A basal dinosaur from the dawn of the dinosaur era in southwestern pangaea

Science

Volumn 331, Issue 6014, 2011, Pages 206-210

  Martinez, Ricardo N ^a   Sereno, Paul C ^b   Alcober, Oscar A ^a   Colombi, Carina E ^a,c   Renne, Paul R ^d,e   Montañez, Isabel P ^f   Currie, Brian S ^g  

^a UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE SAN JUAN   (Argentina)

^b UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO   (United States)

^c Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto M Lillo   (Argentina)

^d BERKELEY GEOCHRONOLOGY CENTER   (United States)

^e UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

^f UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

^g MIAMI UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ARGON;

BIOZONATION; CARNIVORE; DINOSAUR; DOMINANCE; FOSSIL RECORD; HERBIVORE; JURASSIC; PANGAEA; TRIASSIC;

ARTICLE; BIODIVERSITY; CARNIAN; CARNIVORE; DINOSAUR; EODROMAEUS MURPHI; EORAPTOR; EORAPTOR LUNENSIS; EXTINCT SPECIES; GEOLOGY; HERBIVORE; LONG BONE; LOWER JURASSIC; NONHUMAN; PANGAEA; PHYLOGENY; PRIORITY JOURNAL; SKULL; UPPER TRIASSIC;

ANIMALS; ARGENTINA; BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION; BONE AND BONES; DINOSAURS; EXTINCTION, BIOLOGICAL; FEMUR; FOSSILS; PHYLOGENY; SKULL; SPINE;

ARGENTINA;

DINOSAURIA; SAUROPODOMORPHA; THEROPODA;

EID: 78651453531     PISSN: 00368075     EISSN: 10959203     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1126/science.1198467     Document Type: Article

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7. Etymology: eos, dawn (Greek); dromaeus, runner (Greek); murphi; in allusion to its early age, slender axial and appendicular proportions, and the Earthwatch volunteer who discovered the holotypic specimen (J. Murphy). Holotype: PVSJ 560, articulated skeleton lacking only the scapulocoracoids, most of the right forelimb, some cervical and dorsal ribs, gastralia, four anterior caudal vertebrae, and most chevrons. Fusion of all neurocentral sutures suggests that the holotype has reached adult size. This specimen is cataloged in the collection of the Instituto y Museo de Ciencias Naturales (San Juan, Argentina). Type locality: 30°04?3.5S, 67°56?11.4W; Valle de la Luna, Ischigualasto Provincial Park, San Juan, Argentina. Horizon: Ischigualasto Formation, Valle de la Luna Member (PVSJ 560 to 563), ~200 m from base of the formation. Two referred specimens (PVSJ 534, 877) were found in the underlying La Peña and Cancha de Bochas Members, overlapping the range of several other dinosaurs (Fig. 3). Age: Ages range from ~232 to 229 Ma (Fig. 4) (8, 20). Diagnosis: Basal theropod with no more than 11 maxillary teeth, caniniform maxillary crowns more than three times the basal mesiodistal width near the anterior end of the tooth row, fine serrations (~nine per millimeter) on mesial and distal margins, ventrally convex maxillary alveolar margin, very shallow jugal suborbital ramus, centrale in carpus between the radiale and distal carpal 1, large distal carpal 5 overlapping distal carpal 4 with a posteroventral heel; pubic apron with sinuous lateral margin, and pubic foot with squared posterior margin.
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34. We thank C. Abraczinskas for final drafts of all figures, personnel of the Fossil Lab at the Univ. of Chicago for preparation of fossil material, personnel of the High-Resolution X-ray Computed Tomography Facility at The Univ. of Texas at Austin for assistance with computed tomography imaging, and S. Nesbitt and R. Irmis for examination of fossil material in their care. This work was supported by the Whitten-Newman Foundation, the Island Fund of the New York Community Trust, Earthwatch Institute, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, and the National Geographic Society.