as a result of broken nasal bones in the holotype.
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Torvosaurus sp. in Japan When first described in 1979 by Galton and Jensen,P. M. Galton and J. A. Jensen. 1979. A new large theropod dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic of Colorado. Brigham Young University Geology Studies 26(1):1-12 Torvosaurus was classified as a megalosaurid, which is the current consensus.
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In: B. Perez-Moreno, T.R. Holtz Jr., J.L. Sanz, & J.J. Moratalla (eds.), Aspects of Theropod Paleobiology, Special Volume - Gaia 15, 185-192. Lisbon. It had robust arms and powerful hind legs with four toes on each foot. Its ischium is long. Its braincase resembles that of another megalosauroid, the megalosaurid Piveteausaurus from France.
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Nuthetes is the name given to a dubious, possibly dromaeosaurid, genus of theropod dinosaur, known only from fossil teeth and jaw fragments found in rocks of the middle Berriasian (Early Cretaceous) age in the Cherty Freshwater Member of the Lulworth Formation in England. As a dromaeosaurid, Nuthetes would have been a small predator.
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Dilophosaurus had an average femur length of 552 mm, body lengths of 6 to 7 meters, and body masses of 362 kg.Wang, G. F., You, H. L., Pan, S. G., & Wang, T. (2017). A new crested theropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of Yunnan Province, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica, 55(2), 177-186.
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Rahona is a genus of moths in the subfamily Lymantriinae. It was named by Paul Griveaud in 1975. Most of the species of this genus occur in central Africa or Madagascar. The name was inadvertently used again in 1998 for a fossil species of Avian theropod Rahona ostromi, by Catherine Forster and colleagues.
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Leshansaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Shaximiao Formation of what is now China. It was described in 2009 by a team of Chinese paleontologists. The type species is Leshansaurus qianweiensis. Fossils of Leshansaurus were discovered in strata from the Shangshaximiao Formation, a formation rich in dinosaur fossils.
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Rayfield, E. J. 2004. Cranial mechanics and feeding in Tyrannosaurus rex. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences 271: 1451-1459. This study was expanded upon in a comparative finite element analysis of 2D theropod skulls (namely Allosaurus Coelophysis and Tyrannosaurus), in order to quantitatively compare cranial biomechanics.
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The describers of Nhandumirim tested its relations using two phylogenetic analyses focused around the origin of dinosaurs. The first one, created previously by Cabreira et al. (2016), considered it the basalmost theropod, as the sister taxon to neotheropods. This is supported by a wide ischiadic peduncle and several traits of the tibia.
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Ornithomimidae (meaning "bird-mimics") is a family of theropod dinosaurs which bore a superficial resemblance to modern ostriches. Ornithomimids were fast, omnivorous or herbivorous dinosaurs known mainly from the Late Cretaceous Period of Laurasia (now Asia and North America), though they have also been reported from the Lower Cretaceous Wonthaggi Formation of Australia.
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Skull and neck vertebrae of the abelisaurid theropod Carnotaurus with clearly visible epipophyses. In this genus, the epipophyses are greatly enlarged. Epipophyses are bony projections of the cervical vertebrae found in archosauromorphs, particularly dinosaurs (including some basal birds). These paired processes sit above the postzygapophyses on the rear of the vertebral neural arch.
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Late Triassic (Carnian and Norian) tetrapods from the Southwestern Unites States. Bulletin of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. 4, 1-254. For his part, Rauhut (1997, 2000, 2003) agreed with Long and Murry (1995) in questioning the ornithomimosaur placement of Shuvosaurus but classified it as a basal theropod.
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Staurikosaurus differs from Herrerasaurus because of its considerably smaller size (femur length of vs. ). Sereno et al. (1993) concluded that Staurikosaurus was not a theropod and considered it a basal saurischian outside Theropoda and Sauropodamorpha.Staurikosaurus was originally incorrectly assigned by Colbert to Palaeosauriscidae, a defunct family based largely on Efraasia, a prosauropod dinosaur.
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6 Ornithologist Alan Feduccia has used this, and the presence of the intramandibular articulation (a trait also found in mosasaurs and living varanid lizards) as arguments that the Odontognathae and thus the birds as a whole have not evolved from theropod dinosaurs, but non-dinosaur thecodonts. This theory is contested by most paleontologists.
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Proposed evolutionary model of the furcula Several groups of theropod dinosaurs have also been found with furculae, including dromaeosaurids, oviraptorids, tyrannosaurids, troodontids, coelophysids and allosauroids. Seeing the occurrence in diplodocid dinosaurs of interclavicles, Tschopp and Mateus (2013) proposed that the furcula is a transformed and divided interclavicle, rather than a fused clavicle.
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However, advanced abelisauroids of the family Abelisauridae persisted in the southern continents until the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event million years ago.Martín D. Ezcurra, M.D. and Agnolín, F.L. (2012). "An abelisauroid dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Laurasia and its implications on theropod palaeobiogeography and evolution." Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, (advance online publication).
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Now that it is known that Chirostenotes was a toothless oviraptorosaur, the jaws have been renamed Richardoestesia and are from an otherwise unknown dinosaur, likely a dromaeosaurid.Currie, P.J., Rigby, Jr., J.K., and Sloan, R.E. (1990). Theropod teeth from the Judith River Formation of southern Alberta, Canada. In: Carpenter, K., and Currie, P.J. (eds.).
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Accessed online 27 June 2012 and the paper describing it was formally published in August 2012. Novas, F.E., Ezcurra, M.D., Agnolín, F.L., Pol, D. and Ortíz, R. (2012). "New Patagonian Cretaceous theropod sheds light about the early radiation of Coelurosauria." Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, nueva serie, 14: 57–81.
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"Tonouchisaurus" (meaning "Tonouchi lizard") is the informal name given to an as yet undescribed genus of dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period. It was a theropod which lived in what is now Mongolia. The suggested "type species", "Tonouchisaurus mongoliensis", was coined by Barsbold in 1994. It was notably small: less than in length.
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Sinusonasus is a genus of dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous Period, recovered from the Yixian Formation. It lived in what is now the Liaoning Province of China. Sinusonasus was a theropod, specifically a troodontid dinosaur. The type species, Sinusonasus magnodens, was named and described by Xu Xing and Wang Xiaolin in 2004.
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Calvo and Coria found the dentary to be identical to that of the holotype, though 8% larger at 62 cm (24 in). Though the rear part of it is incomplete, they proposed that the skull of the holotype specimen would have been long, and estimated the skull of the larger specimen to have been long, the longest skull of any theropod. In 1999, Calvo referred an incomplete tooth, (MUCPv-52), to Giganotosaurus; this specimen was discovered near Lake Ezequiel Ramos Mexia in 1987 by A. Delgado, and is therefore the first known fossil of the genus. Calvo further suggested that some theropod trackways and isolated tracks (which he made the basis of the ichnotaxon Abelichnus astigarrae in 1991) belonged to Giganotosaurus, based on their large size.
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Holtz (in 1994) erected the clade Bullatosauria, uniting Ornithomimosauria (the "ostrich-dinosaurs") and Troodontidae, on the basis of characteristics including, among others, an inflated braincase (parabasisphenoid) and a long, low opening in the upper jaw (the maxillary fenestra). Features of the pelvis also suggested they were less advanced than dromaeosaurids. New discoveries of primitive troodontids from China (such as Sinovenator and Mei), however, display strong similarities between Troodontidae, Dromaeosauridae and the primitive bird Archaeopteryx, and most paleontologists, including Holtz, now consider troodontids to be much more closely related to birds than they are to ornithomimosaurs, causing the clade Bullatosauria to be abandoned. One study of theropod systematics by members of the Theropod Working Group has uncovered striking similarities among the most basal dromaeosaurids, troodontids, and Archaeopteryx.
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Restoration of Barosaurus rearing to defend itself against a pair of A. fragilis Allosaurus was the most common large theropod in the vast tract of Western American fossil-bearing rock known as the Morrison Formation, accounting for 70 to 75% of theropod specimens, and as such was at the top trophic level of the Morrison food web. The Morrison Formation is interpreted as a semiarid environment with distinct wet and dry seasons, and flat floodplains. Vegetation varied from river-lining forests of conifers, tree ferns, and ferns (gallery forests), to fern savannas with occasional trees such as the Araucaria-like conifer Brachyphyllum. Locations in the Morrison Formation (yellow) where Allosaurus remains have been found The Morrison Formation has been a rich fossil hunting ground.
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The cause of death is unknown. Currie speculates that the daspletosaurs formed a pack, although this cannot be stated with certainty. Other scientists are skeptical of the evidence for social groups in Daspletosaurus and other large theropods; Brian Roach and Daniel Brinkman have suggested that Daspletosaurus social interaction would have more closely resembled the modern Komodo dragon, where non-cooperative individuals mob carcasses, frequently attacking and even cannibalizing each other in the process. The Dry Island bonebed discovered by Barnum Brown and his crew contains the remains of 22 Albertosaurus, the most individuals found in one locality of any Cretaceous theropod, and the second- most of any large theropod dinosaur behind the Allosaurus assemblage at the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry in Utah.
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By 1881 John Whitaker Hulke had recognised that the specimen represented a foot from a carnivorous theropod. In 1888 Richard Lydekker referred the specimen to the theropod species Megalosaurus dunkeriLydekker, R., 1888, "On the remains and affinities of five genera of Mesozoic reptiles", Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 45: 41-59 but in 1889 he named a separate species for it because of the more robust build: Megalosaurus oweni. The specific name honours Owen.Lydekker, R., 1889, "Note on some points in the nomenclature of fossil reptiles and amphibians, with preliminary notices of two new species" Geological Magazine, decade 3 6: 325-326 Lydekker was deceived by the 1858 illustration into thinking that it was the right foot.
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In 2008, French palaeontologist Romain Amiot and colleagues compared the oxygen isotope ratios of remains from theropod and sauropod dinosaurs, crocodilians, turtles and freshwater fish recovered from eight localities in northeastern Thailand. The study revealed that Siamosaurus teeth had isotope ratios closer to those of crocodilians and freshwater turtles than other theropods, and so it may have had semiaquatic habits similar to these animals, spending much of its daily life near or in water. Discrepancies between the ratios of sauropods, Siamosaurus, and other theropods also indicate these dinosaurs drank from different sources, whether river, pond or plant water. In 2010, Amiot and colleagues published another oxygen isotope study on turtle, crocodilian, spinosaurid, other theropod remains, this time including fossils from Thailand, China, England, Brazil, Tunisia, and Morocco.
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Archaeopteryx is one of the most famous transitional fossils and gives evidence for the evolution of birds from theropod dinosaurs. Archaeopteryx is a genus of theropod dinosaur closely related to the birds. Since the late 19th century, it has been accepted by palaeontologists, and celebrated in lay reference works, as being the oldest known bird, though a study in 2011 has cast doubt on this assessment, suggesting instead that it is a non-avialan dinosaur closely related to the origin of birds. It lived in what is now southern Germany in the Late Jurassic period around 150 million years ago, when Europe was an archipelago in a shallow warm tropical sea, much closer to the equator than it is now.
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The Hoover Quarry may represent a playa, or dry lake, a shallow lake, or a river setting. The Portland Formation as a whole is composed of reddish shallow–water and gray or black deeper water rocks in the lower part of the formation, and coarser red rocks from river or alluvial settings in the upper part of the formation. It has yielded fossils of algal structures, pollen, trees and smaller plants, bivalves, clam shrimp, ostracodes, beetles, invertebrate traces, several genera of fish (Acentrophorus, Redfieldius, Semionotus, and the coelacanth Diplurus), the theropod dinosaur Podokesaurus, the prosauropod dinosaurs Ammosaurus and Anchisaurus, vertebrate coprolites (fossilized droppings), and several vertebrate track genera (Batrachopus, the theropod tracks Anchisauripus, Eubrontes, and Grallator, the prosauropod tracks Otozoum, and the ornithischian dinosaur tracks Anomoepus).
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The cladogram below follows the 2010 analysis by Benson, Carrano and Brusatte. Another study published later in 2010 also found the Australian theropod Rapator to be a megaraptoran extremely similar to Australovenator. Sculpture in Winton Australovenator holding prey The cladogram below follows the 2014 analysis by Porfiri et al. that finds megaraptorans to be tyrannosauroids.
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The study found that the artificial Australovenator footprints were similar to those at Lark Quarry, concluding that the trackways in question were likely those of a theropod. The writers of the study expressed interest in creating a reconstruction of a Muttaburrasaurus foot as an extension of the study, although no Muttaburrasaurus pedal material is known.
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He claimed that the specimen was a chimera including titanosaurid armor, crocodile teeth and theropod hindlimb material.Chakravarti, D. K., 1935, "Is Lametasaurus indicus an armored dinosaur?", American Journal of Science 30(5): 138-141 In 1964 Alick Walker chose the scutes as the lectotype, thus removing the teeth and the bones from the type material.
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Unenlagia (meaning "half-bird" in Latinized Mapudùngun) is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in South America during the Late Cretaceous period. The genus Unenlagia has been assigned two species: U. comahuensis, the type species described by Novas and Puerta in 1997, and U. paynemili, described by Calvo et al. in 2004.
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Bavarisaurus ('Bavarian lizard') is an extinct genus of basal lizard found in the Solnhofen limestone near Bavaria, Germany.Bavarisaurus at Fossilworks.org A fossil skeleton found in the stomach region of a Compsognathus, a small theropod dinosaur, was originally assigned to the genus, but was renamed to Schoenesmahl in 2017. The holotype is BSPHM 1873 III.
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Dinosaur Systematics: Perspectives and Approaches. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. The genus is named for Richard Estes, to honor his important workEstes, R., 1964, Fossil vertebrates from the Late Cretaceous Lance Formation, eastern Wyoming. University of California Publications in Geological Sciences 49: 1-180 on small vertebrates and especially theropod teeth of the Late Cretaceous.
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Uniquely, a small peg-like tooth was present in front of the canine-like tooth. Replacement teeth were present in the jaws, unlike most other heterodontosaurids. The hind limb bones were hollow, like those of small theropod dinosaurs. Fruitadens seems to have been more closely related to Heterodontosaurus than Echinodon, which was closer in time.
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Mateus, O, Walen A, Antunes MT. 2006. The large theropod fauna of the Lourinhã Formation (Portugal) and its similarity to the Morrison Formation, with a description of a new species of Allosaurus. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin. 36:123-129. In sum, Morrison Fm has 37 valid genera of dinosaurs.
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The presence of stress fractures provide evidence for very active predation-based feeding rather than scavenging diets.Rothschild, B., Tanke, D. H., and Ford, T. L., 2001, Theropod stress fractures and tendon avulsions as a clue to activity: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, p. 331–336.
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However, despite these remains being of different size gradation and representing growth series, hardly any taxonomic variation was discovered. It was interpreted by Novas et al. that the entire theropod collection from this quarry may be referred to the single species Rahiolisaurus. Individual bones of the newly discovered abelisaurid was given separate catalogue numbers.
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The area became known as the Place Where the Great Mosquito Lies. The birdlike footprints in the legend resemble those left by theropod dinosaurs. However, since there are no Mesozoic strata nearby to preserve them the footprints inspiring the story may have been observed elsewhere in New England, like Massachusetts, where they are quite abundant.
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This characteristic is also seen in their reptile cousins. Broadly speaking, avian skulls consist of many small, non-overlapping bones. Pedomorphosis, maintenance of the ancestral state in adults, is thought to have facilitated the evolution of the avian skull. In essence, adult bird skulls will resemble the juvenile form of their theropod dinosaur ancestors.
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A couple of miles to the east lay a marshy lowland bordering the limestone bluffs of the Western Highland Rim of the Nashville Done, home to duckbill and theropod dinosaurs. Sluggish rivers annually washed tons of driftwood, along with the occasional dinosaur carcass, from this heavily forested area into the bay (Russell and Parks 1975).
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Evolution and Palaeobiology of Pterosaurs. Geological Society Special Publication 217: 56–63. . Pterosaurs have sometimes been incorrectly identified as (the ancestors of) birds, though birds are theropod dinosaurs and not closely related to pterosaurs. Pterosaurs were used in fiction in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1912 novel The Lost World and its 1925 film adaptation.
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Unusual fusions in cranial elements or asymmetries in the same are probably evidence that one is examining the fossils of an extremely old individual rather than a diseased one.Molnar, R. E., 2001, Theropod paleopathology: a literature survey: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, p. 337-363.
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These dinosaur footprints were in fact claw marks, which suggest that this theropod was swimming near the surface of a river and just the tips of its toes and claws could touch the bottom. The tracks indicate a coordinated, left-right, left- right progression, which supports the proposition that theropods were well- coordinated swimmers.
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Skeletal restorations of three specimens The consensus view, based on several cladistic analyses, is that Caudipteryx is a basal (primitive) member of the Oviraptoridae, and the oviraptorids are nonavian theropod dinosaurs. Incisivosaurus is the only oviraptorid that is more primitive. Halszka Osmólska et al. (2004) ran a cladistic analysis that came to a different conclusion.
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Lastly, fragmentary remains of a tyrannosaurid theropod were found at the site. The tyrannosaur Lythronax is known from the Middle Member of the Wahweap Formation, but the remains from the Adelolophus locality are non-diagnostic, so whether they belong to the taxon cannot be determined. Ceratopsid dinosaur Machairoceratops is also from the Upper Member.
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Sarcolestes (meaning "flesh robber") is an extinct genus of ankylosaurian ornithischian dinosaur from the Oxford Clay of England. The current type and only species is S. leedsi, and the holotype is a single partial left mandible. The genus and species were named in 1893 by Richard Lydekker, who thought they belonged to a theropod.
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Segisaurus (meaning "Segi canyon lizard") is a genus of small coelophysoid theropod dinosaur, that measured approximately 1 metre (3.3 feet) in length. The only known specimen was discovered in early Jurassic strata in Tsegi Canyon, Arizona, for which it was named. Segisaurus is the only dinosaur to have ever been excavated from the area.
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Fluctuating asymmetry results from developmental disturbances and is more common in populations under stress and can therefore be informative about the quality of conditions a dinosaur lived under.Molnar, R. E., 2001, Theropod paleopathology: a literature survey: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, p. 337-363.
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Powellvenator is an extinct genus of coelophysoid theropod dinosaur that lived during the latter part of the Triassic Period in what is now northwestern Argentina. Fossils of the dinosaur were found in the Los Colorados Formation of the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin. The type species, Powellvenator podocitus, was named by Martin Ezcurra in 2017.
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The holotype was discovered in the Upper Cretaceous Galula Formation of the Rukwa Rift Basin in Tanzania. It would have coexisted with the sauropods Rukwatitan and Mnyamawamtuka, the mesoeucrocodiles Pakasuchus and Rukwasuchus, the mammal Galulatherium, an unnamed notosuchian, an unnamed turtle, an unnamed theropod and two types of lungfish (Lupaceradotus and an unanmed genus).
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Size of Haplocheirus compared to a human. Haplocheirus is a genus of alvarezsauroid theropod dinosaur. It is the oldest known alvarezsauroid, predating all other members by about 63 million years. Haplocheirus was described in 2010 from a fossil specimen found from the 160-million-year-old Shishugou Formation in the Junggar Basin of northwestern China.
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It was found among mixed fossil remains that included pterosaur and dinosaur material. One notable specimen found with it is the right femur of a derived maniraptoran theropod (BYU 2023). BYU 2023 is missing the distal end and is about long. It is probably too small to be from the same individual as BYU 2022.
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Shanag is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period of Mongolia. The type species of Shanag is S. ashile. It was named and described by Alan Turner, Sunny Hai-Ching Hwang and Mark Norell in 2007. The generic name refers to the black-hatted dancers in the Buddhist Cham dance.
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The Bemaraha Formation is a Middle Jurassic (early Bajocian to early Bathonian) geological formation of the Morondava Basin of Madagascar. The lime mudstones, grainstones and limestones of the formation were deposited in lagoonal and reefal environments. Fossils of groups of invertebrates and theropod and sauropod tracks have been found in the formation.Tsiandro tracksite at Fossilworks.
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The Lower Maleri Formation is a sedimentary rock formation found in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, India. It is the lowermost member of the Pranhita–Godavari Basin. It is of late Carnian to early Norian age (Upper Triassic), and is notable for its fossils of early dinosaurs, including the basal saurischian (possible theropod) Alwalkeria.Weishampel et al.
