Evolution of the carnivorous dinosaurs during the Cretaceous: The evidence from Patagonia

Patagonia has yielded the most comprehensive fossil record of Cretaceous theropods from Gondwana, consisting of 31 nominal species belonging to singleton taxa and six families: Abelisauridae, Noasauridae, Carcharodontosauridae, Megaraptoridae nov. fam., Alvarezsauridae, and Unenlagiidae. They provide anatomical information that allows improved interpretation of theropods discovered in other regions of Gondwana. Abelisauroids are the best represented theropods in Patagonia. They underwent an evolutionary radiation documented from the Early Cretaceous through to the latest Cretaceous, and are represented by the clades Abelisauridae and Noasauridae. Patagonian carcharodontosaurids are known from three taxa (Tyrannotitan, Giganotosaurus and Mapusaurus), as well as from isolated teeth, collected from Aptian to Cenomanian beds. These allosauroids constituted the top predators during the mid-Cretaceous, during which gigantic titanosaur sauropods were the largest herbivores. Megaraptorans have become better documented in recent years with the discovery of more complete remains. Megaraptor, Aerosteon and Orkoraptor have been described from Cretaceous beds from Argentina, and these taxa exhibit close relationships with the Aptian genera Australovenator, from Australia, and Fukuiraptor, from Japan. The Gondwanan megaraptorans are gathered into the new family Megaraptoridae, and the Asiatic Fukuiraptor is recovered as the immediate sister taxon of this clade. Although megaraptorans have been recently interpreted as members of Allosauroidea, we present evidence that they are deeply nested within Coelurosauria. Moreover, anatomical information supports Megaraptora as more closely related to the Asiamerican Tyrannosauridae than thought. Megaraptorans improve our knowledge about the scarcely documented basal radiation of Gondwanan coelurosaurs and tyrannosauroids as a whole. Information at hand indicates that South America was a cradle for the evolutionary radiation for different coelurosaurian lineages, including some basal forms (e.g., Bicentenaria, Aniksosaurus), megaraptorans, alvarezsaurids less derived than those of Laurasia, and unenlagiids, revealing that Gondwanan coelurosaurs played sharply differing ecological roles, and that they were taxonomically as diverse as in the northern continents. The unenlagiids represent an endemic South American clade that has been recently found to be more closely related to birds than to dromaeosaurid theropods. Analysis of the theropod fossil record from Gondwana shows the highest peak of origination index occurred during the Aptian–Albian and a less intense one in the Campanian time spans. Additionally, peaks of extinction index are recognized for the Cenomanian and Turonian–Coniacian time spans. In comparison, the Laurasian pattern differs from that of Gondwana in the presence of an older extinction event during the Aptian–Albian time-span and a high origination rate during the Cenomanian time-bin. Both Laurasian and Gondwanan theropod records show a peak of origination rates during the Campanian.     

First record of a Cretaceous cheilostome bryozoan from Hokkaido, Japan

A small collection of recrystallised, encrusting colonies of a single species from the Mikasa Formation (lower Middle Cenomanian), represents the first record of cheilostome (malacostegan or anascan) bryozoans from Hokkaido, Japan.     

A New Lizard (Lepidosauria: Squamata) from the Upper Cretaceous of Henan, China

Funiusaurus luanchuanensis gen. et sp. nov. was described on the basis of an incomplete skull from the Upper Cretaceous Qiupa Formation of the Tantou Basin in Luanehuan County, Henan Province. It is the second representative of lizards known from Luanchuan and adds a new member to the Luanchuan Fauna. F. luanchuanensis is a small-sized lizard and systematically assigned to the Polyglyphanodontidae of the Teiioidea because of the presence of a caniniform tooth and an elongate posterior process of the postorbital. It is distinctive in that the heterodont dentition bears 19 teeth in both the upper and lower jaws, the 3^rd maxillary tooth is large and caniniform, the post-caniniform teeth in maxilla and those posterior to the 3^rd dentary tooth are chisel-like in lateral view, the prefrontal possesses a fossa on its lateral surface, the postorbital with an extremely elongate posterior process and the well-developed retroarticular process has a deep fossa on its dorsal surface. In phylogeny, our analysis suggests a close relationship of Funiusaurus to the large-sized Tianyusaurus from the same basin within the Tuberocephalosaurinae. The discovery of Funiusaurus is significant in confirming the status of the Tuberocephalosaurinae, which includes a group of the Asian members of the Polyglyphanodontidae only.     

