Notes on the cheek region of the Late Jurassic theropod dinosaur Allosaurus
Allosaurus, from the Late Jurassic of North America and Europe, is a model taxon for Jurassic basal tetanuran theropod dinosaurs. It has achieved an almost iconic status due to its early discovery in the late, 19th century, and due to the abundance of material from the Morrison Formation of the west...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PeerJ Inc.
2020-02-01
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| Series: | PeerJ |
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/8493.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797419802864648192 |
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| author | Serjoscha W. Evers Christian Foth Oliver W.M. Rauhut |
| author_facet | Serjoscha W. Evers Christian Foth Oliver W.M. Rauhut |
| author_sort | Serjoscha W. Evers |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Allosaurus, from the Late Jurassic of North America and Europe, is a model taxon for Jurassic basal tetanuran theropod dinosaurs. It has achieved an almost iconic status due to its early discovery in the late, 19th century, and due to the abundance of material from the Morrison Formation of the western U.S.A., making Allosaurus one of the best-known theropod taxa. Despite this, various aspects of the cranial anatomy of Allosaurus are surprisingly poorly understood. Here, we discuss the osteology of the cheek region, comprised by the jugal, maxilla, and lacrimal. This region of the skull is of importance for Allosaurus taxonomy and phylogeny, particularly because Allosaurus has traditionally been reconstructed with an unusual cheek configuration, and because the European species Allosaurus europaeus has been said to be different from North American material in the configuration of these bones. Based on re-examination of articulated and disarticulated material from a number of repositories, we show that the jugal participates in the antorbital fenestra, contradicting the common interpretation. The jugal laterally overlies the lacrimal, and forms an extended antorbital fossa with this bone. Furthermore, we document previously unrecorded pneumatic features of the jugal of Allosaurus. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:53:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d1dc9b284685449abf317b90bceb4b11 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:53:34Z |
| publishDate | 2020-02-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-d1dc9b284685449abf317b90bceb4b112023-12-03T10:15:52ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592020-02-018e849310.7717/peerj.8493Notes on the cheek region of the Late Jurassic theropod dinosaur AllosaurusSerjoscha W. Evers0Christian Foth1Oliver W.M. Rauhut2Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, SwitzerlandDepartment of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, SwitzerlandBayerische Staatssammlung für Paläntologie und Geologie, Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns (SNSB), München, GermanyAllosaurus, from the Late Jurassic of North America and Europe, is a model taxon for Jurassic basal tetanuran theropod dinosaurs. It has achieved an almost iconic status due to its early discovery in the late, 19th century, and due to the abundance of material from the Morrison Formation of the western U.S.A., making Allosaurus one of the best-known theropod taxa. Despite this, various aspects of the cranial anatomy of Allosaurus are surprisingly poorly understood. Here, we discuss the osteology of the cheek region, comprised by the jugal, maxilla, and lacrimal. This region of the skull is of importance for Allosaurus taxonomy and phylogeny, particularly because Allosaurus has traditionally been reconstructed with an unusual cheek configuration, and because the European species Allosaurus europaeus has been said to be different from North American material in the configuration of these bones. Based on re-examination of articulated and disarticulated material from a number of repositories, we show that the jugal participates in the antorbital fenestra, contradicting the common interpretation. The jugal laterally overlies the lacrimal, and forms an extended antorbital fossa with this bone. Furthermore, we document previously unrecorded pneumatic features of the jugal of Allosaurus.https://peerj.com/articles/8493.pdfAllosaurusTheropodJugalAntorbital fenestraMorrison FormationLate Jurassic |
| spellingShingle | Serjoscha W. Evers Christian Foth Oliver W.M. Rauhut Notes on the cheek region of the Late Jurassic theropod dinosaur Allosaurus PeerJ Allosaurus Theropod Jugal Antorbital fenestra Morrison Formation Late Jurassic |
| title | Notes on the cheek region of the Late Jurassic theropod dinosaur Allosaurus |
| title_full | Notes on the cheek region of the Late Jurassic theropod dinosaur Allosaurus |
| title_fullStr | Notes on the cheek region of the Late Jurassic theropod dinosaur Allosaurus |
| title_full_unstemmed | Notes on the cheek region of the Late Jurassic theropod dinosaur Allosaurus |
| title_short | Notes on the cheek region of the Late Jurassic theropod dinosaur Allosaurus |
| title_sort | notes on the cheek region of the late jurassic theropod dinosaur allosaurus |
| topic | Allosaurus Theropod Jugal Antorbital fenestra Morrison Formation Late Jurassic |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/8493.pdf |
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