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Dromaeosaurus (, "swift running lizard") is a genus of theropod dinosaur which lived during the Late Cretaceous period (middle late Campanian), sometime between 80 and 72.8 million years ago, in Alberta, Canada and the western United States. The type species is Dromaeosaurus albertensis, which was described by William Diller Matthew and Barnum Brown in 1922.
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In 1923 Moodie reported a T. rex specimen as having spondylitis deformans, probably referring to the fused vertebrae of this specimens. Molnar still maintains that this is a congenital block vertebra. It had fractured ribs, too. Bruce Rothschild and others also examined the evidence for tendon avulsions during their survey of theropod stress fractures.
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Crocodilians like Crocodylus niloticus or Crocodylus porosus show more extensive injuries than theropod dinosaurs and so may have been more aggressive with other members of the same species than theropods were. Ralph Molnar has speculated that depressed fractures on the feet may be a result of toe biting, a behavior common in modern parrots.
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22-34 Furthermore, many hadrosaur ichnofossils have been found in the Tremp Formation and were analyzed in great detail by Vila et al. in 2013. The most abundant track types in fluvial settings are the pedal prints of hadrosaurs, while titanosaur ichnofossils and a single theropod track were found in lagoonal environments.Vila et al.
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In 2001, several fragments of a sauropod skeleton were discovered in the Hasandong Formation in Hadong County, South Korea. Seven incomplete cervical vertebrae, one dorsal vertebrae, a partial clavicle, one chevron, and other small bones and bone fragments were found. One of the caudal vertebrae ascribed to Pukyongosaurus has bite marks from theropod teeth.
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The Alum Shale Member of the Whitby Mudstone Formation was probably deposited in an oxygen-poor, shallow-water environment. A number of marine reptiles are known from this locality: the ichthyosaurs Stenopterygius, Temnodontosaurus, and Eurhinosaurus; the plesiosaurs Eretmosaurus, Sthenarosaurus, and Microcleidus; and the thalattosuchians Steneosaurus and Pelagosaurus. Indeterminate theropod remains have also been found.
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115-117) In 2006 fossils from the Portuguese Lourinhã Formation were referred to Torvosaurus tanneri.Mateus, O., Walen, A., and Antunes, M.T. (2006). "The large theropod fauna of the Lourinha Formation (Portugal) and its similarity to that of the Morrison Formation, with a description of a new species of Allosaurus." New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin, 36.
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Buchy, E. Frey, W. Stinnesbeck, J.-G. Lopez-Oliva (2003) "First occurrence of a gigantic pliosaurid plesiosaur in the late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) of Mexico", Bull. Soc. geol. Fr., 174(3), pp. 271-278 The fossils were found much earlier, in 1985, by a geology student and were at first erroneously attributed to a theropod dinosaur by Hahnel.
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Monolophosaurus was originally termed a "megalosaur" and has often since been suggested to be an allosauroid. Smith et al. (2007) was the first publication to find Monolophosaurus to be a non-neotetanuran tetanuran,Smith ND, Makovicky PJ, Hammer WR, Currie PJ. 2007. Osteology of Cryolophosaurus ellioti (Dinosauria:Theropoda) from the Early Jurassic of Antarctica and implications for early theropod evolution.
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The type specimen (IVPP 84019) had its tenth and possibly eleventh neural spines fractured. They are fused together. A series of parallel ridges on one of the specimen's dentaries may represent tooth marks.Molnar, R. E., 2001, Theropod paleopathology: a literature survey: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, p. 337-363.
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Estimated size compared to human Pyroraptor was a dromaeosaurid, a small, bird-like predatory theropod that possessed enlarged curved claws on the second toe of each foot. In Pyroraptor, these claws were 6.5 centimeters (2.5 in) long. As in other dromaeosaurids, these claws might have been used as weapons or as climbing aids.Manning, Phil L., Payne, David.
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Mononykus ( , sometimes ; meaning "one claw") was a theropod dinosaur from late Cretaceous Mongolia (Nemegt Formation, about 70 million years ago) with long, thin legs. Mononykus was originally named Mononychus in 1993, but later that year, it was renamed because the original name had already been used for a beetle named by Johann Schueppel, a German entomologist.
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The specimen had been in the American Museum of Natural History collection, labeled simply as "bird-like dinosaur". However, given the reassignment of the other specimens to related genera, and the difference in age (the AMNH specimen is from the older Djadochta Formation), it is unlikely to be Mononykus.Mortimer, M. (2004), "Ornithomimosauria" , The Theropod Database, accessed June 30, 2009.
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Despite the high level of diversity and anatomical disparity within Poposauroidea, certain features of the clade can be determined, particularly in the structure of the snout and pelvis (hip). Many of these features are examples of convergent evolution with dinosaurs, with bipedal poposauroids such as Poposaurus and shuvosaurids having been mistaken for theropod dinosaurs in the past.
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The pubis was larger than the ischium and had a large pubic boot (wide expansion at the end). Unlike any other theropod group, the pubis and ischium were attached together forming a solid structure with a square end. Both femur and tibia were robust in constitution. The former was relatively straight with well-developed articulations and femoral head.
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Ekrixinatosaurus ('explosion-born reptile') is a genus of abelisaurid theropod which lived approximately 100 to 97 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period. Its fossils have been found in Argentina. Only one species is currently recognized, Ekrixinatosaurus novasi, from which the specific name honors of Dr. Fernando Novas for his contributions to the study of abelisaurid theropods.
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Matt White completed a PhD on the reconstruction and biomechanics of Australovenator wintonensis.White MA., Cook AG, Rumbold SJ (2017) A methodology of theropod print replication utilising the pedal reconstruction of Australovenator and a simulated paleo- sediment. PeerJ: 10.7717/peerj.3427 He has authored several papers on new skeletal elements of Australovenator which have been uncovered following the holotype description.
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Size Comparison with a human and Emperor penguin Cryolophosaurus was a large, well- built theropod, one of the largest of its time. The genus has been described by Roger Benson and colleagues (2012) as a top predator in Antarctica. It had slender proportions. Cryolophosaurus was estimated as being in length by William R. Hammer & William J. Hickerson (1999).
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However, in 2012, Matthew Carrano found that Cryolophosaurus was a tetanuran, related to Sinosaurus, but unrelated to Dilophosaurus. Fossil pelvis of Cryolophosaurus. The loop at the widest part of the pubis is large compared to later theropods. The following family tree illustrates a synthesis of the relationships of the early theropod groups compiled by Hendrickx et al.
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Theropod dinosaurs, the carnivorous dinosaurs, came in several different types. The less derived types, the ceratosaurs and megalosaurids, included Ceratosaurus nasicornis, C. dentisulcatus, C. magnicornis, Elaphrosaurus sp., and the megalosaur Torvosaurus tanneri (including Edmarka rex). Allosaurids included the common Allosaurus fragilis (including Epanterias amplexus), Allosaurus new species, A. lucasi, and giant Saurophaganax maximus (potentially included in Allosaurus?).
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A trackway attributed to the ichnogenus Eubrontes had a missing second digit on the right foot. The animal could have either lost the toe due to injury or it was malformed.Molnar, R. E., 2001, Theropod paleopathology: a literature survey: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, p. 337-363.
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The Denver Museum of Natural History opened a small Cedar Mountain Formation quarry that has produced diverse dinosaur fossils including theropod, sauropod and ornithopod. An adult sauropod was designated the type specimen of the genus Venenosaurus.Tidwell, V., Carpenter, K. & Meyer, S. 2001. New Titanosauriform (Sauropoda) from the Poison Strip Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation (Lower Cretaceous), Utah.
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Lophostropheus, as a coelophysoid, would have been a small to medium-sized bipedal carnivore, probably comparable in size and habits to Liliensternus (best specimen estimated at 5.15 meters long, or 16.9 feet). Very few dinosaurs are known from its time period; in fact, it is the only theropod genus known from good remains at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary.
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These are preserved in the sediments of the Chinle Formation of the northwestern part of the state. A chicken to turkey sized theropod dinosaur left behind footprints of the ichnogenus Agialopous. These tracks contain large number of the ichnogenus Rhynchosauroides, which resembles lizard footprints. The Chinle of Colorado also bears the greatest known abundance of the ichnogenus Gwynnedichnium.
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Life restoration Epanterias is a dubious genus of theropod dinosaur from the Kimmeridgian-Tithonian age Upper Jurassic upper Morrison Formation of Garden Park, Colorado. It was described by Edward Drinker Cope in 1878. The type species is Epanterias amplexus. This genus is based on what is now AMNH 5767, parts of three vertebrae, a coracoid, and a metatarsal.
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Shanyangosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur found in Shaanxi, China, and known only from a partial sacrum, partial scapula, humeri, femur, tibia, metatarsals, [and] phalanges found in the Maastrichtian aged Shanyang Formation.Shanyangosaurus in the Palaeobiology Database"Table 4.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 77. The bones are reportedly hollow;Xue, Zhang, Bi, Yue and Chen (1996).
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A number of teeth from the Weald Clay of southeastern England identified as "M." dunkeri by Lydekker appear to be related to "Megalosaurus" pannoniensis from the early Campanian Grünbach Formation Austria, and similar teeth from the Santonian Csehbánya Formation of Hungary.Osi, Apesteguia and Kowalewski, 2010. Non-avian theropod dinosaurs from the early Late Cretaceous of Central Europe. Cretaceous Research.
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The second layer is alternately called the prismatic layer, the columnar layer, the continuous layer, the crystalline layer, the cryptoprismatic layer,Simon, D. J. (2014). "Giant Dinosaur (theropod) Eggs of the Oogenus Macroelongatoolithus (Elongatoolithidae) from Southeastern Idaho: Taxonomic, Paleobiogeographic, and Reproductive Implications." (Doctoral dissertation, Montana State University, Bozeman). the palisade layer, the spongy layer, or the single layer.
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The function of the powerful arm, with its straightened claws, remains unknown. It may indicate a different diet of food-gathering strategy than other ornithomimids, although its diet is difficult to determine, since the animal's skull is unknown. Scientists have long hypothesized that ornithomimids, descended from carnivorous theropod ancestors, were actually omnivores or even herbivores.Osborn, H.F. 1917.
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Nonetheless, the dinosaur mesothermy hypothesis requires further support to be confirmed. Fossil oxygen isotopes, which can reveal an organism's body temperature, should be particularly informative. Recently, a study of theropod and sauropod isotopes offered some support for dinosaur mesothermy. Feathered theropods are probably the best candidates for dinosaur endothermy, yet the examined theropods had relatively low body temperatures .
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The ilium of Aerosteon. Pneumatization is visible on the main blade in medial view (B) and the pubic peduncle in lateral view (A). The ilium (upper plate of the hip) was a heavily pneumatized bone, filled with air pockets and perforated by pits. The only other large theropod known to possess a pneumatic ilium is Neovenator.
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Saurornitholestinae is a subfamily of the theropod group Dromaeosauridae. The saurornitholestines currently include three monotypic genera: Atrociraptor marshalli, Bambiraptor feinbergorum, and Saurornitholestes langstoni. All are medium-sized dromaeosaurs from the Late Cretaceous of western North America. The group was originally recognized by Longrich and Currie as the sister taxon to a clade formed by the Dromaeosaurinae and Velociraptorinae.
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Evidence for osteomyelitis found in the fossil record is studied by paleopathologists, specialists in ancient disease and injury. It has been reported in fossils of the large carnivorous dinosaur Allosaurus fragilis.Molnar, R. E., 2001, '"Theropod paleopathology: a literature survey": In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, pp. 337–63.
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Sebecus likely consumed food in a manner more similar to theropod dinosaurs than living crocodilians. In particular, the teeth of tyrannosaurids bear the closest resemblance to those of Sebecus. Both animals have serrated teeth with rounded projections called denticles, and sharp clefts between the denticles called diaphyses. These diaphyses compress meat fibers between the serrations and rip them apart.
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Bordy, E.M., Bumby, A.J., Catuneanu, O. and Eriksson, P.G., 2004. Advanced early Jurassic termite (Insecta: Isoptera) nests: evidence from the Clarens Formation in the Tuli Basin, southern Africa. Palaios, 19(1), pp.68-78. Vertebrate fossil material generally comprises dis- articulated or isolated bone material of various theropod, sauropodomorph, and ornithischian dinosaurs, crocodylomorphs, and cynodont therapsids.
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He compares this to a primitive five-digit reptile hand, noting the obvious differences, before outlining the striking similarity of the hand to that of the theropod Ornitholestes.Heilmann (1926) pp. 23–25. Here Heilmann goes into considerable detail about the wing arrangement of Archaeopteryx, drawing from his observation of the Berlin specimen.Heilmann (1926) pp. 26–32.
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Savannasaurus lived alongside a diverse vertebrate fauna in the upper Winton Formation, that included its close relative Diamantinasaurus, other sauropods Wintonotitan and Austrosaurus, the megaraptoran theropod Australovenator, ankylosaurians, and hypsilophodonts, along with the lungfish Metaceratodus, turtles, the crocodilian Isisfordia, and pterosaurs. The environment it lived in would have been populated by plants such as ferns, ginkgoes, gymnosperms, and angiosperms.
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Due to these morphological traits, Nqwebasaurus is thought to have been a herbivore. It is not known conclusively whether Nqwebasaurus had feathers. However, as more basal theropod species, especially those on the evolutionary line to birds, had feathers it is accepted that Nqwebasaurus was likely at least partially feathered or had a feather coat for thermoregulation.
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The contemporary theropod Oviraptor was thought to consume Protoceratops eggs due to the discovery of an Oviraptor skeleton present at a nest. The skull was crushed, and it was speculated that the injury was received by a Protoceratops mother defending her nest from the predator. However, in 1993 Norrell et al. discovered an embryo inside a supposed Protoceratops egg.
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Unfortunately for the hypothesis, this seems not to be so: theropod dinosaurs had feathers, but many of them did not fly. Feathers can be described as an exaptation, having been co-opted for flight but having evolved earlier for another purpose such as insulation. Biologists may describe both the co-option and the earlier adaptation in teleological language.
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It is derived from the Greek (') ("different, other") and (') ("lizard / generic reptile"). The first fossil remains that could definitively be ascribed to this genus were described in 1877 by paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh. As one of the first well-known theropod dinosaurs, it has long attracted attention outside of paleontological circles. Allosaurus was a large bipedal predator.
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For instance, it has a long ascending process of the ankle bone, interdental plates, an obturator process of the ischium, and long chevrons in the tail. In particular, Ostrom found that Archaeopteryx was remarkably similar to the theropod family Dromaeosauridae. Archaeopteryx had three separate digits on each fore-leg each ending with a "claw". Few birds have such features.
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The first fossil owls (Aves: Strigiformes) from the Paleogene of Asia and a review of the fossil record of Strigiformes. Paleontological Journal, 45(4), 445–458. doi:10.1134/s003103011104006x Opposing the theropod origin of modern birds, Kurochkin maintained that archosaurs and dinosaurs were two distinct lineages. He repeatedly questioned the assumption that Archaeopteryx and Enantiornithes were early birds.
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Majungasaurus compared in size to a human Majungasaurus was a medium-sized theropod that typically measured in length, including its tail. Fragmentary remains of larger individuals indicate that some adults reached lengths of more than . An allometric study in 2016 found it to be long. Sampson and Witmer estimated an average weight for an adult Majungasaurus of .
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The vertebrae, originally incorrectly identified as dorsals, are thirteen to fourteen centimetres long. These remains are today commonly considered to be indistinguishable from those of other theropods from the same formation. A cervical vertebra, four rib heads and a dorsal rib have also been assigned to Dryptosauroides (D .sp), but they may have belonged to a different theropod.
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Valdoraptor (meaning "Wealden plunderer") is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous. Its fossils were found in England. It is known only from bones of the feet. The holotype, BMNH R2559 (incorrectly given by Owen as BMNH R2556), was found near Cuckfield in layers of the Tunbridge Wells Sand Formation dating from the late Valanginian.
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The braincase of A. altai was intermediate between the basal theropod and avialan conditions. The rest of the skeleton of Alioramus remotus is completely unknown except for three metatarsals (bones of the upper foot), but the discovery of A. altai, which is known from substantially more complete remains, has shed light on the anatomy of the genus.
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Restoration Segisaurus lived about 183 million years ago during the Jurassic period. It was a primitive bipedal theropod roughly around the size of a goose. Segisaurus was 1 meter (3.3 feet) long, half a meter (1.65 feet) tall and weighed about 4-7 kilograms. It was nimble and insectivorous, although it may have scavenged meat also.
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It consists of an incomplete skull and other postcranial fragments. Phylogenetic analysis of this specimen, demonstrates that Sinosaurus is a more derived theropod, and is not the most basal dilophosaurid, as held by Smith et al. A cladogram was identified by Christophe Hendrickx and Octávio Mateus. It placed Sinosaurus and Cryolophosaurus in a polytomy at the base of Tetanurae.
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Such footprints may resemble those of non-avian theropod or even ornithopod dinosaurs. Among the former, the Ornithomimiformes (= "Arctometatarsalia" sensu stricto) were convergent to ratites in many respects, including the feet, and it is impossible to tell if some large bird- like footprints from the Late Cretaceous are from an ornithomimiform or a giant bird, without associated bone material.
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The hands had three fingers; the first finger bore a large claw measuring about along its curve in the holotype specimen. The claw would have been lengthened by a keratin (horny) sheath in life. Apart from its size, the claw's proportions were fairly typical of a theropod, i.e. it was bilaterally symmetric, slightly compressed, smoothly rounded, and sharply pointed.
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The only specimen of Caseosaurus was discovered in the Tecovas Formation of the Dockum Group in Texas, in sediments deposited during the Carnian stage of the Late Triassic period, approximately 235 to 228 million years ago. Caseosaurus's paleoenvironment included the archosaur Tecovasaurus and other early theropod dinosaurs, some of whom left bipedal tracks that were preserved.
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Saltopus has been variously identified as a saurischian (lizard-hipped) dinosaur, a more advanced theropod, and a close relative of the herrerasaurs, but its taxonomy has been in dispute because only fragmentary remains have been recovered. Some researchers, such as Gregory S. Paul,Paul, G.S. (1988). Predatory Dinosaurs of the World. New York: Simon and Schuster. 464 pp.
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In 2001, Bruce Rothschild and others published a study examining evidence for stress fractures and tendon avulsions in theropod dinosaurs and the implications for their behavior. They found that only two of the 82 Saurornitholestes foot bones checked for stress fractures actually had them. Two of the nine hand bones examined for stress fractures were found to have them.
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Little is known about what it ate and how it lived, but a tooth of Saurornitholestes has been found embedded in the wing bone of a large pterosaur, probably a juvenile Quetzalcoatlus. Because the pterosaur was so much larger than Saurornitholestes, Currie and Jacobsen suggest that the theropod was probably scavenging the remains of an already dead animal.
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When Alameda Parkway was being constructed in 1937 to provide access to Red Rocks Park, workers discovered hundreds of dinosaur footprints. These were found to include mostly Iguanodon-like footprints, perhaps from Eolambia. Carnivorous theropod tracks are also present. The site features the Dinosaur Ridge Exhibit Hall with displays about the dinosaurs found at the site.
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The rear ischium was slender and straight, pointing obliquely to behind and below. In contrast to the arms, the hindlimbs were among the longest in proportion to body size of any theropod. In the foot, the metatarsus was "arctometatarsalian", meaning that the part of the third metatarsal near the ankle was pinched. The third metatarsal was also exceptionally sinuous.
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In many hadrosaur and theropod dinosaurs, the caudal vertebrae were reinforced by ossified tendons. The presence of three or more sacral vertebrae, in association with the hip bones, is one of the defining characteristics of dinosaurs. The occipital condyle is a structure on the posterior part of a dinosaur's skull that articulates with the first cervical vertebra.
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Eustreptospondylus ( ; meaning "true Streptospondylus") is a genus of megalosaurid theropod dinosaur, from the Oxfordian stage of the Late Jurassic period (some time between 163 and 154 million years ago) in southern England, at a time when Europe was a series of scattered islands (due to tectonic movement at the time which raised the sea-bed and flooded the lowland).