Distribution of crinoidal remains in the Upper Cretaceous of the U.S.S.R.

A list of all Upper Cretaceous sea-lilies known from the U.S.S.R. is given. Their stratigraphic and geographic distributions are discussed. Three paleogeographic subprovinces, the south-eastern, the northern and the south-western, can be distinguished in the Mediterranean paleobiogeographic province of the U.S.S.R. based on the development and distribution of the Upper Cretaceous crinoids.     

A new gnetalean macrofossil from the Early Cretaceous and its evolutionary significance

Modern gnetophytes consist of three families, i.e. the Ephedraceae, the Gnetaceae, and the Welwitschiaceae, which show diversified morphology. The basal group Ephedraceae possesses an extremely reduced female cone with only the uppermost pair/whorl being fertile, while both the Gnetaceae and the Welwitschiaceae bear female cones/spikes with multiple whorls of fertile bracts. Here, we describe a new ephedroid macrofossil, Liaoningia decussata Yang et Lin, gen. et sp. nov., from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of western Liaoning in China. This species has typical ephedroid morphology, e.g. the dichasial branching shoot system, swollen nodes, internodes having many fine longitudinal striations, and decussate phyllotaxy, lengthy linear leaves possessing two parallel veins, and female cones consisting of paired bracts. This new genus is similar to the Ephedraceae in its vegetative organs, but differs from the latter by the female spikes with multiple pairs of fertile bracts. In this respect Liaoningia is similar to both the Gnetaceae and the Welwitschiaceae, but distinctly differs from the latter two genera in its vegetative organs. As a result, our new genus shows intermediate morphology between the Ephedaceae and the other two families of the gnetophytes, and is probably a missing link in the evolutionary process from the Ephedraceae to the clade including the Gnetaceae and the Welwitschiaceae.     

A New Family of Sauropod Dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Tianzhen, Shanxi Province, China

A new gigantic sauropod, Huabeisaurus allocates gen. et sp. nov., about 20 m in length and 5 m in height, was discovered in the Upper Cretaceous Huiquanpu Formation, Tianzhen County, Shanxi Province. It is notably different from Diplodocidae, Titanosauridae and Nemegtosauridae in the following aspects: the teeth are strong, peg-like with a length ratio of the tooth crown to tooth root at about 3 to 1; the cervical vertebrae are long with forked spines; the spines in dorsal vertebrae are relatively high, unbifiarcated; the caudal vertebrae are amphicoelous, with anterior neural spines and unbifurcated spines and chevrons; the femur is straight and long, narrow and flat and the tibia and fibula are long and flat. These characters show that the described genus should represent a new family, Huabeisauridae fam. nov. The discovery enriches the sauropod dinosaur record in China, and is quite significant to the study of the taxonomy, evolution, migration, extinction and palaeobiogeographic provincialism of the     

A new titanosaur (Dinosauria,Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Lo Hueco (Cuenca,Spain)

The upper Campanian-lower Maastrichtian site of Lo Hueco (Cuenca, Spain) has provided a set of well-preserved partial skeletons in anatomical connection or with a low dispersion of their skeletal elements. One partial skeleton is herein described and a new titanosaurian sauropod is established, Lohuecotitan pandafilandi. This titanosaur is diagnosed by eight autapomorphic features: dorsally and ventrally widened or bifurcated posterior centrodiapophyseal lamina in anterior and middle dorsal vertebrae; short postspinal lamina with a transversely expanded distal end represented by smooth scars in the dorsal vertebrae; anteriormost caudals with the medial spinoprezygapophyseal and medial spinopostzygapophyseal laminae ventrally connected with the prespinal and postspinal laminae, respectively; anterior caudal neural spines with a dorsal projection of the prespinal and postspinal laminae; anterior caudal neural spines bears a “greek-cross”-like cross-section; middle caudal centra having two round and rough structures in the dorsal edge of the posterior articulation, which extends to the dorsal surface of the centrum; the articular ends of the rami of the haemal arches are divided in two articular surfaces; and tuberosity between the anterior and the lateral trochanter of the fibula. The herein performed phylogenetic analysis considered L. pandafilandi as a member of Lithostrotia more derived than Malawisaurus. The known palaeodiversity of the Late Cretaceous Ibero-Armorican titanosaurs is increasing, and further analyses focused on this group will be necessary to better understand the evolutionary history of European titanosaurs and to clarify their relationships within Titanosauria.     

