Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Hocknull, Scott A.
• White, Matt A.
• Tischler, Travis R.
• Cook, Alex G.
• Calleja, Naomi D.
• Sloan, Trish
• Elliott, David A.
• Sereno, Paul

Titel

New Mid-Cretaceous (Latest Albian) Dinosaurs from Winton, Queensland, Australia

Ist Teil von

• PloS one, 2009-07, Vol.4 (7), p.e6190

Ort / Verlag

San Francisco: Public Library of Science

Erscheinungsjahr

2009

Quelle

EZB Electronic Journals Library

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Background Australia's dinosaurian fossil record is exceptionally poor compared to that of other similar-sized continents. Most taxa are known from fragmentary isolated remains with uncertain taxonomic and phylogenetic placement. A better understanding of the Australian dinosaurian record is crucial to understanding the global palaeobiogeography of dinosaurian groups, including groups previously considered to have had Gondwanan origins, such as the titanosaurs and carcharodontosaurids. Methodology/Principal Findings We describe three new dinosaurs from the late Early Cretaceous (latest Albian) Winton Formation of eastern Australia, including; Wintonotitan wattsi gen. et sp. nov., a basal titanosauriform; Diamantinasaurus matildae gen. et sp. nov., a derived lithostrotian titanosaur; and Australovenator wintonensis gen. et sp. nov., an allosauroid. We compare an isolated astragalus from the Early Cretaceous of southern Australia; formerly identified as Allosaurus sp., and conclude that it most-likely represents Australovenator sp. Conclusion/Significance The occurrence of Australovenator from the Aptian to latest Albian confirms the presence in Australia of allosauroids basal to the Carcharodontosauridae. These new taxa, along with the fragmentary remains of other taxa, indicate a diverse Early Cretaceous sauropod and theropod fauna in Australia, including plesiomorphic forms (e.g. Wintonotitan and Australovenator) and more derived forms (e.g. Diamantinasaurus).