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The submarine is drawn through the anomaly to the Jurassic and the Liopleurodon follows it back. A pod of them swim around the submarine, banging it to see if it is food. When a swimming theropod is ejected from the vessel, all of the creatures go after the decoy, and one of the Liopleurodons eats it.
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The specimens are part of the collection of the Musée des Dinosaures d'Espéraza and the private Collection Méchin. Additional referred material includes a right humerus (MDE-D158) with a deltopectoral crest more developed than in any other known theropod, suggesting a strong raptorial function for the forearm. Other attributed bones include a femur and various vertebrae.
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Ornithologist Percy Lowe hypothesized in 1944 that Ornitholestes might have borne feathers.Witmer (1992), p. 444 However, this interpretation was largely disregarded for over half a century; most reconstructions of theropod dinosaurs, including Ornitholestes, portrayed them with reptile-like scaly skin. One of the few exceptions to this was Gregory S. Paul's Predatory Dinosaurs of the World (1988).
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Palaeopteryx (meaning "ancient wing") is a genus of theropod dinosaur now considered a nomen dubium. It was named and misidentified by J. A. Jensen in 1981, then redescribed by Jensen and K. Padian in 1989. At that time the binomial Palaeopteryx thomsoni was deemed invalid by Jensen. The only referred specimen is a single bone fragment (BYU 2022).
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Since 1961, at the clay pit of Gruhalde, exploited by Tonwerke Keller, numerous fossils of Plateosaurus have been found. At a somewhat higher layer, in the spring of 2006, amateur paleontologist Michael Fisher discovered the postcranial skeleton of a small theropod. In 2009, the skull was secured. The fossils were unearthed and prepared by Ben Pabst and team.
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The generic name combines the Latin nota, "trait", tesserae, "mosaic tiles", and raptor, "predator". It refers to it being a carnivorous species showing a mix of traits of the Dilophosauridae and Coelophysoidea. The specific name refers to a provenance from the municipality of Frick in the Aargau. It represents the first Mesozoic theropod named from Switzerland.
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It is larger than any other known predatory archosaur from the Late Triassic or Early Jurassic of central Europe. The relation of Smok to other archosaurs has not yet been thoroughly studied; it may be a rauisuchid, prestosuchid or ornithosuchid crurotarsan (part of the crocodile line of archosaurs) or a theropod dinosaur (part of the bird line of archosaurs).
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Size comparison In 2008, the Korea-Mongolia International Dinosaur Expedition at the Altan Uul III site in the Gobi Desert excavated a dense concentration of theropod skeletons. Some of these were of Gobiraptor as well as a yet undescribed oviraptorid but three were of Alvarezsauridae. One specimen, MPC-D 100/206, was considered cf. Mononykus sp.
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In 2001, Bruce Rothschild and other paleontologists published a study examining evidence for tendon avulsions in theropod dinosaurs. Among the dinosaurs studied, avulsion injuries were only noted among Tyrannosaurus and Allosaurus. Scars from these sorts of injuries were limited to the humerus and scapula. A divot on the humerus of Sue the T. rex was one such avulsion.
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Qiupanykus is a genus of alvarezsaurid coelurosaur theropod from the Late Cretaceous Qiupa Formation of southern China. Fossil eggs believed to be those of an oviraptorid found in association with the holotype specimen indicate that both Qiupanykus and other alvarezsaurids may have been specialist egg eaters that used their robust thumb claws to crack open eggshells.
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Protoceratopsidovum is an oogenus of dinosaur egg from Mongolia. Despite its name (which means "eggs of Protoceratops"Zelenitsky, D., and Currie, P. (2004) "A Cladistic Analysis of Theropod Ootaxa." Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Vol. 24, Supplement 003: Abstracts of Papers Sixty-Fourth Annual Meeting Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Adams Mark Hotel Denver, Colorado November 3-6\.
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Hopson, James A. "Ecomorphology of avian and nonavian theropod phalangeal proportions:Implications for the arboreal versus terrestrial origin of bird flight" (2001) From New Perspectives on the Origin and Early Evolution of Birds: Proceedings of the International Symposium in Honor of John H. Ostrom. J. Gauthier and L. F. Gall, eds. New Haven: Peabody Mus. Nat. Hist., Yale Univ. .
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"Mifunesaurus" (meaning 'Mifune lizard') is a nomen nudum given to an extinct non-avian theropod dinosaur from Cenomanian rocks of Japan. "Mifunesaurus" is only known from a few bones, among which are a tibia, a phalanx, a metatarsus and a single tooth. The genus was informally coined by Hisa in 1985.Lambert, D., and the Diagram Group. (1990).
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Size comparison Most of the fossils indicate that Timurlengia was a horse-sized theropod dinosaur, about in length, with a weight of about . However, they are of subadult individuals, that were not yet fully grown. ZIN PH 1239/16 represents a larger, adult, animal. In 2016, several distinguishing traits were established, all pertaining to the holotype braincase.
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The Molecap Greensand is a Late Cretaceous geologic formation, located in the state of Western Australia in Australia. A proximal pedal phalanx from an indeterminate theropod has been recovered from the formation,Weishampel, et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution" Pp. 517-607. in Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press.
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Several single bones and teeth found in other American sites have been referred to Torvosaurus. Maxillae of T. gurneyi and T. tanneri compared In 1992, fossils of a large theropod found at Como Bluff in Wyoming, containing skull, shoulder girdle, pelvis and rib elements, were named by Robert T. Bakker et al. as the species Edmarka rex. Bakker et al were impressed with the size of Edmarka, noting that it "would rival T. rex in total length," and viewing this approximate size as "a natural ceiling for dinosaurian meat-eaters."Bakker, R.T., Siegwarth, J., Kralis, D. & Filla, J., 1992, "Edmarka rex, a new, gigantic theropod dinosaur from the middle Morrison Formation, Late Jurassic of the Como Bluff outcrop region", Hunteria, 2(9): 1–24 This was often considered a junior synonym of Torvosaurus.
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This conclusion has been supported by some other workers. From 2002, Feduccia has argued that the discovery of spectacular new fossils from the Cretaceous of China, like Microraptor, and other taxa with unambiguous feathers, like the oviraptorosaur Caudipteryx, suggest that there might have been an extensive, and hitherto unrecognized radiation of cryptic avian lineages, some of which rapidly lost flight and secondarily adopted a cursorial lifestyle. According to this argument, very birdlike groups like Dromaeosauridae and Oviraptorosauria, which are currently considered by most workers to be theropod dinosaurs, are thought actually to represent avian lineages, probably more derived than Archaeopteryx, that through homoplasy associated with the loss of flight and secondary acquisition of cursoriality, converged on theropod dinosaurs. Other lineages, like that represented by Microraptor and Anchiornis, are hypothesized to have been flighted.
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Tyrannosauripus is an ichnogenus of dinosaur footprint. It was discovered by geologist Charles "Chuck" Pillmore in 1983 and formally described by Martin Lockley and Adrian Hunt in 1994.Lockley, M. G.; Hunt, A. P. (1994). A track of the giant theropod dinosaur Tyrannosaurus from close to the Cretaceous/Tertiary Boundary, northern New Mexico. Ichnos, 3(3): 213-218. This fossil footprint from northern New Mexico is 86 cm long and given its Late Cretaceous age (about 66 million years old), it very likely belonged to the giant theropod dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex. In 2016 the size of this individual was estimated at 11.4 meters (37.4 ft) and 5.8-6.9 tonnes (6.4-7.6 short tons). Similar tridactyl dinosaur tracks in North America were discovered earlier and named Tyrannosauropus in 1971,Peterson, W. (1924).
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Given the incompleteness of Razanandrongobe, Maganuco and colleagues did not assign Razanandrongobe to a specific group in 2006. Subsequently, the discovery of additional specimens allowed Dal Sasso and colleagues to refine the phylogenetic placement of Razanandrongobe in 2017. The new specimens allowed them to unequivocally identify it as a crocodylomorph and not a theropod, with all similarities having been convergently acquired. Unlike theropods, it has forward-facing and fused bony nostrils that do not contact the maxilla anywhere and are not divided by any bony process; a dentary taller and more robust than any theropod; a splenial which would have been a conspicuous part of the lower jaw, being even visible from the side; a well-developed bony palate on the maxilla; and the previously-noted thickening of the tooth crowns.
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Named by O.C. Marsh in 1890, the family Ornithomimidae was originally classified as a group of "megalosaurs" (a "wastebasket taxon" containing any medium to large sized theropod dinosaurs), but as more theropod diversity was uncovered, their true relationships to other theropods started to resolve, and they were moved to the Coelurosauria. Recognizing the distinctiveness of ornithomimids compared to other dinosaurs, Rinchen Barsbold placed ornithomimids within their own infraorder, Ornithomimosauria, in 1976. The contents of Ornithomimidae and Ornithomimosauria varied from author to author as cladistic definitions began to appear for the groups in the 1990s. In the early 1990s, prominent paleontologists such as Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. proposed a close relationship between theropods with an arctometatarsalian foot; that is, bipedal dinosaurs in which the upper foot bones were 'pinched' together, an adaptation for running.
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Edmontosaurus annectens mounted as being hunted by a Tyrannosaurus, which would have preyed on the species in life The time span and geographic range of Edmontosaurus overlapped with Tyrannosaurus, and an adult specimen of E. annectens on display in the Denver Museum of Nature and Science shows evidence of a theropod bite in the tail. Counting back from the hip, the thirteenth to seventeenth vertebrae have damaged spines consistent with an attack from the right rear of the animal. One spine has a portion sheared away, and the others are kinked; three have apparent tooth puncture marks. The top of the tail was at least high, and the only theropod species known from the same rock formation that was tall enough to make such an attack is T. rex.
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Restoration of the right hand of the holotype in flexion, with the deformed third finger (below) unable to flex In 2016 Senter and Sara L. Juengst examined the paleopathologies of the holotype specimen and found that it bore the greatest and most varied number of such maladies on the pectoral girdle and forelimb of any theropod dinosaur so far described, some of which are not known from any other dinosaur. Only six other theropods are known with more than one paleopathology on the pectoral girdle and forelimbs. The holotype specimen had eight afflicted bones, whereas no other theropod specimen is known with more than four. On its left side it had a fractured scapula and radius, and fibriscesses (like abscesses) in the ulna and the outer phalanx bone of the thumb.
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In Collected Essays IV: pp 46-138 original text w/ figures The mounted skeleton of a Velociraptor, showing the very bird-like quality of the smaller theropod dinosaurs Discoveries in northeast China (Liaoning Province) demonstrate that many small theropod dinosaurs did indeed have feathers, among them the compsognathid Sinosauropteryx and the microraptorian dromaeosaurid Sinornithosaurus. This has contributed to this ambiguity of where to draw the line between birds and reptiles.Norell, M & Ellison M (2005) Unearthing the Dragon, The Great Feathered Dinosaur Discovery Pi Press, New York, Cryptovolans, a dromaeosaurid found in 2002 (which may be a junior synonym of Microraptor) was capable of powered flight, possessed a sternal keel and had ribs with uncinate processes. Cryptovolans seems to make a better "bird" than Archaeopteryx which lacks some of these modern bird features.
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In 1945, after examining casts of T. formosus and S. validus teeth, the American palaeontologist Charles M. Sternberg demonstrated differences between the two, and instead suggested that Troodon was a theropod dinosaur, and that the dome-headed dinosaurs should be placed in their own family. Though Stegoceras was the first member of this family to be named, Sternberg named the group Pachycephalosauridae after the second genus, as he found that name (meaning "thick head lizard") more descriptive. He also considered T. sternbergi and T. edmontonensis members of Stegoceras, found S. brevis valid, and named a new species, S. lambei, based on a specimen formerly referred to S. validus. The split from Troodon was supported by Russell in 1948, who described a theropod dentary with teeth almost identical to those of T. formosus.
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Examination of the Deinonychus egg's microstructure confirms that it belonged to a theropod, since it shares characteristics with other known theropod eggs and shows dissimilarities with ornithischian and sauropod eggs. Compared to other maniraptoran theropods, the egg of Deinonychus is more similar to those of oviraptorids than to those of troodontids, despite studies that show the latter are more closely related to dromaeosaurids like Deinonychus. While the egg was too badly crushed to accurately determine its size, Grellet-Tinner and Makovicky estimated a diameter of about 7 centimeters (2.7 in) based on the width of the pelvic canal through which the egg had to have passed. This size is similar to the 7.2 centimeters diameter of the largest Citipati (an oviraptorid) eggs; Citipati and Deinonychus also shared the same overall body size, supporting this estimate.
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At the time, Dale Russell had proposed that C. agilis was a species of Elaphrosaurus based on the incomplete information then published; Ostrom was also able to demonstrate that this was not the case. Additionally, he showed that one of the three vertebrae Marsh had illustrated for C. fragilis was actually a composite of two vertebrae, one of which was later shown to come from another quarry and belonged not to Coelurus but to another, unnamed small theropod. This unnamed genus would not be the last small theropod from the Morrison Formation to be confused with Coelurus; a later discovery (1995) of a partial skeleton in Wyoming was first thought to be a new larger specimen of Coelurus, but further study showed it belonged to a different but related genus, Tanycolagreus.
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He tentatively classified Segnosauridae as theropods, traditionally thought of as the "meat-eating" dinosaurs, pointing to similarities in the mandible and its front teeth. Using features of their humeri and hand claws, he distinguished Segnosauridae from the theropod families Deinocheiridae and Therizinosauridae, which were then only known from the genera Deinocheirus and Therizinosaurus, respectively, mainly represented by large forelimbs found in Mongolia. Later in 1979, Barsbold and Perle found the pelvic features of segnosaurids and dromaeosaurids were so different from those of "true" theropods that they should be separated into three taxa of the same rank, possibly at the level of infraorder within Saurischia, one of the two main divisions of dinosaurs—the other being Ornithischia. In 1980, Barsbold and Perle named the new theropod infraorder Segnosauria, containing only Segnosauridae.
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Heilmann's extremely thorough approach ensured that his book became a classic in the field, and its conclusions on bird origins, as with most other topics, were accepted by nearly all evolutionary biologists for the next four decades. Clavicles are relatively delicate bones and therefore in danger of being destroyed or at least damaged beyond recognition. Nevertheless, some fossil theropod clavicles had actually been excavated before Heilmann wrote his book but these had been misidentified.For example in 1923, three years before Heilmans's book, Roy Chapman Andrews found a good Oviraptor fossil in Mongolia, but Henry Fairfield Osborn, who analyzed the fossil in 1924, misidentified the furcula as an interclavicle; described in The absence of clavicles in dinosaurs became the orthodox view despite the discovery of clavicles in the primitive theropod Segisaurus in 1936.
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This section explains the basics of paleozoology and paleobotany. Displays include fossils of several plants and animals. Among the most valuable specimens are the skeletons of two pygmy elephants (Palaeoloxodon falconeri) from Sicily and the only existing fossil of the coelurosaurian theropod Scipionix samniticus. The museum also houses several other casts of dinosaur skeletons such as Allosaurus, Stegosaurus, Dromaeosaurus, and Plateosaurus.
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For example, many Theropod dinosaur individuals show healed fractures and puncture wounds in their bones, suggesting aggressive and/or territorial behavior. Mosasaurs show evidence of getting a version of the decompression syndrome while diving. Ancient rhinos show evidence of osteopathologies related to their weight and possibly activity level or environment. The extinct mammal Spinolestes displays the earliest possible evidence of dermatophytosis.
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It is the largest theropod known from Europe. It was the morphological distinctiveness of the holotype maxilla ML1100 that led to the naming of the Portuguese species. In 2020 a fragmentary maxilla referable to Torvosaurus was described from the middle Callovian Ornatenton Formation of Germany. This is the oldest record of the genus, and suggests that megalosaurines originated in Europe.
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Indiana University Press. pp. 327-329. Allosaurus accounted for 70 to 75% of theropod specimens and was at the top trophic level of the Morrison food web. Other vertebrates that shared this paleoenvironment included ray-finned fishes, frogs, salamanders, turtles, sphenodonts, lizards, terrestrial and aquatic crocodylomorphans, and several species of pterosaur. Early mammals were present such as docodonts, multituberculates, symmetrodonts, and triconodonts.
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The specific name honours a fictional character, the swift-running thief and archer "Subotai" from the movie Conan the Barbarian.Long, J.A. and Molnar, R.E. (1998). "A new Jurassic theropod dinosaur from Western Australia". Records of the Western Australian Museum 19 (1): 221-229 The holotype, UWA 82469, was found in the Colalura Sandstone, dating to the middle Bajocian, about 169 million years ago.
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In 2001, pterosaur bones were discovered in Xinjiang by Chris Sloan. The bones were first identified as those of a theropod; paleontologist James Clark later recognized their pterosaurian nature. In 2014, Brian Andres, Clark and Xu Xing named and described the type species Kryptodrakon progenitor. The generic name means hidden dragon from Greek κρυπτός, kryptos (hidden), and δράκων, drakon (dragon).
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The coracoid tubercle forms the pointed portion in those coracoids described as "flexed". It was previously called the biceps tubercle because it was thought to be the origin of the M.biceps muscle. Makovicky & Sues (1998) Makovicky, peter, Sues, Hans-Dieter. (1998) "Anatomy and Phylogenetic Relationships of the Theropod Dinosaur Microvenator celer from the Lower Cretaceous of Montana" "American Museum Novitates" no.
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Indeed, in the fossil of its relative Shuvuuia feather traces were discovered, proving that Alvarezsauridae were among the theropod lineages with feathery or downy integument.Schweitzer, M. H., J. A. Watt, R. Avci, L. Knapp, L. Chiappe, M. Norell & M. Marshall. (1999). "Beta-keratin specific immunological reactivity in feather-like structures of the Cretaceous alvarezsaurid, Shuvuuia deserti." Journal of Experimental Zoology, 285: 146–157.
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Posterior to this year, Clark and colleagues redescribed the holotype skull of Erlikosaurus and found more theropod traits than when first described. They concluded that therizinosaurs were more likely to be classified as maniraptoran theropods. Therizinosauria itself, was erected in 1997 by Rusell in order to contain all of these theropods. This new infraorder was composed of Therizinosauroidea and the more advanced Therizinosauridae.
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In theropod dinosaurs, the antorbital fenestra is the largest opening in the skull. Systematically, the presence of the antorbital fenestra is considered a synapomorphy that unites tetanuran theropods as a clade. In contrast, most ornithischian dinosaurs reduce and even close their antorbital fenestrae such as in hadrosaurs and the dinosaur genus Protoceratops. This closure distinguishes Protoceratops from other ceratopsian dinosaurs.
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Sinraptor dongi skull specimen IVPP 10600 exhibits "a variety of gently curving tooth drags or gouges, shallow, circular punctures and one fully penetrating lesion." One rib was broken and healed via telescoping of its capitular shaft.Molnar, R. E., 2001, Theropod paleopathology: a literature survey: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, p. 337-363.
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Dracovenator () is a genus of dilophosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 201 to 199 million years ago during the early part of the Jurassic Period in what is now South Africa. Dracovenator was a medium-sized, moderately-built, ground-dwelling, bipedal carnivore, that could grow up to an estimated long. Its type specimen was based on only a partial skull that was recovered.
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The dentary of the lower jaw likewise bears an estimated twenty to twenty-five teeth. The nostrils are relatively retracted. They are also unique for a theropod in being obliquely oriented to the top in front view. Despite the length of the snout, the main opening in the side of the front skull, the antorbital fenestra, is short; shorter than high.
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R. isosceles was also present in the Aguja Formation, roughly the same age. All other referred teeth most likely belong to different species, which have not been named due to the lack of body fossils for comparison.Larson DW, Currie PJ (2013) Multivariate Analyses of Small Theropod Dinosaur Teeth and Implications for Paleoecological Turnover through Time. PLoS ONE 8(1): e54329. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.
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Megalosauroidea (meaning 'great/big lizard forms') is a superfamily (or clade) of tetanuran theropod dinosaurs that lived from the Middle Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous period. The group is defined as Megalosaurus bucklandii and all taxa sharing a more recent common ancestor with it than with Allosaurus fragilis or Passer domesticus. Members of the group include Spinosaurus, Megalosaurus, and Torvosaurus.