New ornithopod footprints from the Lower Cretaceous Kitadani Formation,Fukui, Japan: Ichnotaxonomical implications

Two ichnogenus of “large-sized” ornithopods are found from the Lower Cretaceous (Aptian) Kitadani Formation in central Japan. Caririchnium isp. is characterized by the longer pes print than its width with strong mesaxony. Amblydactylus isp. is characterized by the wider pes print than its length with weak mesaxony. In the northern hemisphere, Caririchnium-type footprints are known from the Berriasian–Cenomanian strata, whereas Amblydactylus-type footprints are known from the Barremian–Maastrichtian strata. It is consistent with the temporal and geographic distribution of non-hadrosauroid iguanodontians and basal hadrosauroids. It suggests that footprint length-width ratio and mesaxony are important factors to indicate trackmakers (basal iguanodontian or hadrosauroid). Two “large-sized” ornithopod ichnogenus from the Kitadani Formation is also consistent with two iguanodontians from same site. It indicates a high diversity of the Kitadani ichnofauna and its importance to elucidate the ecosystem of the Kitadani Formation.     

Martinsonella,an early Late Cretaceous non-marine bivalve subgenus,and a new species from Kumamoto,Japan

The new non-marine bivalve species Nippononaia (Martinsonella) tamurai sp. nov. is described from the Upper Formation of the Mifune Group in Kumamoto Prefecture, Southwest Japan. The specimens originally were identified as Plicatounio (Plicatounio) B sp. by Tamura (1990). The subgenus Nippononaia (Martinsonella) previously was only reported from China, and this is the first record from Japan. The Upper Formation of the Mifune Group is of Late Cenomanian to Early Turonian age, as indicated by ammonites. “Nippononaia” (?) obsoleta Hase, 1960 from the Shiohama Formation of Yamaguchi, Japan, and Plicatounio (s.l.) A sp. of Tamura (1990) from strata northeast of Geoncheonri, South Korea, are re-assigned to Nippononaia (Martinsonella). These occurrences may be of significance for the inter-regional correlation of non-marine Cretaceous strata.     

Vertebrate remains from the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian) Ajka Coal Formation,western Hungary

Vertebrate remains from the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian) Ajka Coal Formation (Bakony Mountains, western Hungary) are described. Macro- and microfossils collected from two boreholes and from isolated chunks of sediment/matrix dumped on spoil heaps of the Jókai Mine represent pycnodontiform and lepisosteiform fishes, bothremydid turtles, the mosasauroid Pannoniasaurus inexpectatus, the crocodyliforms cf. Theriosuchus, Iharkutosuchus makadii and cf. Allodaposuchus, as well as ankylosaurian and theropod dinosaurs. This unit was deposited in a swampy lacustrine environment, in contrast with the neighbouring and contemporaneous floodplain deposit of the vertebrate-bearing Csehbánya Formation at Iharkút. Despite significant environmental differences, the faunal composition of the Ajka Coal Formation assemblage completely overlaps with that of the Csehbánya Formation, suggesting the occurrence of the same semi-aquatic and terrestrial species in both settings. The ankylosaurian remains further strengthen the previous view that ankylosaurus preferred wetland habitats such as fluvial systems and coastal regions.     

New Nodosaurid Dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Lishui, Zhejiang Province, China

A new genus and species of nodosaurid dinosaur： Zhejiangosaurus lishuiensis gen. et sp. nov. is erected herein. It is characterized by the sacrum consisting of at least three true sacral vertebrae, 5 caudal dorsal vertebrae fused to form the presacral rod, wide divergence of long slender preacetabular process of the ilium from the middle line of the body, and the fourth trochanter located at the femoral mid-length.     

