A southern tyrant reptile.
Tyrannosaurids monopolized the apex predator niche in latest Cretaceous Laurasia. Unfortunately, the preceding 100-million-year tyrannosauroid lineage is poorly documented, and its fossil record is restricted to the northern continents. We report an Australian tyrannosauroid, represented by a pubis...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2010
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| _version_ | 1797103855018704896 |
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| author | Benson, R Barrett, P Rich, T Vickers-Rich, P |
| author_facet | Benson, R Barrett, P Rich, T Vickers-Rich, P |
| author_sort | Benson, R |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Tyrannosaurids monopolized the apex predator niche in latest Cretaceous Laurasia. Unfortunately, the preceding 100-million-year tyrannosauroid lineage is poorly documented, and its fossil record is restricted to the northern continents. We report an Australian tyrannosauroid, represented by a pubis from the late Early Cretaceous of Victoria. This demonstrates that these extraordinarily successful predators were not restricted to Laurasia. The advanced morphology and small size of the specimen shows that tyrannosauroids with the characteristic short arms and robust skulls probably had a global distribution in the Early Cretaceous. Thus, a potentially cosmopolitan grade of small tyrannosauroids with a tyrannosaurid-like body plan preceded the Late Cretaceous rise of the colossal tyrannosaurids. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T06:25:55Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:f448a00d-0d35-4064-b142-bb8516721841 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T06:25:55Z |
| publishDate | 2010 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:f448a00d-0d35-4064-b142-bb85167218412022-03-27T12:18:36ZA southern tyrant reptile.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:f448a00d-0d35-4064-b142-bb8516721841EnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2010Benson, RBarrett, PRich, TVickers-Rich, PTyrannosaurids monopolized the apex predator niche in latest Cretaceous Laurasia. Unfortunately, the preceding 100-million-year tyrannosauroid lineage is poorly documented, and its fossil record is restricted to the northern continents. We report an Australian tyrannosauroid, represented by a pubis from the late Early Cretaceous of Victoria. This demonstrates that these extraordinarily successful predators were not restricted to Laurasia. The advanced morphology and small size of the specimen shows that tyrannosauroids with the characteristic short arms and robust skulls probably had a global distribution in the Early Cretaceous. Thus, a potentially cosmopolitan grade of small tyrannosauroids with a tyrannosaurid-like body plan preceded the Late Cretaceous rise of the colossal tyrannosaurids. |
| spellingShingle | Benson, R Barrett, P Rich, T Vickers-Rich, P A southern tyrant reptile. |
| title | A southern tyrant reptile. |
| title_full | A southern tyrant reptile. |
| title_fullStr | A southern tyrant reptile. |
| title_full_unstemmed | A southern tyrant reptile. |
| title_short | A southern tyrant reptile. |
| title_sort | southern tyrant reptile |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bensonr asoutherntyrantreptile AT barrettp asoutherntyrantreptile AT richt asoutherntyrantreptile AT vickersrichp asoutherntyrantreptile AT bensonr southerntyrantreptile AT barrettp southerntyrantreptile AT richt southerntyrantreptile AT vickersrichp southerntyrantreptile |