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Aquatic taxa known from the deposits include the large coelacanth Mawsonia gigas; the ray Myliobatis sp. (of uncertain species); two sclerorhynchid sawfishes; as well as several bony fish, ray-finned fish, and lungfish species. Dinosaur fossil remains suggest the presence of diplodocoids like Itapeuasaurus cajapioensis, basal titanosaurs, the giant theropod Carcharodontosaurus sp., a noasaurid closely related to Masiakasaurus, and a dromaeosaurid.
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Afromimus (meaning "Africa mimic") is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Elrhaz Formation of Niger. It contains a single species, A. tenerensis, named in 2017 by Paul Sereno from parts of the right leg, vertebrae, and ribs found in the Ténéré Desert. It was originally classified as an ornithomimosaurian, but subsequently it was argued to be an abelisauroid.
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The holotype was discovered during the 1980s by José Joaquim dos Santo and he donated his fossil collection to the Sociedade de História Natural around thirty years later. The unnamed holotype was described and placed in the Allosauroidea in 2017.Malafaia, E., P. Mocho, F. Escaso, and F. Ortega. 2017. "A juvenile allosauroid theropod (Dinosauria, Saurischia) from the Upper Jurassic of Portugal".
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It is somewhat bent to the inside. The most notable anatomical feature is the row of very prominent bumps along a ridge on the lower edge of the ulna, one of the forearm bones. These are called ulnar papillae, or quill knobs. In birds and some other theropod dinosaurs, these bumps were spots for reinforced attachment of the remiges, or wing feathers.
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A year later, a second note appeared in the same journal and extends his discoveries to the southwestern Kem Kem. In 1954, Lavocat described a new species of sauropod, Rebbachisaurus, discovered in the region. In addition, in 1955 he described a new genus of theropod, Majungasaurus. In 1960, Lavocat returned to Africa and described a second species of Rebbachisaurus, R. tamesnensis.
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Sinocalliopteryx (meaning 'Chinese beautiful feather') is a genus of carnivorous compsognathid theropod dinosaurs from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of China (Jianshangou Beds, dating to 124.6 Ma). While similar to the related Huaxiagnathus, Sinocalliopteryx were larger. The type specimen, at 2.37 meters (7.78 ft) in length, in 2007 was the largest known compsognathid exemplar. In 2012 an even larger specimen was reported.
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The Morrison Formation is the best source of Jurassic mammal fossils in North America. Local dinosaurs included the ornithopod Camptosaurus, the sauropods Apatosaurus and Diplodocus, and the theropod Allosaurus. Unlike many periods of geologic history the Jurassic did not end in a mass extinction. There were, however, lesser extinction events going on at the time, with notable losses occurring among ammonoids and dinosaurs.
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The next year Mignon Talbot collaborated with Richard Swann Lull collaborated on a description for the recently discovered dinosaur at South Hadley. They correct Talbot's previous misidentification of the specimen as an herbivore and reclassify it as a theropod. They named it Podokesaurus holyokensis. Six years later, a fire consumed Williston Hall at Mount Holyoke College, destroying the bones of Podokesaurus holyokensis.
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In 2014, it was reported in the scientific literature that Sérgio Luis Simonatto with a team of the Museu de Paleontologia "Prof. Antonio Celso de Arruda Campos" had found the front of a theropod axis near São José do Rio Preto.Méndez A.H., Novas F.E., Iori F.V. 2014. "New record of abelisauroid theropods from the Bauru Group (Upper Cretaceous), São Paulo State, Brazil".
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Dinosaur eggshells are divided into one, two, or three layers of distinct ultrastructure. The innermost layer, known as the mammillary layer or the cone layer, is only found in theropod eggs (the prismatic and ornithoid basic types). It is composed of cone-shaped structures called mammillae at the base of each shell unit. Mammillae are the first part of the eggshell to form.
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Megaraptora is a clade of carnivorous theropod dinosaurs with controversial relations to other theropods. Its derived members, the Megaraptoridae are noted for their elongated hand claws and proportionally large arms, which are usually reduced in size in other large theropods. Megaraptorans are incompletely known, and no complete megaraptoran skeleton has been found. However, they still possessed a number of unique features.
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One track was of a theropod accelerating from walking to running. According to Benson, such referrals are unprovable, as the tracks show no traits unique to Megalosaurus. Certainly they should be limited to finds that are of the same age as Megalosaurus bucklandii. Finds from sites outside England, especially in France, have in the nineteenth and twentieth century been referred to M. bucklandii.
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In addition, Evgeny Kurochkin - probably the leading specialist on bird paleontology in the then-Communist world - was critical of the theropod-bird link, working with and teaching mostly Cenozoic bird paleontology. Therefore, Barsbold's theories initially had more impact among "dinosaur" paleontologists in Mongolia, the USSR, and allied countries. He is the son of the famous Mongolian scientist and writer Byambyn Rinchen.
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Naish, Darren, David M. Martill, and Eberhard Frey. "Ecology, systematics and biogeographical relationships of dinosaurs, including a new theropod, from the Santana Formation (? Albian, Early Cretaceous) of Brazil." Historical Biology 16.2-4 (2004): 57-70. This classification was accepted by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1882, and added to the Coelurosauria clade by Friedrich von Huene in 1914 after additional fossils had been found.
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Gishlick, Alan D., and Jacques A. Gauthier. "On the manual morphology of Compsognathus longipes and its bearing on the diagnosis of Compsognathidae." Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 149.4 (2007): 569-581. However, classification is still complicated due to similarities to the body of several other theropod dinosaurs, as well as the lack of unifying, diagnostic features that are shared by all compsognathids.
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Holotype The partial braincase that became the type specimen of Piveteausaurus was first described in 1923 by French paleontologist Jean Piveteau in illustrations and photographs of the specimen (MNHN 1920-7). The braincase is comparable in size to that of a large Allosaurus, and resembles that of another megalosauroid, Piatnitzkysaurus from Argentina.Rauhut, 2004. Braincase structure of the Middle Jurassic theropod dinosaur Piatnitzkysaurus.
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All but one, Arcticodactylus, come from the Alps. In addition to Caelestiventus, the Saints & Sinners Quarry has produced a diverse vertebrate fauna including two sphenosuchian genera, two sphenodontian genera, a drepanosaurid, a procolophonid and two theropod dinosaurs – a coelophysoid and a medium-sized genus represented only by teeth. No invertebrates are known from the site. Plants from the quarry consist of Bennettitalean fronds.
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Tyrannosauropus and were as such interpreted as belonging to a large theropod. However, Tyrannosauropus has since been declared a nomen dubium and the referred tracks likely belonged to hadrosaurid ornithopods. Similarly, the large Lark Quarry footprints are also now suggested to belong to an ornithopod, and are most similar to Amblydactylus gethingi, with the suggested referral of Amblydactylus cf. gethingi.
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Special Papers in Palaeontology 56. The Palaeontological Association. London. (page 58). It is very similar to the eggs of modern birds in many aspects; in fact, a cladistic analysis by Zelenitsky and Therrien found it to be a sister taxon to the guinea fowl (genus Numida), indicating that they represent the eggs of birds, rather than a non-avialan theropod.
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Its skull was large and equipped with dozens of sharp, serrated teeth. It averaged in length, though fragmentary remains suggest it could have reached over . Relative to the large and powerful hindlimbs, its three-fingered forelimbs were small, and the body was balanced by a long and heavily muscled tail. It is classified as an allosaurid, a type of carnosaurian theropod dinosaur.
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It is now regarded as a dubious theropod. Labrosaurus stechowi, described in 1920 by Janensch based on isolated Ceratosaurus-like teeth from the Tendaguru beds of Tanzania, Although Donald F. Glut listed it as a species of Allosaurus, it is now considered a dubious ceratosaurian related to Ceratosaurus.Tykoski, Ronald S.; and Rowe, Timothy. (2004). "Ceratosauria", in The Dinosauria (2nd). 47–70.
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Dynamoterror is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in what is now New Mexico during the Late Cretaceous Period, approximately 78 million years ago. The type species (and sole known species) is Dynamoterror dynastes. The generic name is derived from the Greek word dynamis (δύναμις) meaning "power" and the Latin word terror. The specific name is derived from δυνάστης, "ruler".
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The presumed cursorial nature of theropod dinosaurs is an important part of the ground-up theory of the evolution of bird flight (also called the Cursorial theory), a theory that contrasts with the idea that birds' pre-flight ancestors were arboreal species and puts forth that the flight apparatus may have been adapted to improve hunting by lengthening leaps and improving maneuverability.
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A possible evolutionary timeline (Kavanau): Theropod dinosaurs → Birds evolved unique bi-parental care→ Avian birds evolved homeothermy and flight Burley and Johnson (2002), Tullberg et al. (2002), Prum (2002), and Varricchio et al. (1999) questioned the male evolutionary shift from no care to male care. They proposed like Kavanau's model that parental care came first leading to bi-parental care in extant birds.
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Restoration Scale diagram Gasosaurus is a carnivorous theropod with strong legs but short arms. It measured between in length, with a weight of around . However, some estimates put its weight as high as , as very little is known about it. Many potentially informative features of the holotype skeleton (IVPP V7264) are difficult to assess based on published descriptions and images.
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Nevertheless, the gharial's extremely slender jaws are relatively weak and built more for quick jaw closure. The bite force of Deinosuchus may have measured , even greater than that of theropod dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus. Crocodilian teeth vary from blunt and dull to sharp and needle-like. Broad-snouted species have teeth that vary in size, while those of slender-snouted species are more uniform.
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Ed.s Tanke, D. H., Carpenter, K., Skrepnick, M. W. Indiana University Press. One specimen from an unidentified ornithomimid shows a pathologic toe bone whose far end is "mushroomed" compared to those of healthy specimens.Molnar, R. E., 2001, Theropod paleopathology: a literature survey: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, p. 337-363.
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Shuvuuia is a genus of bird-like theropod dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period of Mongolia. It is a member of the family Alvarezsauridae, small coelurosaurian dinosaurs which are characterized by short but powerful forelimbs specialized for digging. The type (and only known) species is Shuvuuia deserti, or "desert bird".Chiappe, L.M., Norell, M. A., and Clark, J. M. (1998).
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Cervical vertebra. In 2007, during an expedition by Andrew Farke to the north of Madagascar, Joseph Sertich discovered near Antsiranana the remains of a theropod new to science. In 2010, these were completely excavated by Sertich and Liva Ratsimbaholison. The fossils were then transported to the United States of America to be prepared, repaired and scanned in the Stony Brook University.
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The type species, P. gracilis, was described by M. G. Mehl in 1915. A second species, P. langstoni, was originally the type species of the genus Lythrosuchus. Since it was first described, Poposaurus has been variously classified as a dinosaur, a phytosaur, and a "rauisuchian". Like theropod dinosaurs, Poposaurus was an obligate biped, meaning that it walked on two legs rather than four.
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However, plants and sand (which are not abundantly referred) can be carried by wind and ocean currents. Also, according to the most current paleogeographic maps, truly continental land located closer these Jurassic times lower were the Mountains of Sardinia, Corsica, distanced many tens of kilometers WNW.Dalla Vecchia, F.M. 2001. A new theropod dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic of Italy, Saltriosaurus.
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R. E. Molnar and N. S. Pledge, 1980, "A new theropod dinosaur from South Australia", Alcheringa 4: 281-287 The type species is Kakuru kujani. The generic name is that of a Rainbow Serpent of Australian Aboriginal mythology. The specific name is that of the local aboriginal tribe, the Kujani or Guyani. Possible phalanx One of the casts is the plastoholotype, SAM P17926.
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Segisaurus appeared to be closely related to the better-known Coelophysis, but unlike the hollow bones of Coelophysis, Segisaurus had solid bones. This caused some scientists question whether Segisaurus was a theropod at all. In 2005, a re-examination of the Segisaurus holotype revealed that contrary to reports it did in fact have hollow bones.Carrano, M.T, Hutchinson, J.R, and Sampson, S.D. (2005).
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Chingkankousaurus (named for Ch'ing-kang-kou, sic for Wade–Giles Chin1-kang1-k'ou3, pinyin Jin-gang-kou 'diamond port' village) is a genus of theropod dinosaur containing the single species Chingkankousaurus fragilis. C. fragilis is known only from a single fossilized bone fragment (specimen number IVPP V636) from the late Cretaceous Period Wangshi Series of Shandong province in eastern China.
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Ankistrodon is an extinct genus of archosauriform known from the Early Triassic Panchet Formation of India. First thought to be a theropod dinosaur, it was later determined to be a proterosuchid. The type species is A. indicus, described by prolific British zoologist Thomas Henry Huxley in 1865. One authority in the 1970s classified Ankistrodon as a senior synonym of Proterosuchus.
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Other vertebrates known from this site include TTU-P10074, a partial skull referred to Machaeroprosopus sp., a phytosaur postcranial skeleton, fish, a temnospondyl amphibian, Typothorax, Postosuchus, Shuvosaurus and a theropod dinosaur. A phylogenetic analysis of pseudopalatine phytosaurs performed by Hungerbühler et al. (2013) found the species to be a derived Machaeroprosopus species, most closely related to the type species of Redondasaurus, "R." gregorii.
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Osteology of Deinonychus antirrhopus, an unusual theropod from the Lower Cretaceous of Montana. Peabody Museum Bulletin 30:1-165 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/M. Carrano] A diagnosis is a statement of the anatomical features of an organism (or group) that collectively distinguish it from all other organisms. Some, but not all, of the features in a diagnosis are also autapomorphies.
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The type species C. bauri, originally given to the genus Coelurus by Edward Drinker Cope in 1887, was described by the latter in 1889. The names Longosaurus and Rioarribasaurus are synonymous with Coelophysis. Another dinosaur genus, Megapnosaurus, has also been considered to be a synonym. This primitive theropod is notable for being one of the most specimen-rich dinosaur genera.
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Size of Bagaraatan ostromi compared to a human Posterior part of left mandible of Bagaraatan ostromi, stereophotographs in lateral, posterior, dorsal, and medial views Holtz classified Bagaraatan as a basal tyrannosauroid, Coria identified it as a troodontid, and Rauhut placed it in Maniraptora.O. W. M. Rauhut (2003). The interrelationships and evolution of basal theropod dinosaurs. Special Papers in Palaeontology 69: 1-213.
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Bagaraatan (/'ba-ɣa-raa-tan/ meaning 'small' baɣa + 'carnivorous animal, beast of prey' araatan in Mongolian) is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period. Its fossils were found in the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia. Bagaraatan may have been around 3 to 4 metres (9.8 to 13 ft) in length. The type species, B. ostromi, was described by Osmolska in 1996.
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Masiakasaurus is a genus of small predatory theropod dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. In Malagasy, masiaka means "vicious"; thus, the genus name means "vicious lizard". The type species, Masiakasaurus knopfleri, was named after the musician Mark Knopfler, whose music inspired the expedition crew. It was named in 2001 by Scott D. Sampson, Matthew Carrano, and Catherine A. Forster.
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Chris Beard, Hunt for the Dawn Monkey, p. 307 Mrs. Yvette Borup Andrews, first wife of Roy Chapman Andrews, feeding Tibetan Bear cub in 1917 On July 13, 1923, the party was the first in the world to discover dinosaur eggs. Initially thought to be eggs of a ceratopsian, Protoceratops, they were determined in 1995 actually to belong to the theropod Oviraptor.
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At first, he thought the three-toed tracks had been made by a reptile, but Olsen identified them as dinosaur prints. The prints belonged to a theropod dinosaur about the size of a small bird, such as a sparrow or robin.Atlantic Geoscience Society (2001)The Last Billion Years: A Geological History of the Maritime Provinces of Canada. Halifax: Nimbus Publishing.
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Saurornitholestes ("lizard-bird thief") is a genus of carnivorous dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur from the late Cretaceous of Canada (Alberta), United States (Montana, New Mexico, Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina). Two species have been named: Saurornitholestes langstoni in 1978 and Saurornitholestes sullivani in 2015. Saurornitholestes was a small bipedal meat-eating dinosaur, equipped with a sickle-claw on the foot.
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The type specimen of Murusraptor shows signs of severe infections around the left side of its braincase. Two tooth marks, likely inflicted by another theropod, are visible in front of and below the nuchal crest on the skull. Due to the infections, the entire left side of the occiput, the back of the head, was deformed. Some of the ribs were also infected.
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Tachiraptor ("thief of Táchira") is a genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaurs found in the early Jurassic period La Quinta Formation of Venezuela. It includes one species, Tachiraptor admirabilis, described from a fossilized tibia and ischium. They were small bipedal dinosaurs, with a deduced total body length of just over . They were likely generalist predators, preying on smaller vertebrates like other dinosaurs or lizards.
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The eggs of the earliest dinosaurs are poorly known. Dinosaur eggshell was so resilient that it is the most common kind of egg fossils. Some theropod dinosaurs' eggshell microstructure are so similar to modern birds that its almost impossible to distinguish the two. These very bird-like eggs are only referred to non-avian dinosaurs due to their size and age.
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Microvenator (meaning "small hunter") is a genus of dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Cloverly Formation in what is now south central Montana. Microvenator was an oviraptorosaurian theropod. The holotype fossil is an incomplete skeleton, most likely a juvenile, with a living length of about 1.2 m. The adult size of Microvenator is estimated to be closer to 3 m long.
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Hendrickx, C., Hartman, S.A., & Mateus, O. (2015). An Overview of Non- Avian Theropod Discoveries and Classification. PalArch’s Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology, 12(1): 1-73. It remains unclear whether or not this group contains any species other than Coelurus itself, and while Tanycolagreus is often included, support for this relationship has been weak in most of the studies that recovered it.
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Dineobellator (meaning Diné warrior, pronounced ) is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous period. The remains have been found in the Maastrichtian stage of the Naashoibito Member at the Ojo Alamo Formation, New Mexico. 50px Material was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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One of the claws on the right hand of the type specimen of Dineobellator bears a gouge, the size of which is consistent with the claws of a similarly-sized theropod, possibly another Dineobellator. No evidence of healing is present, suggesting that the injury occurred close to the time of death. A broken and re-healed rib was also documented in the specimen.
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Scuirumimus albersodoerferi, a small theropod described in 2012 which preserved protofeathers, was initially believed to be a juvenile megalosauroid. This led to the belief that megalosaurids may have had feathers. However, subsequent analyses have placed Sciurimimus as a basal coelurosaur. In 2019, Rauhut and Pol described Asfaltovenator vialidadi, a basal allosauroid displaying a mosaic of primitive and derived features seen within Tetanurae.
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One Velociraptor mongoliensis skull bears two parallel rows of small punctures that match the spacing and size of Velociraptor teeth. Scientists believe that the wound was likely inflicted by another Velociraptor during a fight. Further, because the fossil bone shows no sign of healing near the bite wounds, the injury probably killed it.Molnar, R. E., 2001, "Theropod paleopathology: a literature survey".
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However, it probably spent most of its time on all fours, only moving bipedally when it needed to run rapidly. Its skull also resembled those of theropod dinosaurs, but more primitive features included the presence of five toes on each foot and a double row of armoured plates along the animal's back. Ornithosuchus has traditionally been estimated at a length of about around .
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Paul (1988b), p. 6 The front teeth of Ornitholestes were somewhat conical, with reduced serrations; the back teeth were recurved and more sharply serrated, similar to those of other theropod dinosaurs.Paul (1988b), p. 3; Norman (1990), p. 293 Henry Fairfield Osborn (1903) counted four teeth in the premaxilla, of which the front tooth was the largest in the upper jaw.Osborn (1903), p.
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British Museum (Natural History) perhaps he was motivated by their larger size. Unfortunately, mixed in with the Scelidosaurus fossils had been the partial remains of a theropod dinosaur and the femur and tibia thus belonged to such a carnivore; this was not discovered until 1968 by Bernard Newman.Newman, B.H. (1968) The Jurassic dinosaur Scelidosaurus harrisoni, Owen. Palaeontology 11 (1), 40-3.
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The holotype comes from Parángula Formation rocks in Barinas and consists of an incomplete articulated skull and lower jaw. Like all other sebecosuchians, it was a terrestrial carnivore with ziphodont teeth, like a theropod dinosaur. This made it a formidable predator. Barinasuchus is the largest sebecosuchian (preserved part of the type specimen skull is long), and is the first sebecosuchian known from Venezuela.