New species Dalembia jiayinensis (Magnoliopsida) from the Upper Cretaceous Yong'ancun Formation,Heilongjiang, northern China

Leaves of Dalembia jiayinensis sp. nov. are reported from the Santonian Yong'ancun Formation exposed along the Heilongjiang (Amur) River in Jiayin County, Northeast China. The leaves are compound, odd-pinnate, consisting of five leaflets. Leaflets are pinnately-lobed, trilobate or unlobed, elliptic, oblong, elliptic-rhomboid or ovate in outline, with blunt or rounded apex and the leaflet base is variable being cuneate, slightly decurrent, truncate or slightly cordate and sometimes asymmetric. Margin is entire or lobed. Lobes are short, simple, decreasing upwards, with wide and rounded sinuses. Apices of the lobes are usually rounded, sometimes notched. Venation is pinnate or palmately-pinnate, craspedodromous or semi-craspedodromous. The new species D. jiayinensis extends both the geographical and stratigraphic ranges of the genus Dalembia. This is the first occurrence of Dalembia in China and the most southern and youngest (Santonian) occurrence of this genus.     

河南汝阳白垩纪一新的结节龙类恐龙化石

根据一新材料,命名了一新的结节龙类甲龙——洛阳中原龙(新属新种),Zhongyuansaurus luoyangensis gen et sp. nov.。其头骨的形态和尾椎的特征显示该标本属于结节龙类甲龙。它以头骨长宽比约为1.4∶1、头骨顶骨区平坦,顶视,头骨的后边缘及眼眶之后的侧边缘平直;肱骨远端与近端的宽度几乎相等,肱骨近端后表面的M.latissimus dorsi和M.teres major附着处为凹陷面而不是疤结,以及坐骨主干较平直等特征区别于其它的结节龙类甲龙。     

河南淅川盆地上白垩统恐龙蛋一新蛋种

河南淅川盆地的恐龙蛋发现与研究始于1974年,淅川盆地恐龙蛋具有非常高的多样性,共计发现4个蛋科、6个蛋属、6个蛋种,尤其以树枝蛋类最为丰富。近年来,河南地质博物馆对全省地质遗迹调查过程中,在淅川盆地再次有新的恐龙蛋类型的发现,本文对其中的部分标本进行记述,根据壳单元呈多分叉的不规则树枝状,蛋壳厚度为1.62～1.74 mm,锥体间隙明显,壳单元自锥体上部开始出现分枝,蛋壳中部大多具有3～4个分枝,近蛋壳外表面形成融合层,蛋壳具有复杂的气孔系统等特征区别于其他类型的树枝蛋类,建立一新蛋种:大石桥树枝蛋(Dendroolithus dashiqiaoensis oosp. nov.)。通过对淅川盆地恐龙蛋分类与对比、不同类型恐龙蛋在地层中的分布研究,将有助于盆地内白垩纪红层的划分,也将为秦岭东段各盆地中同一时期红层的划分与对比、古地理、古环境和古气候等研究提供更加翔实的古生物学证据。     

广东河源盆地晚白垩世霸王龙类牙齿化石的发现及其意义

河源盆地晚白垩世东源组发现的霸王龙类牙齿化石估计长度大于10cm。从其大小和形态判断,应为霸王龙类的牙齿。牙齿保存部分稍微弯曲,中部横截面呈微弱的D形。牙齿的釉质非常薄,釉质脱落后暴露出的牙齿部分显示出明显的纵向条纹。牙齿的牙本质厚度在不同方向上变化较大,且牙本质具有明显的分层现象。该牙齿化石的发现,为以后在该地区晚白垩世地层中发现霸王龙类骨骼化石提供确凿的依据。     

广东河源盆地晚白垩世霸王龙类牙齿化石的发现及其意义

河源盆地晚白垩世东源组发现的霸王龙类牙齿化石估计长度大于10cm。从其大小和形态判断,应为霸王龙类的牙齿。牙齿保存部分稍微弯曲,中部横截面呈微弱的D形。牙齿的釉质非常薄,釉质脱落后暴露出的牙齿部分显示出明显的纵向条纹。牙齿的牙本质厚度在不同方向上变化较大,且牙本质具有明显的分层现象。该牙齿化石的发现,为以后在该地区晚白垩世地层中发现霸王龙类骨骼化石提供确凿的依据。     

New materials of lithostrotian titanosaurs (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of central Patagonia