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Split carinae are also known in Albertosaurus teeth. Cuts and striation marks in parallel series etched into Albertosaurus teeth have been interpreted as bite marks. In the Rothschild and others survey of theropod stress fractures, they found that one of the 319 toe bones referred to Albertosaurus had a stress fracture. None of the four finger bones also examined had any stress fractures.
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Ilokelesia was a medium-sized theropod. In 2010 Gregory S. Paul gave a length of 4 meters (13 ft) and a weight of 200 kg (440 lbs). In 2016 it was estimated to be in length in a comprehensive analysis of abelisaur size. The same year another estimation listed it higher at 5.8 meters (19 ft) and 840 kg (1,850 lbs).
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Tsagandelta (meaning "white crest") is a genus of deltatheroidean therian mammal that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous. Distantly related to modern marsupials, it is part of Deltatheroida, a lineage of carnivorous metatherians common in the Cretaceous of Asia and among the most successful non-theropod carnivores of the region. It represents the first known mammal from the Bayan Shireh Formation.
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In 1975 Wiffen discovered the first dinosaur fossils in New Zealand in the Mangahouanga Valley in Northern Hawkes Bay. Her first discovery was the tail bone of a theropod dinosaur. Her later finds included bones from a hypsilophodont, a pterosaur, an ankylosaur, mosasaurs and plesiosaurs. In 1999, Wiffen discovered the vertebra bone of a titanosaur in a tributary of the Te Hoe River.
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"Kagasaurus" (meaning "Kaga lizard") is the informal name given to an as yet undescribed genus of dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous. It was a theropod which lived in what is now Japan. The type species was named by Hisa in 1988, but is known from only two teeth. Since "Kagasaurus" has never been formally described, it is considered a nomen nudum.
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Walker, A.D. (1964). Triassic reptiles from the Elgin area: Ornithosuchus and the origin of carnosaurs. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B 248(744):53-134. Ralph Molnar in 1990 noted that the form of the tooth was most like teeth from the rear of theropod jaws, although the lack of serrations on the leading edge was unusual.
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Stratiotosuchus (from Greek, (stratiōtēs, "soldier") and (suchos, "crocodile")) is an extinct genus of baurusuchid mesoeucrocodylian from the Adamantina Formation in Brazil. It lived during the Late Cretaceous. The first fossils were found in the 1980s, and the type species Stratiotosuchus maxhechti was named in 2001. A hyperpredator, it and other baurusuchids may have filled niches occupied elsewhere by theropod dinosaurs.
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Trace fossils are also relatively abundant in the Wahweap, and include vertebrate tracks as well as burrow activity. Tracks preserved in the capping sandstone indicate the presence of crocodylomorphs, which had been previously known in this area only from teeth elements, as well as ornithischian dinosaurs. At least one possible theropod track has been identified in this area as well.Tester, Edward et al.
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The Kirkwood Formation is the most fossil- rich formation of Late Jurassic - Early Cretaceous age known in South Africa. It has yielded disarticulated remains of theropod and ornithopod dinosaurs, and several sauropod species in which the Kirkwood is particularly rich. These species include undetermined Diplodocinae, Brachiosauridae, and Eusauropoda. One of the first sauropod species discovered in the Kirkwood was Algoasaurus.
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Olson and Feduccia concluded that this provided further evidence for the flight capability of Archaeopteryx. These initial excursions into the subject, and the argument that Archaeopteryx was clearly a bird, albeit primitive, were expanded upon in Feduccia's 1980 book, The Age of Birds. Feduccia here criticized the theropod hypothesis for the origin of birds, but his position was largely agnostic, conceding that there was evidence in support of both a theropod ancestry of birds and an ancestry from more basal archosaurs, perhaps similar in overall morphological organization to Euparkeria.Feduccia (1980), p. 37 Feduccia nevertheless suggested that on the basis of closer stratigraphic fit, ancestry from basal archosaurs rather than from coelurosaurian theropods might prove a better phylogenetic hypothesis. He thus, essentially, agreed with the model for the origin of birds proposed by Gerhard Heilmann in his influential 1926 book The Origin of Birds.
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According to this scenario, the three fingers retained by tetanurans were therefore homologous (evolutionary corresponding to) with digit I, II, and III of basal theropods, which would have implications for the evolution of birds. alt=Diagram showing the evolution of the theropod hand However, the hypothesis of LDR is in contradiction to some embryological studies on birds which show that, from five developmental sites, the digits that develop are the three middle digits (II, III, IV). This inconsistency has been a matter of debate for almost 200 years, and has been used by paleornithologist Alan Feduccia to support the hypothesis that birds are descended not from theropods but from some other group of archosaurs which had lost the first and fifth digits. The mainstream view of bird origins among paleontologists is that birds are theropod dinosaurs.
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Heilmann's comparison between the skulls of Aetosaurus, Archaeopteryx and a pigeon Heilmann published an English revision of his series of Danish papers in 1926 as The Origin of Birds. Like Thomas Huxley, Heilmann compared Archaeopteryx and other birds to an exhaustive list of prehistoric reptiles, and also came to the conclusion that theropod dinosaurs like Compsognathus were the most similar. However, Heilmann noted that birds possessed clavicles fused to form a bone called the furcula ('wishbone'), and while clavicles were known in more primitive reptiles, they had not yet been recognized in theropod dinosaurs. A firm believer in Dollo's Law, which states that evolution is not reversible, Heilmann could not accept that clavicles were lost in dinosaurs and re-evolved in birds, so he was forced to rule out dinosaurs as bird ancestors and ascribe all of their similarities to convergence.
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Australovenator (meaning "southern hunter") is a genus of megaraptorid theropod dinosaur from Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous)-age Winton Formation (dated to 95 million years ago) of Australia. It is known from partial cranial and postcranial remains which were described in 2009 by Scott Hocknull and colleagues, although additional descriptions and analyses continue to be published. It is the most complete predatory dinosaur discovered in Australia.
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University of California Press: Berkeley. has been controversial. Feduccia's principal academic work, The Origin and Early Evolution of Birds, was well received by some workers, and was winner of the Association of American Publishers 1996 award for Excellence in Biology. However, it received negative reviews from several paleontologists, primarily on account of the book's criticisms of the theropod hypothesis for the origin of birds.
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Based on the trackways, Minisauripus was possibly a hatchling theropod. However, ichnopalaeontologists aren't sure if it belonged to an actual juvenile dinosaur. The Minisauripus tracks show three distinct toes, unlike the tracks of similar-sized small dromaeosaurids such as Dromaeosauripus rarus, which are didactyl, with the "killer claw" on the inner toe being held off the ground and thus not preserved in the trackway.
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Earlier assigned to crocodilian groups, Streptospondylus was in the 20th century typically classified in the Megalosauridae. Recent analyses indicate that Streptospondylus is a tetanuran theropod. Allain in 2001 suggested that it was closely related to Eustreptospondylus in the Spinosauroidea. Roger Benson in 2008 and 2010 concluded that whether it is a megalosauroid, allosauroid, or a more primitive form cannot be determined because of its extremely fragmentary remains.
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Sauroniops is a genus of carnivorous basal carcharodontosaurid theropod dinosaur known from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian stage) of Morocco. In the early twenty-first century a collector donated a dinosaur skull bone to the Italian Museo Paleontologico di Montevarchi. He had acquired the specimen from a Moroccan fossil dealer, who again had bought the piece from local fossil hunters near Taouz. Its exact provenance is therefore uncertain.
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The Lilstock Formation is a geologic formation in England. It preserves bivalve, insect and other invertebrate fossils, as well as fossil fish of Agkistracanthus mitgelensis and the basal theropod dinosaur "Zanclodon" cambrensis dating back to the Rhaetian of the Triassic period.Lilstock Formation at Fossilworks.orgGalton PM. Bones of large dinosaurs (Prosauropoda and Stegosauria) from the Rhaetic Bone Bed (Upper Triassic) of Aust Cliff, southwest England.
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Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 136(1): 145–169 Shunosaurus accounts for 90% of the fossils found in the Dashanpu fauna, showing it was a dominant and/ or common member of its habitat and environment. It shared the local Middle Jurassic landscape with other sauropods, Datousaurus, Omeisaurus and Protognathosaurus, the possible ornithopod Xiaosaurus, and the early stegosaur Huayangosaurus, as well as the carnivorous theropod Gasosaurus.
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Franz Nopcsa first used the term Poposauridae in 1923 to refer to poposauroids. At this time, the sole member of the group was Poposaurus, which was considered to be a theropod dinosaur. Over the following years, poposauroids were placed in various groups, including Saurischia, Theropoda, and Carnosauria. This classification existed up until the 1970s, when better remains indicated that Poposaurus was a pseudosuchian rather than a dinosaur.
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In a 2001 study conducted by Bruce Rothschild and other paleontologists, 15 foot bones referred to Mononykus were examined for signs of stress fracture, but none were found.Rothschild, B., Tanke, D. H., and Ford, T. L., 2001, Theropod stress fractures and tendon avulsions as a clue to activity: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, p. 331–336.
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Indosuchus is a genus of abelisaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period (70 to 66 million years ago – the Maastrichtian), a theropod related to Abelisaurus. Like most theropods, Indosuchus was a bipedal carnivore. It was about 7 metres long, weighed about 1.2 tonnes,Paul, G.S., 2010, The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs, Princeton University Press p. 78 and had a crested skull, flattened on the top.
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It consists of a left ilium or hip bone, belonging to a juvenile individual. Madsen also assigned a paratype, UUVP 2320, a 50% larger right ilium. Additionally he referred a right premaxilla, UUVP 2999. However, this was in 2005 referred to Tanycolagreus.K. Carpenter, C.A. Miles, and K.C. Cloward, 2005, "New small theropod from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Wyoming", In: K. Carpenter (ed.), The Carnivorous Dinosaurs.
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Juvenile Dracovenator regenti snout on display at the Royal Ontario Museum Yates (2005) assigned Dracovenator to the clade Neotheropoda.A. M. Yates. 2005. A new theropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of South Africa and its implications for the early evolution of theropods. Palaeontologia Africana 41:105-122 The first cladistic analysis found that this genus formed a clade with the basal theropods Dilophosaurus and Zupaysaurus.
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The holotype is ZPAL MgD-I/172, a left metatarsus fused with the tarsalia. There are two paratypes: ZPAL MgD-I/98, consisting of a right hand and foot, and ZPAL MgD-I/20, the upper part of the left metatarsus of a larger individual.Osmólska, H. (1981). Coossified tarsometatarsi in theropod dinosaurs and their bearing on the problem of bird origins. Palaeontologica Polonica 42:79-95.
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Ernst Haeckel coined the name in 1866 and included in the group all "true birds" with the "characteristic tail morphology of all extant birds" (translation by Jacques Gauthier). This distinguishes the group from Archaeopteryx, which Haeckel placed in another new group called Sauriurae. Said simply, modern birds have short, fused pygostyle tails, while Archaeopteryx retained the long tail characteristic of non-avian theropod dinosaurs.Haeckel, Ernst (1866).
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Balaur bondoc is a species of theropod dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period, in what is now Romania. It is the type species of the monotypic genus Balaur, after the balaur (), a dragon of Romanian folklore. The specific name bondoc means "stocky", so Balaur bondoc means "stocky dragon" in Romanian. This name refers to the greater musculature that Balaur had compared to its relatives.
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Acheroraptor temertyorum is another theropod from the Hell Creek Formation, named in 2013 for a lower jaw, a maxilla, and some teeth. Acheroraptor was diagnosed by multiple features, including the possession of ridges on the teeth. Teeth are the only overlapping features between Acheroraptor and Dakotaraptor. However Acheroraptor is significantly smaller, and differs from Dakotaraptor only in that it possesses vertical ridges on the teeth crowns.
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The Upper Cretaceous of Zhejiang is known for its fossil dinosaur eggs. Skeletal remains are rarely found; the only described dinosaurs are the sauropod Jiangshanosaurus from the Jinhua Formation, the theropod Chilantaisaurus zhejiangensis, and the nodosaurid Zhejiangosaurus from the Chaochuan Formation. Dongyangosaurus comes from the Fangyan Formation. The age of this unit is not clear yet; however, it is considered early Upper Cretaceous by most researchers.
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Acheroraptor is an extinct genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur known from the latest Maastrichtian Hell Creek Formation of Montana, United States. It contains a single species, Acheroraptor temertyorum. A. temertyorum is one of the two geologically youngest known species of dromaeosaurids, the other being Dakotaraptor, which is also known from Hell Creek. A basal cousin of Velociraptor, Acheroraptor is known from upper and lower jaw material.
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In 2004 Mirischia was assigned to the Compsognathidae, as closely related to Compsognathus from the Upper Jurassic of Europe and Aristosuchus from the Lower Cretaceous of England. It would then be the only compsognathid known from the Americas.Naish, D., Martill D.M., and Frey, E., 2004, "Ecology, Systematics and Biogeographical Relationships of Dinosaurs, Including a New Theropod, from the Santana Formation (?Albian, Early Cretaceous) of Brazil", Historical Biology.
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Some elongated eggs are symmetrical, whereas others have one rounded end and one pointed end (similar to bird eggs). Most elongated eggs were laid by theropods and have an avian-like eggshell, whereas the spherical eggs typically represent non-theropod dinosaurs. Diagram of a two- layered eggshell. Fossil dinosaur eggshells, like modern bird and reptile eggshells, are made up of calcium carbonate crystal units.
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In this layer, the shell units can be distinct, partially fused together, or entirely continuous. In some dinosaur eggs, the prismatic layer exhibits squamatic ultrastructure, where the prismatic structure is obscured by a rough texture resembling lizard skin. Though rare in non-avian dinosaurs, some theropod eggs and most bird eggs have a third layer (known as the external layer) made up of vertical calcite crystals.
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The Angaturama snout tip expanded to the sides in a rosette-like shape, bearing long teeth and an unusually tall crest. One possible skeleton indicates it, like other spinosaurids, had enlarged first-finger claws and a sail running down its back. Irritator had been mistaken initially for a pterosaur, and later a maniraptoran dinosaur. In 1996, the animal was identified as a spinosaurid theropod.
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The skull of the Acrocanthosaurus atokensis holotype shows light exostotic material on the squamosal. The neural spine of the eleventh vertebra was fractured and healed while the neural spine of its third tail vertebra had an unusual hook-like structure.Molnar, R. E., 2001, Theropod paleopathology: a literature survey: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, p. 337-363.
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Furthermore, thighbone specimen OUM J13561 has a length of about eighty-six centimetres.Hip, femur and sacrum In general, Megalosaurus had the typical build of a large theropod. It was bipedal, the horizontal torso being balanced by a long horizontal tail. The hindlimbs were long and strong with three forward-facing weight-bearing toes, the forelimbs relatively short but exceptionally robust and probably carrying three digits.
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In 1998, the paleontologist Matthew C. Lamanna and colleagues found D. sinensis to be identical to Sinosaurus triassicus, a theropod from the same formation, named in 1940. This conclusion was confirmed by Chinese paleontologist Lida Xing and colleagues in 2013, and though Chinese paleontologist Guo-Fu Wang and colleagues agreed the species belonged in Sinosaurus in 2017, they suggested it may be a separate species, S. sinensis.
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Suchoprion is a dubious genus of phytosaurian archosaur known from poor remains from the Late Triassic of North America. It was once thought to be a theropod dinosaur until 2013, when it was reclassified as a phytosaur.M. R. Stocker and R. J. Butler. 2013. Phytosauria. In S. J. Nesitt, J. B. Desojo, R. B. Irmis (eds.), Anatomy, Phylogeny and Palaeobiology of Early Archosaurs and their Kin.
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The Dalton Wells quarry has also yielded specimens of Venenosaurus (a brachiosaurid sauropod), the theropod dinosaurs Utahraptor and Nedcolbertia, plus a tall-spined iguanodontian,Scheetz, R., B. Britt, and J. Higgerson. 2010. A large, tall- spined iguanodontid dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Early Albian) basal Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Program and Abstracts Book, 28(3): 158A.
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Traditionally, it was assumed that extinct reptile groups were cold-blooded like modern reptiles. New research during the past decades has led to the conclusion that some groups, such as theropod dinosaurs and pterosaurs, were very likely warm-blooded. Whether perhaps plesiosaurs were warm-blooded as well is difficult to determine. One of the indications of a high metabolism is the presence of fast-growing fibrolamellar bone.
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In: Paläontologische Zeitschrift. Bd. 81, Nr. 2, 2007]Ronald S. Tykoski, Catherine A. Forster, Timothy Rowe, Scott D. Sampson, Darlington Munyikwa: A furcula in the coelophysoid theropod Syntarsus. In: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Bd. 22, Nr. 3, 2002 Selected elements of the holotype The 2018 description paper ran a large phylogenetic analysis, and found it to be a basal ceratosaur, the sister-taxon of Berberosaurus.
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While the deposit is well known for invertebrate inclusions, some vertebrate inclusions have been found as well. One of the more notable discoveries was a well preserved theropod dinosaur tail, with preserved feathers. As well as fossils of enantiornithine birds including juveniles and partial wings and preserved feet, including a diagnostic taxon, Elektorornis. A complete skull of the bizarre avialan or lizard Oculudentavis is known.
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Langer et al. (2017) and Baron et al. (2017). Langer et al.'s analysis resulted in a large polytomy placing Daemonosaurus as either a basal saurischian, a herrerasaurid, or a basal silesaurid. When Agnosphitys (a fragmentary possible silesaurid) was removed from the analysis, Daemonosaurus was placed as the sister taxon to Eusaurischia, which encompassed the theropod-sauropodomorph split. The rescoring of Baron et al.
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's analysis placed Daemonosaurus as an ornithoscelidan outside the ornithichian-theropod split. This area was also occupied by Tawa and Chindesaurus. Although Daemonosaurus was not recovered as an ornithichian in any analysis, it also does not share any clear unambiguous characteristics exclusively with theropods. Though Nesbitt and Sues (2020) considered Daemonosaurus a likely saurischian, they were unable to conclusively place the genus within any subgroup of Dinosauria.
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The animal was found to be a new species of Carcharodontosaurus, which they named C. iguidensis. He estimated that the complete skull would be more than five feet long, one of the biggest skulls of a known carnivorous dinosaur. This was followed by the description of another new theropod from the Elrhaz Formation in January 2008, Kryptops palaios. Another significant discovery was from China in 2014.
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Albertosaurus is a member of the theropod family Tyrannosauridae, in the subfamily Albertosaurinae. Its closest relative is the slightly older Gorgosaurus libratus (sometimes called Albertosaurus libratus; see below). These two species are the only described albertosaurines; other undescribed species may exist. Thomas Holtz found Appalachiosaurus to be an albertosaurine in 2004, but his more recent unpublished work locates it just outside Tyrannosauridae, in agreement with other authors.
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Lucianovenator is an extinct genus of coelophysoid theropod dinosaur which lived in Argentina during the Triassic. The genus name Lucianovenator translates to "Luciano's hunter", in reference Don Luciano Leyes, who first reported the remains. The species name bonoi refers to Tulio del Bono, a local scientific authority who collaborated on the describers' research. It is one of the few neotheropods known from South America.
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In a 2001 study conducted by Bruce Rothschild and other paleontologists, nine foot bones referred to Compsognathus were examined for signs of stress fracture, but none were found.Rothschild, B., Tanke, D. H., and Ford, T. L., 2001, Theropod stress fractures and tendon avulsions as a clue to activity: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, p. 331-336.
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Kayentavenator shared its paleoenvironment with other dinosaurs, such as several theropods including Dilophosaurus, Coelophysis kayentakatae, and the "Shake N Bake" theropod, the basal sauropodomorph Sarahsaurus,Rowe, T. B., Sues, H.-D., and Reisz, R. R. 2011. Dispersal and diversity in the earliest North American sauropodomorph dinosaurs, with a description of a new taxon. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 278(1708):1044–1053.
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During the 20th century, many significant fossil trackway discoveries were made in the western United States. In the 1930s and 1940s, Roland T. Bird discovered the tracks of large sauropod and theropod dinosaurs in Texas. He excavated a major section of the track ways on behalf of the American Museum of Natural History. This was the first large scale excavation of fossil footprints in history.
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Diet is largely deduced by the tooth morphology, tooth marks on bones of the prey, and gut contents. Some theropods, such as Baryonyx, Lourinhanosaurus, ornithomimosaurs, and birds, are known to use gastroliths, or gizzard-stones. The majority of theropod teeth are blade-like, with serration on the edges, called ziphodont. Others are pachydont or phyllodont depending on the shape of the tooth or denticles.
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The Maevarano Formation is a Late Cretaceous sedimentary rock formation found in the Mahajanga Province of northwestern Madagascar. It is most likely Maastrichtian in age, and records a seasonal, semiarid environment with rivers that had greatly varying discharges. Notable animal fossils recovered include the theropod dinosaur Majungasaurus, the early bird Vorona, the flying dromaeosaur Rahonavis, the titanosaurian sauropod Rapetosaurus, and the giant frog Beelzebufo.
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Rahonavis was probably also a close relative of Overoraptor. Beginning in the early 2000s, a consensus emerged among most theropod researchers that Rahonavis was more closely related to deinonychosaurs than to avialans, and specifically was a member of the South American dromaeosaurid clade Unenlagiinae. A 2005 analysis by Makovicky and colleagues found Rahonavis to be closely related to the unenlagiines Unenlagia and Buitreraptor. Supplementary information.
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A more robust 2013 study by Godefroit et al. (using a dataset of 1,500 characters scored for 358 taxa) found that troodontids were possibly more closely related to birds than to dromaeosaurids; forcing troodontids to remain in a monophyletic Deinonychosauria required four extra steps in the analysis, making this result less likely but not implausible.Mortimer, M. (2012) The Theropod Database: Phylogeny of taxa . Retrieved 2013-AUG-15.
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Rapator is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Griman Creek Formation of New South Wales, Australia, dating to the Albian age of the Early Cretaceous period, 105 million years ago. It contains only the type species, Rapator ornitholestoides, which was originally named by Friedrich von Huene in 1932.Huene, F. von. (1932). Die fossile Reptil-Ordnung Saurischia, ihre Entwicklung und Geschichte. Monogr. Geol. Pal.
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Rauhut (2003) regarded D. sinensis as a basal tetanuran most closely related to Sinosaurus and Cryolophosaurus. Lamanna et al. (1998b) examined the material ascribed to D. sinensis and found it to be synonymous with Sinosaurus triassicus.Lamanna, M. C., Holtz, T. R. Jr, and Dodson, P., 1998, A reassessment of the Chinese Theropod Dinosaur Dilophosaurus sinensis: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Volume 18, Supplement to Number 3.
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Reconstruction based on Coelophysis Camposaurus is a small, carnivorous, theropod dinosaur. Its approximate length and weight cannot be reliably estimated because of the sparse material that is known from this genus. Camposaurus is known from partial lower leg bones, holotype UCMP 34498 (which includes distal tibiae, distal fibulae, and astragalocalcanea), and other fragmentary material. Like other coelophysids, it has fused tibio-tarsals and fibulo-tarsals.
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The fossils of Keresdrakon were found in direct association with the tapejarid Caiuajara and the noasaurid theropod Vespersaurus, confirming that these species were sympatric. Among pterosaurs, this is the first direct evidence of sympatry, i.e. direct association instead of being found in the same stratigraphic unit. Of the three taxa in the bone beds, Caiuajara is the most common, and Keresdrakon is the least common.
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Tyrannosaurus is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex (rex meaning "king" in Latin), often called T. rex or colloquially T-Rex, is one of the most well-represented of the large theropods. Tyrannosaurus lived throughout what is now western North America, on what was then an island continent known as Laramidia. Tyrannosaurus had a much wider range than other tyrannosaurids.
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Size comparison of Elaphrosaurus with a human Elaphrosaurus was long and slender, with a long neck. What is known about Elaphrosaurus mostly comes from a single nearly complete skeleton and no skull has been found. It was distinctive among theropods for being short-legged for its length. Paul (1988) noted that this was the longest-bodied and shallowest-chested theropod that he had examined.
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Nopcsa's 1905 skeletal restoration In 1870, workers at the Summertown Brick Pit, just north of Oxford, England, found the skeleton of a theropod. The remains were acquired by the local bookseller James Parker, who brought them to the attention of Oxford Professor John Phillips. Phillips described the bones in 1871, but did not name them.Phillips, J., 1871, Geology of Oxford and the Valley of the Thames.
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Albertosaurus is a predatory theropod dinosaur, a member of the Tyrannosauridae. In Primeval: New World, an Albertosaurus killed and devoured Brooke, Evan Cross' wife and an alternate timeline version of Mac Rendall. In the series, its preorbital horns are greatly enlarged, similar to those of a Carnotaurus with similar skin textures. Evan encounters the same Albertosaurus as a hallucination after accidentally ingesting the snot of a Pachycephalosaurus.
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In a 2001 study conducted by Bruce Rothschild and other paleontologists, 20 foot bones referred to Ornitholestes were examined for signs of stress fracture, but none were found.Rothschild, B., Tanke, D. H., and Ford, T. L., 2001, Theropod stress fractures and tendon avulsions as a clue to activity: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, p. 331-336.
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Ornithomimisaur tracks of similar age are known from north of Moab, Utah, at the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite, in the Ruby Ranch Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation (Early Cretaceous). This tracksite also preserves the tracks of ankylosaur, hadrosaur, sauropod and several size classes of theropod dinosaurs, along with crocodiles and birds. A similar fauna has been noted from the Trinity Group in Arkansas.
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The family Ambiortidae is sometimes used for this genus, especially if it is considered a close relative of the much younger Apsaravis. (2011): The Theropod Database: Phylogeny of taxa . Retrieved 2013-03-02. The results of a cladistic analysis published in 2011, on the other hand, indicate that at least Apsaravis and Palintropus (which was mistaken as a much more modern bird initially) are very closely related.
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Master thesis, University of Zurich, 161 pp Lui Unterassner described the shoulder girdle and stomach content in his thesis of 2009,Unterrassner, L. 2009. The Anterior Appendicular Morphology and the Stomach Content of the First Theropod Skeleton (Saurischia, Dinosauria) of Switzerland (Late Triassic; Frick, Canton Aargau). Master thesis, University of Zurich, 136 pp while Marion Zahner dedicated a thesis to the skull in 2014.Zahner, M. 2014.
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Cranial anatomy of Allosaurus jimmadseni, a new species from the lower part of the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic) of Western North America. PeerJ 8: e7803. specimen MOR 693 also had pathological gastralia Hanna, R.R. 2002. Multiple injury and infection in a sub-adult theropod dinosaur Allosaurus fragilis with comparisons to allosaur pathology in the Cleveland- Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry Collection. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 22 (1): 76–90. .
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Evidence for exostosis found in the fossil record is studied by paleopathologists, specialists in ancient disease and injury. Exostosis has been reported in dinosaur fossils from several species, including Acrocanthosaurus atokensis, Albertosaurus sarcophagus, Allosaurus fragilis, Gorgosaurus libratus, and Poekilopleuron bucklandii.Molnar, R. E., 2001, Theropod paleopathology: a literature survey: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, p. 337-363.
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All of the nesting specimens are situated on top of egg clutches, with their limbs spread symmetrically on each side of the nest, front limbs covering the nest perimeter. This brooding posture is found today only in birds and supports a behavioral link between birds and theropod dinosaurs. The nesting position of Citipati also supports the hypothesis that it and other oviraptorids had feathered forelimbs.
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In 2001, Bruce Rothschild and others published a study examining evidence for stress fractures in theropod dinosaurs. They found four toe bones from unidentifiable dromaeosaurids out of seventeen examined had stress fractures. Four of the twelve finger bones they also examined were likewise found to have stress fractures. Dromaeosaurids were the only theropods in Ralph Molar's 2001 survey to have pathologies of their claws.
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Metriacanthosauridae is an extinct family of theropod dinosaurs that lived from the Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous. When broken down into its Greek roots, it means "moderately-spined lizards". The family is split into two subgroups: Metriacanthosaurinae, which includes dinosaurs closely related to Metriacanthosaurus, and another group composed of the close relatives of Yangchuanosaurus. Metriacanthosaurids are considered carnosaurs, belonging to the Allosauroidea superfamily.
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Skeleton of "Saltillomimus" "Saltillomimus" is an informal name for an ornithomimid theropod from the Late Cretaceous (late Campanian) of the Cerro del Pueblo Formation in Mexico. It is known from a partial tail, most of a hindlimb, and forelimb bones that was given the name "Saltillomimus rapidus" by Martinez in 2010. Named in his thesis, the taxon name is an invalid nomen ex dissertatione.
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Artist's impression of an individual in brooding position The identification, in 2000, of a probable Deinonychus egg associated with one of the original specimens allowed comparison with other theropod dinosaurs in terms of egg structure, nesting, and reproduction. In their 2006 examination of the specimen, Grellet-Tinner and Makovicky examined the possibility that the dromaeosaurid had been feeding on the egg, or that the egg fragments had been associated with the Deinonychus skeleton by coincidence. They dismissed the idea that the egg had been a meal for the theropod, noting that the fragments were sandwiched between the belly ribs and forelimb bones, making it impossible that they represented contents of the animal's stomach. In addition, the manner in which the egg had been crushed and fragmented indicated that it had been intact at the time of burial, and was broken by the fossilization process.
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He distinguished Segnosauridae from the theropod families Deinocheiridae and Therizinosauridae (then only known from the genera Deinocheirus and Therizinosaurus, both mainly represented by large forelimbs found in Mongolia) by features of their humeri and hand claws. Later in 1979, Barsbold and Perle found the pelvic features of segnosaurids and dromaeosaurids so different from those of "true" theropods that they should be separated into three taxa of the same rank, possibly at the level of infraorder within Saurischia (one of the two main divisions of dinosaurs, the other being Ornithischia). In 1980, Barsbold and Perle named the new theropod infraorder Segnosauria, containing only Segnosauridae. In the same article, they named the new genus Erlikosaurus (known from a well-preserved skull and partial skeleton) which they tentatively considered a segnosaurid, and reported a partial pelvis of an undetermined segnosaurian, both from the same formation as Segnosaurus.
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Translated paper Barsbold retained Segnosaurus and Erlikosaurus in the family Segnosauridae in 1983, and named the new genus Enigmosaurus based on the previously undetermined segnosaurian pelvis, which he placed in its own family, Enigmosauridae, within Segnosauria. Though the structure of the pelvis of Erlikosaurus was unknown, Barsbold considered it unlikely the Enigmosaurus pelvis belonged to it, since Erlikosaurus and Segnosaurus were so similar in other respects, while the pelvis of Enigmosaurus was very different from that of Segnosaurus. Barsbold found that segnosaurids were so peculiar compared to more typical theropods that they were either a very significant deviation in theropod evolution, or that they went "beyond the borders" of this group, but opted to retain them within Theropoda. Translated paper In the same year, Barsbold stated that the segnosaurian pelvis deviated strongly from the theropod norm, and found the configuration of their ilia generally similar to those of sauropods.
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Evidence for ankylosis found in the fossil record is studied by paleopathologists, specialists in ancient disease and injury. Ankylosis has been reported in dinosaur fossils from several species, including Allosaurus fragilis, Becklespinax altispinax, Poekilopleuron bucklandii, and Tyrannosaurus rex (including the Stan specimen).Molnar, R. E., 2001, Theropod paleopathology: a literature survey: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, p. 337-363.
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The type species, Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis, was described by Osvaldo Reig in 1963 and is the only species assigned to the genus. Ischisaurus and Frenguellisaurus are synonyms. For many years, the classification of Herrerasaurus was unclear because it was known from very fragmentary remains. It was hypothesized to be a basal theropod, a basal sauropodomorph, a basal saurischian, or not a dinosaur at all but another type of archosaur.
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Frenguellisaurus ischigualastensis was discovered in 1975, and was described by Novas (1986) who considered it a primitive saurischian, and possibly a theropod. Novas (1992) and Sereno and Novas (1992) examined the Frenguellisaurus remains and found them referable to Herrerasaurus. Ischisaurus cattoi was discovered in 1960 and described by Reig in 1963. Novas (1992) and Sereno and Novas (1992) reviewed its remains and found them to be referable to Herrerasaurus.
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Kol (from the Mongolian köl, meaning "foot") is an extinct genus of alvarezsaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia. The type and only species is Kol ghuva (from the Mongolian ghuv-a, meaning "beautiful"). The type specimen was excavated from the Ukhaa Tolgod locality of the Djadochta Formation, dating to about 75 million years ago. It is believed to have been about twice the size of the contemporary Shuvuuia.
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Elements of the type specimen Prior to the discovery of Dryptosaurus in 1866, New World theropods were known only from some isolated theropod teeth discovered in Montana by Joseph Leidy in 1856.Leidy, J. 1856. Notice of remains of extinct reptiles and fishes discovered by Dr. F. V. Hayden in the badlands of the Judith River, Nebraska Territory. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 8: 72–73.
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Stromer in 1914 next to the femur of a Bahariasaurus Ernst Freiherr Stromer von Reichenbach (12 June 1871 - in Nürnberg; 18 December 1952 in Erlangen) was a German paleontologist. He is best remembered for his expedition to Egypt, which discovered the first known remains of Spinosaurus. He described the following Cretaceous dinosaurs from Egypt: Aegyptosaurus, Bahariasaurus, Carcharodontosaurus, and the enigmatic theropod, Spinosaurus aegyptiacus. Stromer also described the giant crocodilian Stomatosuchus.
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Theropod dinosaurs are very diverse in the Nemegt and include the abundant tyrannosaur Tarbosaurus, which might have preyed upon Opisthocoelicaudia. The only other known sauropod is Nemegtosaurus, which is known from a single skull. Ornithischians are represented by the "duck-billed" hadrosaurids (including the very common Saurolophus), the thick-skulled pachycephalosaurs, and the heavily armored ankylosaurs. Neoceratopsians are absent, despite being present in the older Barun Goyot and Djadochta formations.
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"The phylogenetic position of the Tyrannosauridae: Implications for theropod systematics". Journal of Paleontology 68: 1100-1117 Today, it is recognised that Timimus shares no derived traits, synapomorphies, with the Ornithomimosauria and thus any proof it would belong to this group is lacking. It perhaps belongs to some coelurosaurian group; some workers consider it a nomen dubium.S.A. Hocknull, M.A. White, T.R. Tischler, A.G. Cook, N.D. Calleja, T. Sloan, and D.A. Elliot. 2009.
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Valley of the T. rex is a Discovery Channel documentary, featuring paleontologist Jack Horner, that aired on September 10, 2001. The program shows Horner with his digging team as they travel to Hell Creek Formation in search for dinosaur fossils, while also following Horner as he presents his view of the theropod dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex as a scavenger rather than a predator, as it is often portrayed in popular culture.
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Eudromaeosauria ("true dromaeosaurs") is a subgroup of terrestrial dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaurs. They were relatively large-bodied, feathered hypercarnivores (with diets consisting almost entirely of other terrestrial vertebrates) that flourished in the Cretaceous Period. Eudromaeosaur fossils are known almost exclusively from the northern hemisphere. They first appeared in the early Cretaceous Period (early Aptian stage, about 124 million years ago) and survived until the end of the Cretaceous (Maastrichtian stage, Ma).
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The below cladogram follows an analysis by Evans et al. in 2013. Their analysis used an updated version of the dataset originally compiled by Nick Longrich and Phil Currie to study dromaeosaurid relationships, and found a relatively traditional arrangement of eudromaeosaurian relationships. The cladogram below follows a 2015 analysis by paleontologists Robert DePalma, David Burnham, Larry Martin, Peter Larson, and Robert Bakker, using updated data from the Theropod Working Group.
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2012, Yurgovuchia represents an advanced dromaeosaurine, closely related to Achillobator, Dromaeosaurus and Utahraptor. During the description of Dakotaraptor in 2015, it was proposed a new cladistic analysis using data from the Theropod Working Group; below are the results for this analysys: However, in the most recent analysis conducted by Currie and Evans in 2019, the most representative members of the Dromaeosaurinae were recovered as velociraptorines, such as Achillobator and Utahraptor.
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Indiana University Press. pp. 327-329. Allosaurus, which accounted for 70 to 75% of theropod specimens and was at the top trophic level of the Morrison food web. Other animals that shared this paleoenvironment included bivalves, snails, ray-finned fishes, frogs, salamanders, turtles, sphenodonts, lizards, terrestrial and aquatic crocodylomorphans, and several species of pterosaur. Examples of early mammals present in this region, were docodonts, multituberculates, symmetrodonts, and triconodonts.
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Meanwhile, S. hartti was found in the Recôncavo Basin of Brazil, specifically in the Ilhas Formation of the Bahia series, it was a shallow lacustrine environment dating from the late Aptian, similar in age to the habitat of S. imperator, with similar aquatic fauna, including Lepidotus and two species of Mawsonia. The dinosaur fauna is of a very fragmentary nature and identification does not go beyond indeterminate theropod and iguanodontid remains.
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The researchers concluded that the abundance of preserved plant material probably reflects the great abundance of local plant life during the Cretaceous. H97-04's excavation site Excavation A preserved shed teeth from theropods of differing size, champsosaur vertebrae, a fish scale, a pisidiid clam, and two unidentifiable coprolites in addition to its centrosaur fossils. The Excavation B site at H97-04 preserved a fish scale and two theropod teeth.
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Carnivory was a natural transition from insectivory for medium and large tetrapods, requiring minimal adaptation; in contrast, a complex set of adaptations was necessary for feeding on highly fibrous plant materials. In the Mesozoic, some theropod dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus rex were probably obligate carnivores. Though the theropods were the larger carnivores, several carnivorous mammal groups were already present. Most notable are the gobiconodontids, the triconodontid Jugulator, the deltatheroideans and Cimolestes.
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Frontal bone, indicating the presence of a crest In 1970 a paleontological Polish-Mongolian expedition discovered two fragmentary specimens of a small theropod in the Ömnögovĭ province of Mongolia. The type species, Elmisaurus rarus, was named and described by Halszka Osmólska in 1981. The generic name is derived from Mongol ' or ', "foot sole", as the type specimen consisted of a metatarsus. The specific name means "rare" in Latin.
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Concavenator is a genus of theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 130 million years ago during the early Cretaceous period (Barremian age). The type species is C. corcovatus; Concavenator corcovatus means "Cuenca hunter with a hump". The fossil was discovered in the Las Hoyas fossil site of Spain by paleontologists José Luis Sanz, Francisco Ortega and Fernando Escaso from the Autonomous University of Madrid and the National University of Distance Education.
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Trierarchuncus (meaning "Captain Hook," after its single-clawed hands and the literary character) is a monotypic genus of alvarezsaurid theropod which includes a single species, Trierarchuncus prairiensis, which is known from fossils found in deposits of the Hell Creek Formation in Montana. It is the youngest known alvarezsaurid and one of the last non-avian dinosaurs, going extinct during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, which occurred approximately 66 million years ago.
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Cryolophosaurus was the second dinosaur, and first theropod, to be discovered in Antarctica. It was discovered after Antarctopelta, but named earlier. Skeletal mount in front view In 1991, both Hammer and the Ohio State University geologist David Elliot excavated separate outcrops near Beardmore Glacier, sharing logistical expenses. Elliot's team first came across the remains of Cryolophosaurus in a rock formation around the altitude of high and about from the South Pole.
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"Rahiolisaurus gujaratensis, n. gen. n. sp., A New Abelisaurid Theropod from the Late Cretaceous of India" in: Saswati Bandyopadhyay (ed.): New Aspects of Mesozoic Biodiversity. Springer Berlin / Heidelberg. pp. 45–62. . . Abelisaurids typically had four fingers, short arms, and, to compensate, a heavily- constructed head which was the primary tool for hunting; however, the skull was short, they probably had modest jaw musculature, and the teeth were short.
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The Calcare di Bari (Italian for Bari Limestone) is a Cretaceous (Valanginian to early Turonian, spanning approximately 45 million years) geologic formation in Apulia, southeastern Italy.Calcare di Bari The formation comprises micritic limestones, in places karstified and dolomitized. Rudists and fossil ankylosaur, sauropod and theropod tracks have been reported from the thick formation that was deposited in an inner carbonate platform environment towards the top dominated by rudist reefs.
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The second theory for tail club function is for defense against predators. It has been postulated that the club would be most effective against the metatarsals of an attacking theropod. The bones that form cranial ornamentation have physiological costs, and so would be inefficient to produce merely for protection against predation. The theory has therefore been posed that these wedge-shaped osteoderms could support a partly sexually selected interpretation.