Continental Cretaceous deposits exposed in central Patagonia, Argentina, preserve a rich and important record of titanosaurian evolution that spans the entire Upper Cretaceous. Recently, a new lithostragraphic unit, the Lago Colhué Huapi Formation (Coniacian – Maastrichtian), was located in the Golfo San Jorge Basin. Here, we describe new titanosaurian sauropod material from that formation (UNPSJB-Pv 1051). The material consists of a partially articulated left hind limb and disarticulated but associated skeletal elements. They are confidently referred to Titanosauria, and within that clade, to Lithostrotia, probably occupying a derived position. We interpret the bone concentration as an assemblage of hydraulic origin deposited in a fluvial channel. This new material begins the incipient fossil record of the Lago Colhué Huapi Formation, thereby also increasing the titanosaurian diversity of the latest Cretaceous. Additionally, the new titanosaurian enhances evidence in support of strong faunal similarities among the Allen and Marilia formations, chronological equivalents in the Cretaceous of South America. Furthermore, the Lago Colhué Huapi specimen adds to the Late Cretaceous record of Titanosauria and augments our knowledge of central Patagonian terrestrial vertebrate assemblages during this interval.     

Pelvic elements of the giant bird Gargantuavis from the Upper Cretaceous of Cruzy (southern France), with remarks on pneumatisation

A synsacrum fragment and an incomplete ilium of the giant bird Gargantuavis philoinos are described from the upper Campanian/lower Maastrichtian Montplo-Nord locality at Cruzy (Hérault, southern France). The ilium provides new information about the pelvic morphology of Gargantuavis. Both the synsacrum and ilium are extensively pneumatised. This extensive pneumatisation may be a plesiomorphic feature, but may also have had a weight-reduction function in a large flightless bird.     

Contourite drifts, moats and channels in the Upper Cretaceous chalk of the Danish Basin

During the Late Cretaceous, high global sea‐level meant that most of the NW European craton was flooded by the deep epeiric ‘chalk sea’. The classical paradigm for chalk deposition envisages a quiet rain of minute skeletal debris of coccolithophorid algae and other pelagic organisms deposited as horizontal, flat‐lying pelagic oozes with local redeposition by slumps, slides and debris flows along faults and other structural features. Seismic data from the Danish Basin and elsewhere necessitate a revision of this paradigm. These demonstrate that the chalk sea floor had a considerable relief, commonly of more than a hundred metres amplitude, comprising moats, drifts, mounds and channels. Seismic sections from the Kattegat sea illustrate the development in the Maastrichtian of a deep moat adjacent to a topographic ridge formed over the inverted NW–SE‐trending Sorgenfrei–Tornquist Zone. The moat was up to 120 m deeper than its SW flank which was formed by an internally complex elongate drift, up to 20 km wide with an estimated length of ca 200 km. Smaller mound‐like features, channels and clinoform beds are superimposed on the large‐scale relief. The sea floor relief is interpreted to have formed in response to persistent bottom currents, flowing parallel to bathymetric contours. The initial build‐up of the broad, gently convex‐up sheeted drift was controlled by relatively low‐velocity bottom currents. The region of highest current velocity was gradually shifted NE‐wards towards the inversion zone ridge, resulting in the formation of the deep moat flanked by the elongate drift. The current is interpreted to have flowed from the SE towards NW on the basis of the internal architecture of the elongate drift and the NW‐ward branching and decrease in moat relief. The architecture and morphology of the moat drift and other features of the chalk sea floor are in all aspects similar to contourite systems of modern continental margins. It is accordingly proposed that the fundamental physical oceanographic concept – contour currents and their resulting contourite drifts – is extended to include the deep epeiric seas which covered NW Europe during the Late Cretaceous.     

A New Titanosauriform Sauropod from the Early Late Cretaceous of Dongyang, Zhejiang Province

A new titanosauriform sauropod Dongyangosaurus sinensis gen. et sp. nov. from the early Late Cretaceous of Dongyang County, Zhejiang Province, is erected based on a partial postcranial skeleton. It is characterized by complex laminae on the lateral surface of the neural spines and postzygapophyses of dorsal vertebrae, a distinct fossa on the ventral surfaces of the prezygapophyses of dorsal vertebrae, distinct fossae are also present on the lateral surface of the postzygapophysis of anterior caudal vertebrae; pubis is shorter than ischium, the small obturator foramen of pubis elongated, and nearly closed. The lamina complexity of dorsal vertebrae in Dongyangosaurus indicates that a higher diversity of titanosauriformes occurred during the early Late Cretaceous in China.