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Both Triassic amphibians and reptiles left behind footprints near what is now the Fall Creek Post Office. During the Late Jurassic deposition of the sediments now known as the Morrison Formation, both sauropods and theropods left behind footprints. Only two large tracksites of fossil footprints are known from the Morrison Formation and both of them are located in Colorado. A tracksite called Rancho del Rio preserves both sauropod and theropod tracks.
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Cross section of a typical theropod dinosaur tooth in side view. All dinosaur teeth possess the same tissue types but can differ in their appearance. Various major groups of dinosaurs have been examined through histology, these include the carnivorous theropods and herbivorous groups such as the sauropods, hadrosaurs and ceratopsians. Listed below are some of the dental anatomy that has been identified through histology and interpretations on their significance.
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Owen assigns other bones to Palaeosaurus, which would later be re- classified to the prosauropod dinosaur Thecodontosaurus. Contrary to Owen, in 1870, Thomas Henry Huxley described both Thecodontosaurus and Palaeosaurus as dinosaurs for the first time. He considered Palaeosaurus platyodon to be synonymous with Thecodontosaurus antiquus, most likely due to the Thecodontosaurus bones that Owen assigned to the former genus. However, Huxley regarded P. cylindrodon as an unrelated carnivorous theropod.
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The holotype of Neovenator salerii had many pathologies. The authors of the genus list them as "midcaudal vertebrae fusions, healed fractures of mid-caudal vertebra transverse processes; osteophytes affecting pedal phalanges, healed gastralia rib fractures, some forming false joints... [and] scapula fracture."Molnar, R. E., 2001, Theropod paleopathology: a literature survey: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, p. 337-363.
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Carnotaurus was a highly specialized theropod, as seen especially in characteristics of the skull, the vertebrae and the forelimbs. The pelvis and hindlimbs, on the other hand, remained relatively conservative, resembling those of the more basal Ceratosaurus. Both the pelvis and hindlimb bones were long and slender. The left thigh bone of the individual measures 103 cm in length, but shows an average diameter of only 11 cm.
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Jiangxisaurus is an extinct genus of oviraptorid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Nanxiong Formation of southern China. It was similar to Heyuannia, but with more strongly curved anterior claws and a thinner, frailer mandible. This find is paleontologically significant because it contributes to current knowledge about the paleogeographical distribution of oviraptorids in southern China. It was most likely a herbivorus animal along with its close relatives Nankangia and Ganzhousaurus.
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Replica of theropod footprints attributed to Megalosaurus The quarries at Stonesfield, which were worked until 1911, continued to produce Megalosaurus bucklandii fossils, mostly single bones from the pelvis and hindlimbs. Vertebrae and skull bones are rare. In 2010, Roger Benson counted a total of 103 specimens from the Stonesfield Slate, from a minimum of seven individuals. It has been contentious whether this material represents just a single taxon.
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Unusual theropod dinosaur teeth from the Upper Jurassic of Phu Wiang, northeastern Thailand. Rev. Paleobiol. 5: 217-220. Suteethorn has been head of the Thai dinosaur research team since 1992 and continues to find new dig sites, which are subject to cataloguing and routine checks from his team, although excavation has not begun in many of them. In 2006 Suteethorn was given the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology's Skinner Award.
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Size of Saltriovenator when scaled by material known from closely related Ceratosaurus The precise systematic position of Saltriovenator has been traditionally uncertain, but it is known to be a theropod.The Theropod DatabaseMatthew T. Carrano, Roger B. J. Benson, Scott D. Sampson: The phylogeny of Tetanurae (Dinosauria: Theropoda). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. Bd. 10, Nr. 2, 2012 Dal Sasso originally referred it to the TetanuraeCristiano Dal Sasso: Dinosauri italiani.
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As it was, Heilmann's conclusion was so persuasive that it forestalled further debate on the subject even in the face of additional conflicting evidence. In 1936, paleontologist Charles Lewis Camp described a new theropod from the Jurassic of North America, Segisaurus. Like Oviraptor, Segisaurus had an unmistakable clavicle,Camp (1936) pp. 39–56. but unlike Oviraptor, it was also plainly identified as being such in the paper that described it.
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The Ukureyskaya Formation, also referred to as the Ukurey Formation is a geological formation made up of Middle Jurassic and Late Jurassic layers. It covers large areas around Kulinda. The formation is where the type specimen fossils of Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus were found, alongside a single tooth from a medium-sized theropod of unknown affiliations and other indeterminate ornithschians."The Kulinda fossil site", University of Bristol Palaeobiology Research Group.
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Typically for a theropod, Albertosaurus was bipedal and balanced the heavy head and torso with a long tail. However, tyrannosaurid forelimbs were extremely small for their body size and retained only two digits. The hind limbs were long and ended in a four-toed foot. The first digit, called the hallux, was short and only the other three contacted the ground, with the third (middle) digit longer than the rest.
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Carnotaurus is a genus of large theropod dinosaur that lived in South America during the Late Cretaceous period, between about 72 and 69.9 million years ago. The only species is Carnotaurus sastrei. Known from a single well- preserved skeleton, it is one of the best-understood theropods from the Southern Hemisphere. The skeleton, found in 1984, was uncovered in the Chubut Province of Argentina from rocks of the La Colonia Formation.
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Carnotaurus is a derived member of the Abelisauridae, a group of large theropods that occupied the large predatorial niche in the southern landmasses of Gondwana during the late Cretaceous. The phylogenetic relations of Carnotaurus are uncertain; it might have been closer to either Majungasaurus or Aucasaurus. Carnotaurus was a lightly built, bipedal predator, measuring in length and weighing at least . As a theropod, Carnotaurus was highly specialized and distinctive.
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Fossil tracks can be informative about theropod pathologies but apparently pathological traits may be due to unusual behaviors. Sandstone stratum dating to the Norian in southern Wales preserves tracks of an individual with a deformed digit III attribute to the ichnogenus Anchisauripus. The distal end of the digit was consistently flexed. However, this apparent pathology could be caused by the animal rotating the tip of that digit when lifting the foot.
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While Stenaulorhynchus is the dominant vertebrate in the Manda beds, they also included a Dicynodont and vertebrae from an unidentified Theropod. The specimens weren’t all correctly labeled since bones from different localities fit together. More surprisingly, a coprolite was mislabeled as a maxillary fragment. Haughton also described a species which he named Stenaulorhynchus major, which he said differed primarily in size, based on a distal left and right humerus fragments.
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The type species is Herbstosaurus pigmaeus. The genus name honours Herbst and connects his name to Greek sauros, "lizard", a usual element in the name of dinosaurs — Casamiquela assumed the new genus was a theropod dinosaur. The specific name is derived from Greek pygmaios, "dwarf": it was thought the form presented a small Compsognathus-like coelurosaurian belonging to the Coeluridae and one of the smallest dinosaurs then known.
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Hulsanpes (meaning Khulsan foot) is a genus of sawbill-like halszkaraptorine theropod dinosaurs that lived during the Late Cretaceous in what is now the Barun Goyot Formation of Mongolia, about 75-72 million years ago. The remains were found in 1970 and formally described in 1982 by Halszka Osmólska noting that the genus is represented by an immature individual. Hulsanpes represents the first record from the relatively new erected group Halszkaraptorinae.
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In 1970, two of the five Albertosaurus sarcophagus specimens with humeri were reported by Dale Russel as having pathological damage to them.Molnar, R. E., 2001, Theropod paleopathology: a literature survey: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, p. 337–363. In 2010, the health of the Dry Island Albertosaurus assembly was reported upon. Most specimens showed no sign of disease.
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Albertosaurus (; meaning "Alberta lizard") is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaurs that lived in western North America during the Late Cretaceous Period, about 70 million years ago. The type species, A. sarcophagus, was apparently restricted in range to the modern-day Canadian province of Alberta, after which the genus is named, although an indeterminate species ("cf. Albertosaurus sp.") has been discovered in the Corral de Enmedio and Packard Formations in Mexico.
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Albertosaurus shared a similar body appearance with all other tyrannosaurids. Typically for a theropod, Albertosaurus was bipedal and balanced the heavy head and torso with a long tail. However, tyrannosaurid forelimbs were extremely small for their body size and retained only two digits. The hind limbs were long and ended in a four-toed foot on which the first digit, called the hallux, was short and did not reach the ground.
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This formation is similar in age to the Lourinhã Formation in Portugal and the Tendaguru Formation in Tanzania. Ischium of an Apatosaurus showing bite marks from a large theropod Apatosaurus was the second most common sauropod in the Morrison Formation ecosystem, after Camarasaurus. Apatosaurus may have been more solitary than other Morrison Formation dinosaurs. Fossils of the genus have only been found in the upper levels of the formation.
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Life restoration Duriavenator is a genus of theropod dinosaur described in 2008 by Roger Benson; its finds were excavated in England. The only named species in the genus is Duriavenator hesperis, formerly known as Megalosaurus hesperis. Duriavenator lived during the Bajocian stage, around 170 million years ago, making it one of the oldest-known Tetanurae. The genus name combines the Latin name of Dorset, Duria, with Latin for "hunter", venator.
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It had 64 vertebrae in its tail. This high number made its tail the longest relative to body length of any theropod. Its hands were long compared to its arms, about 84% to 91% of the length of the rest of the arm (humerus and radius), and half the length of the foot. The first and second digits were about the same length, with a large claw on the first digit.
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Gualicho (named in reference to the gualichu) is a genus of theropod dinosaur. The type species is Gualicho shinyae. Gualicho lived in what is now northern Patagonia, on what was then a South American island continent split off from the supercontinent Gondwana. The fossils were found in the Huincul Formation, dating to the late Cenomanian-early Turonian age of the upper Cretaceous Period, around 93 million years ago.
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Poposauridae is a family of large carnivorous archosaurs which lived alongside dinosaurs during the Late Triassic. They were around long. Poposaurids are known from fossil remains from North and South America. While originally believed to be theropod dinosaurs (they mirrored the theropods in a number of respects, such as features of the skull and bipedal locomotion), cladistic analysis has shown them to be more closely related to crocodiles.
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The same sediments in which Compsognathus have been preserved also contain fossils of a number of marine animals such as fish, crustaceans, echinoderms and marine mollusks, confirming the coastal habitat of this theropod. No other dinosaur has been found in association with Compsognathus, indicating that these little dinosaurs might in fact have been the top land predator in these islands.Weishampel, D.B., Dodson, P., Oslmolska, H. (2004). The Dinosauria (Second ed.).
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Protoceratops gained notoriety as the supposed parent of the first fossil dinosaur eggs known to science. One of these supposed Protoceratops nests preserved the skeleton of a new kind of theropod dinosaur, Oviraptor. It was thought to have been preserved after being killed in the act of raiding the Protoceratops nest. This narrative would last until the 1990s, when the "Protoceratops" eggs were determined to belong to Oviraptor itself.
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Contributions à l'étude des poissons et des reptiles du Jurassique et du Crétacé, Mémoires et Communications du Service géologique du Portugal pp. 1–46 In 1928 Baron Franz Nopcsa recognised the fossil to be the vertebra of a theropod not an ornithopod. He decided to name it as the genus Teinurosaurus. The name is derived from Greek teinein, "to stretch", and oura, "tail", referring to the elongated form.
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Currie, P.J., Rigby, Jr., J.K., and Sloan, R.E., 1990, "Theropod teeth from the Judith River Formation of southern Alberta, Canada", pp. 107–125 in: K. Carpenter and P. J. Currie (eds.), Dinosaur Systematics: Perspectives and Approaches. Cambridge University Press, New York One study, by Sunny Hwang, showed that the tooth enamel is identical to that found in Byronosaurus, a troodontid known from juveniles with serration-less teeth.Hwang, S.H. 2005.
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Originally, Lydekker found that Sarcolestes represented a theropod. He cited lack of a predentary as excluding the taxon from ornithopods, and tooth morphology as excluding it from sauropods. Within theropods, it was found to be sufficiently different from one main groups of theropods including Coelurus, Calamosaurus, and Compsognathus, and the megalosaurids including Megalosaurus. Thus, Lydekker placed it in Thecodontosauridae, a group of theropods (now placed in sauropodomorpha) including Thecodontosaurus.
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Alioramus (; meaning 'different branch') is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous period of Asia. The type species, It currently contains two species. A. remotus is known from a partial skull and three foot bones recovered from the Mongolian Nemegt Formation, which was deposited in a humid floodplain about 70 million years ago. These remains were named and described by Soviet paleontologist Sergei Kurzanov in 1976.
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Frontal bone and tooth The taxon is notable for its distinct, functionally monodactyl foot anatomy, where the singularly large third digit would have borne most of the weight while walking. Based on the proportions of its holotype remains (MPCO.V 0065d), V. paranaensis was a small theropod, with an estimated body length of 1 to 1.5 meters. This makes it comparable in size to Noasaurus leali and Masiakasaurus knopfleri.
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Zupaysaurus was classified as the earliest known tetanuran theropod due to several features of its skull, dentition, and hindlimb. However, several features typical of more basal theropods were also noted by the original authors. Analyses by Carano (2005), Tykoski (2005), and Ezcurra and Novas (2005) have classified Zupaysaurus as a coelophysoid related to Segisaurus and probably Liliensternus, though more basal than Coelophysis.Carrano, M.T., Hutchinson, J.R., & Sampson, S.D. 2005.
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Carnosauria). Palaeontographica Abteilung A 250(4-6):155-172 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/M. Carrano] with the original teeth coming from a non-dinosaurian ornithosuchian (or possibly an early theropod), and later-referred post- cranial prosauropod remains (which were renamed Camelotia).Go to Camelotia for more information The only sufficient remains attributable to Avalonianus are several now lost fossil teeth from the chimera that were referred to Archosauria.
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It consists of a very fragmentary skeleton including teeth, skull elements, two vertebrae, ribs, tail elements and a part of the hand. Also three paratypes were assigned: CMN 12343, CMN 12354, and UA 5283, all frontals.H.-D. Sues, 1978, "A new small theropod dinosaur from the Judith River Formation (Campanian) of Alberta Canada", Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 62: 381-400 Two more complete and larger partial skeletons (RTMP 88.121.
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Kryptops is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Niger. It is known from a partial skeleton found at the Gadoufaoua locality in the western Ténéré Desert, in rocks of the Aptian-Albian age Elrhaz Formation. This dinosaur was described by paleontologists Paul Sereno and Stephen Brusatte in 2008. The genus name means "covered face", in reference to evidence that the face bore a tightly-adhering covering.
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In addition to these unique features, Incisivosaurus shared many traits with more typical oviraptorosaurs, allowing its classification with that group. Several features, including its numerous teeth (most advanced oviraptorids were toothless), show that it was a primitive member of the group, and several features of the skull even support a relationship with the therizinosaurs, another theropod group that was probably herbivorous.Osmolska, H., Currie, P. J., and Barsbold, R. (2004).
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His early work was also notable for reclassifying and naming the English theropod dinosaurs Eustreptospondylus and Metriacanthosaurus. In the late 1960s Walker studied the origin of crocodilians and of birds, which became controversial in 1972 with his publication of a paper in Nature arguing for a close relationship between sphenosuchian crocodylomorphs and birds. He later accepted that this hypothesis might be incorrect in a 1985 paper on Archaeopteryx.
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The multiple clutches indicate that some therizinosaurs were colonial nesters, like hadrosaurs, prosauropods, titanosaurs, and birds, and the fact that they were found in a single stratigraphic layer suggests the dinosaurs nested at the site on a single occasion, and therefore did not exhibit site fidelity. The discovery was the first record of colonially nesting non-avian theropods from Asia, as well as the largest known non-avian theropod colony.
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Liliensternus is an extinct genus of basal neotheropod dinosaur that lived approximately 210 million years ago during the latter part of the Triassic Period in what is now Germany. Liliensternus was a moderate-sized, bipedal, ground-dwelling carnivore, that could grow up to long. It is the best represented Triassic theropod from Europe and one of the largest known.Rauhut, O.M.W. & A. Hungerbuhler, 1998, "A review of European Triassic theropods".
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A modern description was published in 2008 by Rudyard Sadleir e.a.R. Sadleir, P.M. Barrett and H.P. Powell, 2008, The anatomy and systematics of Eustreptospondylus oxoniensis, a theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Oxfordshire, England, Monograph of the Palaeontological Society, 160(627) 82 pp In 1964, Walker also named a second species of Eustreptospondylus: Eustreptospondylus divesensis, based on a French find. In 1977 this became the separate genus Piveteausaurus.
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The creature escapes, followed by the lions; two of whom will be killed. It is then identified by Connor Temple, who was dealing with Velociraptors and giant crocodilians, and observed attacking hippos; it bites one but the hippo does not sustain much damage. The Eustreptospondylus then attacks the team once more, but a Postosuchus interferes and battles the dinosaur, killing it. The remains of the theropod are found later.
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1030 Although the hand's third ungual (claw bone) was not preserved, extrapolation from the closest relatives of Ornitholestes indicates that it was probably shorter than the first two. Ornitholestes is often portrayed as a fast, long-legged theropod, but its lower limb bones were fairly short.Paul (1988a), p. 306 Osborn (1917) calculated that the, missing, tibia (shin bone) was only about 70.6% as long as the femur (thigh bone).
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"Non-avian theropod dinosaurs from the early Late Cretaceous of Central Europe." Cretaceous Research 31: 304-320, The type species is Pneumatoraptor fodori, named for Géza Fodor, who provided funding for the dig. The genus name Pneumatoraptor refers to the pneumaticity of the bone, the hollow spaces that would have been filled with air sacs in life. The holotype specimen is identified by the catalog number MTM V.2008.38.1.
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Urbacodon ("URBAC tooth") is a genus of troodontid dinosaur, a type of small carnivore. It lived in Uzbekistan during the early Late Cretaceous Period, about 95 million years ago. On 9 September 2004, a lower jaw of a small theropod was uncovered by Anton Sergeevich Rezwiy near Itemir in the IT-01 quarry. The type species, Urbacodon itemirensis, was named by Alexandr Averianov and Hans-Dieter Sues in 2007.
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The fine preservation of the distal digits and small, parallel striations (interpreted as drag marks) within Bellatoripes tracks suggests that the track-makers partially withdrew their feet backwards before stepping forward, leaving the overlying sediment undisturbed. This contrasts with what is typically seen in other theropod footprints, where the tips of the digits drag as they are pulled forward, but is similar to the observed movements of ostrich feet during locomotion.
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Halticosaurus (pron.:"HAL-tick-oh-SORE-us") is a dubious genus of theropod dinosaur from the late Triassic period (middle Norian stage, around 208 million years ago). It is known from a single fragmentary fossil specimen of the species H. longotarsus, found in the Middle Stubensandstein formation of what is present-day Germany. The only known specimen was poorly preserved and may have been put together from bones of unrelated animals.
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Braincase Smok was found in a locality near Lisowice village that is latest Norian to early Rhaetian in age. This area was known to contain Triassic fossils since it was formally described in 2008. The first material of Smok, the jawbone and fragments of the skull, was discovered in 2007. It was first described in 2008 as a theropod dinosaur based on features in its braincase and frontal bone.
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Gastralia are also present in a variety of extinct animals, including theropod and prosauropod dinosaurs, pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, champsosaurs and some primitive pelycosaurs. In dinosaurs, the elements articulate with each other in a sort of zig-zag along the midline and may have aided in respiration. Although they were thought to be present in some basal ornithischian dinosaurs, and sauropods (most notably Eobrontosaurus), the perceived occurrences have been shown to be mistaken.
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In the Dinosaur Park Formation, small theropods are rare due to the tendency of their thin-walled bones to be broken or poorly preserved. Small bones of small theropods that were preyed upon by larger ones may have been swallowed whole and digested. In this context, the discovery of a small theropod dinosaur with preserved tooth marks was especially valuable. Possible indeterminate avimimid remains are known from the formation.
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"Beelemodon" is the informal name given to an undescribed theropod genus from the Late Jurassic, possibly belonging to a coelurosaur. The fossils include two teeth found in Wyoming, United States. The name appeared in print in 1997, when paleontologist Robert T. Bakker mentioned it in a symposium for the Academy of Natural Sciences.Bakker, R. Raptor family values: Allosaur parents brought great carcasses into their lair to feed their young.
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Other types of fossil eggs from the formation include Reticuoolithus, Porituberoolithus, Prismatoolithus, Spheroolithus, and Krokolithes. Other Continuoolithus specimens, not classified into an oospecies, are known from the late Campanian of the Fruitland Formation (representing a well-drained river delta plain) in New Mexico, along with Porituberoolithus, Prismatoolithus, indeterminate theropod eggshells, Testudoolithus, and krokolithids. Also, fragments of C. cf. canadensis are known from the late Maastrichtian Willow Creek Formation in Alberta.
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"Vitakrisaurus" is a genus of noasaurid theropod dinosaurs represented by only one known species, "Vitakrisaurus saraiki", which is the intended type species. It lived in the late Cretaceous period, approximately 70 million years ago, during the Maastrichtian, in what is today the Indian subcontinent. Its fossils were found in Pakistan's Vitraki Formation. The holotype specimen, MSM-303-2 is a right foot with a seemingly tridactyl form and robust phalanges.
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The fossils have been preserved three-dimensionally, not strongly compressed on a slab. In 2014, the wrist of one specimen was described, IVPP V14009, an adult.Xing Xu, Fenglu Han & Qi Zhao, 2014, "Homologies and homeotic transformation of the theropod ‘semilunate’ carpal", Scientific Reports 4, Article number: 6042 Doi:10.1038/srep06042 In 2018, PMOL-AD00102, consisting of a partial skull and mandibles, and six cervical vertebrae, was referred to the taxon.
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Eodromaeus (meaning "dawn runner") was a genus of basal theropod dinosaur known from the Late Triassic (Carnian) Valle de la Luna Member of the Ischigualasto Formation of the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin in northwestern Argentina.Martínez et al., 2011 It has been cited by Sereno as resembling a supposed common ancestor to all dinosaurs, the "Eve" of the dinosaurs.Bowdler N, "'Dawn runner casts light on birth of the dinosaurs", www.bbc.co.
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Sahitysuchus skull All sebecosuchians were carnivorous and terrestrial. The nares open at the very tip of the snout, suggesting that it lived on land rather than in water (in aquatic crocodyliforms, the nares usually open dorsally on top of the snout). The snout itself is laterally compressed, a feature shared with other terrestrial reptiles such as theropod dinosaurs. The eye sockets are opened laterally rather than dorsally as in aquatic crocodyliforms.
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The neural arches of the vertebrae are firmly co−ossified to the centra. There are no anatomically repeated elements, and the bones correspond presumably to a single individual. The relative size of the bones suggests a medium−sized individual whose total length was approximately . In addition, several vertebral centra and femur fragments from a small ornithopod, two spinosaurid theropod vertebrae and a crocodile tooth were recovered from the site.
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The Qigu Formation is a Late Jurassic (Oxfordian) geologic formation in the Southern Junggar Basin in China. Indeterminate Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation, including theropod teeth and a fibula. a stegosaur dorsal vertebra and a Eusauropod tooth. Xinjiangtitan was erroneously thought to be from this formation, but it is actually from the older Qiketai Formation, which is in a different basin.
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Because of the lack of material, its exact taxonomic placement is uncertain, although its discoverer Joan Wiffen considered it possibly a megalosaurid, at the time a poorly defined group of unspecialized large carnivorous dinosaurs. The vertebra was described by Molnar (1981), and was considered an indeterminate theropod by Agnolin et al. (2010).Molnar,R.E.1981.AdinosaurfromNewZealand.Pp.91–96in M.M.Cresswell&P.Vella;(eds)GondwanaFive:Proceeding of the Fifth International Gondwanan Symposium. Wellington.
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This and other scenes reflected then-recent theories of bird evolution encouraged by the movie's scientific advisor, the palaeontologist John R. Horner, ideas which were still contentious at the time. Despite such theories, Gallimimus and other dinosaurs of the movie were depicted without feathers, in part because it was unknown at the time how widespread these were among the group. It has been claimed that the Lark Quarry tracks (one of the world's largest concentrations of dinosaur tracks) in Queensland, Australia, served as inspiration and "scientific underpinning" for the Gallimimus stampede scene in Jurassic Park; these tracks were initially interpreted as representing a dinosaur stampede caused by the arrival of a theropod predator. The idea that the tracks represent a stampede has since been contested (the "theropod" may instead have been a herbivore similar to Muttaburrasaurus), and a consultant to Jurassic Park has denied the tracks served as inspiration for the movie.
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Map showing the Nipple Butte area (★) of Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, where Lythronax was found in the Wahweap Formation In 2009, Scott Richardson of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was searching for fossils with a co-worker in the Wahweap Formation of the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, southern Utah, when they came across a leg and of a theropod dinosaur in the Nipple Butte area. Richardson contacted a team of paleontologists at the University of Utah, who were excited but initially skeptical, since theropod fossils had not been discovered in the area before. They were sent a photo of the nasal bone from which they identified it as belonging to a tyrannosaur, which was likely a new species because it came from an age with no known members of that group. The fossil remains were carefully excavated over a year by a joint team from the BLM and the Natural History Museum of Utah (UMNH).
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Snouts of Cristatusaurus (A-C), Suchomimus (D-I), and Baryonyx (J-L) In their original description, Charig and Milner found Baryonyx unique enough to warrant a new family of theropod dinosaurs: Baryonychidae. They found Baryonyx to be unlike any other theropod group, and considered the possibility that it was a thecodont (a grouping of early archosaurs now considered unnatural), due to having apparently primitive features, but noted that the articulation of the maxilla and premaxilla was similar to that in Dilophosaurus. They also noted that the two snouts from Niger (which later became the basis of Cristatusaurus), assigned to the family Spinosauridae by Taquet in 1984, appeared almost identical to that of Baryonyx and they referred them to Baryonychidae instead. In 1988, the American palaeontologist Gregory S. Paul agreed with Taquet that Spinosaurus, described in 1915 based on fragmentary remains from Egypt that were destroyed in World War II, and Baryonyx were similar and (due to their kinked snouts) possibly late-surviving dilophosaurs.
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Possible Variraptor bones Between 1992 and 1995 amateur paleontologists Patrick Méchin and Annie Méchin- Salessy uncovered the remains of a small theropod in the Grès à Reptiles Formation (Campanian-Maastrichtian) at La Bastide Neuve, near Fox-Amphoux. The first finds were in 1992 assigned to the dubious theropod genus Elopteryx.Le Loeuff, J., Buffetaut, E., Mechin, P., Mechin-Salessy, A., 1992, "The first record of dromaeosaurid dinosaurs (Saurischia, Theropoda) in the Maastrichtian of southern Europe: palaeobiogeographical implications", Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 163: 337–343 A second article, in 1997, concluded they represented a new species.Eric Buffetaut, Jean Le Loeuff, Lionel Cavin, Sylvain Duffaud, Emmanuel Gheerbrant, Yves Laurent, Michel Martin, Jean-Claude Rage, Haiyan Tong & Denis Vasse, 1997, "Les vertébrés continentaux du Crétacé supérieur du Sud de la France: un aperçu sur des découvertes récentes", Geobios 30 Supplement 1, 1997: 101-108 In 1998 this was named by Jean Le Loeuff and Eric Buffetaut as the type species Variraptor mechinorum.
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In 1984, the premaxilla specimens MNHN GDF 365 and 366 were first described in detail by Taquet, where he referred them to an unnamed new theropod within the family Spinosauridae, because of shared characteristics with the holotype dentary of Spinosaurus aegyptiacus. At the time Taquet believed these specimens belonged to the creature's lower jaw, since no theropod was known then with over five teeth in the premaxilla, while Cristatusaurus had seven. This was later proven incorrect in 1996 by Brazilian paleontologists Alexander Kellner and Diogenes Campos, in light of the discoveries of other spinosaurids preserving upper jaw tips with over five teeth. Referred claw, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris In a 1986 publication, British paleontologists Alan Charig and Angela Milner considered Taquet's jaw elements nearly indistinguishable from those of the spinosaurid Baryonyx walkeri; which they were describing on the basis of a partial skeleton from the Barremian of the Weald Clay Formation, England.
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Size comparison of the native torvosaur (blue) and arriving theropod (green) Dinosaur footprints preserved at the Langenberg Quarry display a possible reason for the extinction of Europasaurus, and potentially other insular dwarfs present on the islands of the region. The footprints are located above the deposit of Europasaurus individuals, which shows that at least 35,000 years after that deposit there was a drop in sea level which allowed for a faunal overturn. The inhabiting theropods of the island, that coexisted with Europasaurus, would have been about , but the theropods that arrived over the land bridge preserve footprints up to , which indicates a body size between if reconstructed as an allosaurian. It was suggested by the describers of these tracks (Jens Lallensack and colleagues), that these theropod taxa likely made the specialized dwarf fauna extinct, and the bed from which the footprints originated (Langenberg bed 92) is probably the youngest in which Europasaurus is present.
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Another estimation gave a length of 9.3 meters (30.5 feet) and a weight of 3.6 tonnes (~4 short tons). Pycnonemosaurus is the best known abelisaurid from Brazil, where most theropod material is presently rare besides preserved teeth and footprints. Even though only a few species are known from Brazil, it is one of the most informative countries concerning the Lower Cretaceous period. Pycnonemosaurus was a predator, preying on mid-sized sauropodomorphs, small crocodylomorphs, and dromaeosaurs.
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The prefrontal bone is a very small bone near the top of the skull, which is lost in many groups of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs and is completely absent in their modern descendants, the birds. Conversely, a well developed prefrontal is considered to be a primitive feature in dinosaurs. The prefrontal makes contact with several other bones in the skull. The anterior part of the bone articulates with the nasal bone and the lacrimal bone.
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Bulletin of the Geological Society of China 20(3-4):235-239 L. yini is tentatively classified as a theropod dinosaur by some allied to ceratosaurs, by others a coelurosaur. Its skull is rather robust for its size though the teeth were described by the author as typically theropodan. It may, however, be a crurotarsan or a primitive crocodilian.Theropod Database Blog post about Lukousaurus Whatever Lukousaurus was, it was definitely an archosauromorph.
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The first fossil bones to be identified as those of a dinosaur were found early in the 19th century near Stonesfield. They are part of the skeleton of a bipedal carnivore, and in 1824 the pioneering palaeontologist William Buckland named it Megalosaurus. The bones are now displayed in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Other reptiles found at Stonesfield include the crocodile Steneosaurus, pterosaur Rhamphocephalus and the type specimen of the theropod genus Iliosuchus.
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M.T. Carrano and S.D. Sampson, 2008, "The phylogeny of Ceratosauria (Dinosauria: Theropoda)", Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 6(2): 183-236 The type material has been lost, lacking a known inventory number, making it difficult to test the several hypotheses. The taxon is today commonly seen as a nomen dubium.F.E. Novas, S. Chatterjee, D.K. Rudra and P.M. Datta, 2010, "Rahiolisaurus gujaratensis, n. gen. n. sp., a new abelisaurid theropod from the Late Cretaceous of India".
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Kinnareemimus is a genus of ornithomimosaurian theropod dinosaur from Thailand. It is known only from incomplete remains including vertebrae, partial pubic bones, metatarsals, and an incomplete fibula. The third metatarsal exhibits a distinctive lateral "pinching", known as the "arctometarsalian" condition, variations of which are found in ornithomimosaurs, tyrannosauroids, troodontids, and caenagnathids. Its remains were collected from the Early Cretaceous Sao Khua Formation, dating to the Barremian stage, at Phu Wiang, Khon Kaen Province.
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Smilesaurus ferox has the proportionally longest canines of any gorgonopsian. Gorgonopsians were likely active predators. The rubidgeines have an especially built skull among gorgonopsians, comparable to those of enormous macropredators which use their skulls as their primary weapon, such as mosasaurs or some theropod dinosaurs. Less robust gorgonopsians with longer canines and much weaker bite, such as Smilesaurus or Inostrancevia, instead probably used their canines for slashing, much more similar to sabre-toothed cats.
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Jinbeisaurus (meaning "northern Shanxi Province lizard" after Shanxi Province in China) is a genus of tyrannosauroid dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous Huiquanpu Formation from Shanxi Province in China. The type and only species is Jinbeisaurus wangi. It is the first non-avian theropod known from Shanxi. Analysis of the specimen indicates that Jinbeisaurus is more derived than related tyrannosauroids such as Xiongguanlong and phylogenetically more advanced than Suskityrannus, to which it has been compared.
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The diapsids (a subgroup of the sauropsids) began to diversify during the Triassic, giving rise to the turtles, crocodiles, and dinosaurs. In the Jurassic, lizards developed from other diapsids. In the Cretaceous, snakes developed from lizards and modern birds branched from a group of theropod dinosaurs. By the late Mesozoic, the groups of large, primitive tetrapod that first appeared during the Paleozoic such as temnospondyls and amniote-like tetrapods had gone extinct.
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Unfortunately, the braincase of Neimongosaurus has not been described nor illustrated. The braincases are directed to the bottom, co- ossified with well-developed sideways oriented paroccipital projections, highly pneumatized and had a prominent central foramen. Much of the nerves and canals can be traced on the respective specimens of Erlikosaurus and Nothronychus, allowing the rendering of 3D endrocranial casts. The dentition is another featured trait in therizinosaurids which differs from all theropod groups.
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An Archaeopteryx specimen in Berlin. The main points to the transition from reptile to bird are the evolution from scales to feathers, the evolution of the beak (although independently evolved in other organisms), the hallofication of bones, development of flight, and warm-bloodedness. The evolution of birds is thought to have begun in the Jurassic Period, with the earliest birds derived from theropod dinosaurs. Birds are categorized as a biological class, Aves.
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Mounted cast skull from the collection of the Children's Museum of Indianapolis The type specimen of Gastonia burgei (CEUM 1307) was discovered in a bonebed of the lower Cedar Mountain Formation in Grand County, Utah. The bonebed contained the fossil remains of other Gastonia, as well as an iguanodontid and the type specimen of a large carnivorous theropod, Utahraptor. Gastonia is among the most common dinosaur fossils in the Cedar Mountain Formation.Kirkland, J.I. (1998).
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Serviços Geológicos de Portugal, Memória (Nova Série) 22:7-85 based on fragmentary jaw remains and isolated teeth found from the Kimmeridgean-age Guimarota Formation in Leiria . The species was later regarded as a nomen dubium by several authors of papers regarding Lisboasaurus due to the incomplete nature of the known remains associated with the species.Milner, A. R. and Evans, S. E. (1991). The Upper Jurassic diapsid Lisboasaurus estesi — a maniraptoran theropod.
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Size compared with a human Anchiornis huxleyi was a small, bipedal theropod dinosaur with a triangular skull bearing several details in common with dromaeosaurids, troodontids, and primitive avialans. Like other early paravians, Anchiornis was small, about the size of a crow. It had long, wing-bearing arms, long legs, and a long tail. Like all paravians, it was covered in feathers, though it also had scales on certain parts of the body.
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Morton 36 Charles R. Knight's Tyrannosaurus in the American Museum of Natural History, on which the large theropod of the film was basedOrville Goldner, George E Turner (1975). Making of King Kong: The Story Behind a Film Classic. . See also Spawn of Skull Island (2002). The dinosaurs were made by Delgado in the same fashion as Kong and based on Charles R. Knight's murals in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
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Being a tooth- taxon, the true affinities of Euronychodon are hard to determine. The teeth are similar to the better-known Paronychodon, which may be a senior synonym. Paronychodon was originally described as similar to Zapsalis, another tooth taxon often considered synonymous with Richardoestesia (a possible dromaeosaurid). It later had many different identifications: as a coelurid, an ornithomimosaur, a dromaeosaurid, an archaeopterygid and a troodontid — though it could also be another kind of coelurosaurian theropod.
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They consist of two syntypes, GSI K27/614 and GSI K20/612, each being a partial distal caudal vertebra. A third distal tail vertebra, GSI K27/599, has been referred to the species. Jubbulpuria was a small predator, estimated to have been high, long, and weighing several kilograms. Jubbulpuria was originally classified by Huene as a coelurid dinosaur similar to but smaller than Coeluroides, another poorly known theropod from the Lameta Formation.
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Teratophoneus ("monstrous murderer"; Greek: teras, "monster" and phoneus, "murderer") is a genus of carnivorous tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur which lived during the late Cretaceous period (late Campanian age, about 77 to 76 million years ago) in what is now Utah, United States, containing a single known species, T. curriei. It is known from an incomplete skull and postcranial skeleton recovered from the Kaiparowits Formation. It was specifically named T. curriei in honor of Philip J. Currie.
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Smith et al. revised the length to . Its weight estimated at . Based on these length and weight estimates, Cryolophosaurus is currently the largest known Early Jurassic theropod. Smith et al. (2007b) and Benson et al. (2012) noted that the holotype individual probably represents a sub-adult, so adults could have been larger. In 2016 Molina-Pérez and Larramendi gave a larger estimation of 7.7 meters (25.3 ft) and 780 kg (1.720 lbs).
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Nothronychus were members of the Coelurosauria, the theropod group composed mainly by carnivorous dinosaurs. However, more specifically, Nothronychus form part of the sub-group Maniraptora, theropods which evolved into partial omnivores and, in the case of Nothronychus and their family, plant-eaters. Nothronychus mckinleyi was in 2001 assigned to the Therizinosauridae given the derived features of the genus. In 2010, Lindsay E. Zanno performed a large and comprehensive analysis of the Therizinosauria.
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Indiana University Press. pp. 327–329. Dinosaurs known from the Morrison include the theropods Ceratosaurus, Koparion, Stokesosaurus, Ornitholestes, Allosaurus and Torvosaurus, the sauropods Apatosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Camarasaurus, and Diplodocus, and the ornithischians Camptosaurus, Dryosaurus, Othnielia, Gargoyleosaurus and Stegosaurus. Diplodocus is commonly found at the same sites as Apatosaurus, Allosaurus, Camarasaurus, and Stegosaurus. Allosaurus accounted for 70 to 75% of theropod specimens and was at the top trophic level of the Morrison food web.
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Further research has found medullary bone in the theropod Allosaurus and the ornithopod Tenontosaurus. Because the line of dinosaurs that includes Allosaurus and Tyrannosaurus diverged from the line that led to Tenontosaurus very early in the evolution of dinosaurs, this suggests that dinosaurs in general produced medullary tissue. Medullary bone has been found in specimens of sub-adult size, which suggests that dinosaurs reached sexual maturity rather quickly for such large animals.
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The Lenape or Delaware people have lived in Maryland and told myths likely influenced by the theropod dinosaur tracks common in the area. They believed that in the early days of earth's history the land and sea were full of Monsters. The grandfather of these Monsters was the most terrifying Monster of all and menaced all living creatures. He was so huge that when he crossed the mountains he left footprints in solid rock.
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Grallator. The Lenape or Delaware people have lived in Delaware and told myths likely influenced by the theropod dinosaur tracks common in the area. They believed that in the early days of earth's history the land and sea were full of Monsters. The grandfather of these Monsters was the most terrifying Monster of all and menaced all living creatures. He was so huge that when he crossed the mountains he left footprints in solid rock.
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Prior to the cessation of digging at Quarry 5 in the middle of 1941, this quarry had attained impressive dimensions. Its walls were nine meters (30 feet) high and the breadth of the excavation wide. Other notable quarries excavated by the Stovall team include the eighth, which produced fossils of ornithopod and theropod dinosaurs as well as other reptiles like a new species of crocodilian, Cteniogenys, and turtles. Lungfish were also preserved there.
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South of Montana's sea was a coastal plain split by streams flowing west from areas of higher elevation to the east. This coastal plain was home to dinosaurs including the ornithopod Camptosaurus, the sauropods Apatosaurus and Diplodocus, and the theropod Allosaurus. These sediments deposited what is now known as the Morrison Formation. For thirty million years following the deposition of the Morrison Formation sediments in Montana were being eroded rather than deposited.
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Orkoraptor is a genus of medium-sized theropod dinosaur from the late Cretaceous Period of Argentina. It is known from incomplete fossil remains including parts of the skull, teeth, tail vertebrae, and a partial tibia. The specialized teeth resemble those of some maniraptoriform theropods, namely the deinonychosaurs and compsognathids. This and other anatomical features led the authors who described it (Novas, Ezcurra, and Lecuona) to suggest that it was a maniraptoran coelurosaur.
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