[Paleontology • 2025] First Occurrence of the Duck-billed Dinosaur Tribe Lambeosaurini (Hadrosauridae: Lambeosaurinae) in South China

Lambeosaurini from Dalangshan Formation of Sihui City, China

in Wang, Xing, Mallon, Miyashita, Za. Liang, Zhang, Ren, Zh. Liang et Xian, 2025.

DOI: doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2025.2454652 

ABSTRACT

Late Cretaceous Laurasia contained a typical dinosaur fauna consisting of herbivorous hadrosaurids, ceratopsians, and carnivorous tyrannosauroids. Previously, tyrannosauroid teeth have been found in the Upper Cretaceous Dalangshan Formation of Sihui City, China. We describe a fragmentary skeleton of a duck-billed dinosaur from the same general region. The skeleton includes dorsal and caudal vertebrae, a humerus, ilium, femur and tibia. Morphological comparison and cladistic analyses support that this specimen belongs to the tribe Lambeosaurini, which is otherwise poorly represented in China. The new specimens and the previously discovered tyrannosauroid teeth represent the dominant taxa of the typical Late Cretaceous dinosaur fauna of Laurasia.

KEYWORDS: Dinosauria, Hadrosauridae, Lambeosaurinae, Lambeosaurini, Maastrichtian

 the Sihui Museum specimen

Restoration drawing by Han Zhixin

Donghao Wang, Lida Xing, Jordan C. Mallon, Tetsuto Miyashita, Zaoqun Liang, Xianqiu Zhang, Zheng Ren, Zhicong Liang and Minyi Xian. 2025. First Occurrence of the Duck-billed Dinosaur tribe Lambeosaurini (Hadrosauridae: Lambeosaurinae) in South China. Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. DOI: doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2025.2454652 

[Paleontology • 2024] Early–middle Permian Mediterranean gorgonopsian suggests an equatorial origin of therapsids

a gorgonopsian from the island of Mallorca, western Mediterranean

in Matamales-Andreu, Kammerer, Angielczyk, Simões, Mujal, Galobart et Fortuny, 2024.  

DOI: doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54425-5  

Reconstruction by Henry Sutherland Sharpe

Abstract

Therapsids were a dominant component of middle–late Permian terrestrial ecosystems worldwide, eventually giving rise to mammals during the early Mesozoic. However, little is currently known about the time and place of origin of Therapsida. Here we describe a definitive therapsid from the lower–?middle Permian palaeotropics, a partial skeleton of a gorgonopsian from the island of Mallorca, western Mediterranean. This specimen represents, to our knowledge, the oldest gorgonopsian record worldwide, and possibly the oldest known therapsid. Using emerging relaxed clock models, we provide a quantitative timeline for the origin and early diversification of therapsids, indicating a long ghost lineage leading to the evolutionary radiation of all major therapsid clades within less than 10 Myr, in the aftermath of Olson’s Extinction. Our findings place this unambiguous early therapsid in an ancient summer wet biome of equatorial Pangaea, thus suggesting that the group originated in tropical rather than temperate regions.

Systematic palaeontology

Synapsida Osborn, 190313

Therapsida Broom, 190514

Gorgonopsia Seeley, 189415

Gorgonopsia indet.

Most relevant elements of DA21/17-01-01 and silhouette showing their positions

 Life reconstruction of the gorgonopsian from Mallorca in a floodplain setting.

Reconstruction by Henry Sutherland Sharpe

 Rafel Matamales-Andreu, Christian F. Kammerer, Kenneth D. Angielczyk, Tiago R. Simões, Eudald Mujal, Àngel Galobart and Josep Fortuny. 2024. Early–middle Permian Mediterranean gorgonopsian suggests an equatorial origin of therapsids. Nature Communications. 15: 10346. DOI: doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54425-5  

[PaleoOrnithology • 2024] A gigantic new Terror Bird (Cariamiformes: Phorusrhacidae) from Middle Miocene tropical environments of La Venta in northern South America

  

'Phorusrhacinae' Gen. et sp. indet. [MT-0200]

in Degrange, Cooke, Ortiz-Pabon, Pelegrin, Perdomo, Salas-Gismondi & Link, 2024.

DOI: 10.1002/spp2.1601 

 x.com/ThePalAss 

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Abstract

Our knowledge of the fossil avifauna from the Middle Miocene La Venta locality in Colombia is limited almost entirely to aquatic birds. Phorusrhacidae, popularly known as ‘terror birds’, are a group of highly diversified cursorial birds that played the role of apex predators during most of the Cenozoic. Here we present the first record of a phorusrhacid from the La Venta locality. This terror bird can be assigned to the ‘Phorusrhacinae’, a subfamily for which the monophyly is under debate. The fragment of left distal tibiotarsus represents the most northern record of this group for South America and may correspond to the largest terror bird that ever existed. This suggests that terror birds might also have inhabited more tropical ecosystems, providing evidence that they were apex predators in tropical palaeocommunities. Additionally, our research contributes to an understanding of the biogeographical patterns of the Phorusrhacidae lineage dispersal into northern South America and subsequent colonization of North America.

Keywords: terror bird, La Venta, predator, palaeoecosystem, Miocene, phorusrhacid

Class: Aves 

Order: Cariamiformes 

Family: Phorusrhacidae 

Subfamily: 'Phorusrhacinae'

 Gen. et sp. indet.

MT-0200

Federico J. Degrange, Siobhan B. Cooke, Luis G. Ortiz-Pabon, Jonathan S. Pelegrin, Cesar A. Perdomo, Rodolfo Salas-Gismondi and Andrés Link. 2024. A gigantic new Terror Bird (Cariamiformes, Phorusrhacidae) from Middle Miocene tropical environments of La Venta in northern South America. Papers in Palaeontology. DOI: doi.org/10.1002/spp2.1601 

  x.com/ThePalAss/status/1853430761765957982

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  facebook.com/PaleontologiaenColombia/posts/1078533020940011

[PaleoBotany • 2023] First Recognition of the Extinct Eudicot Genus Palibinia in North America: Leaves and Fruits of Palibinia comptonifolia (R.W.Br.) comb. nov. from the Eocene of Utah and Colorado, USA

Palibinia comptonifolia (R.W.Br.) comb. nov. 

in Manchester, Judd et Kodrul, 2023. 

DOI: doi.org/10.1111/jse.13011

 

Abstract

Newly investigated leafy twigs bearing axillary fruits from the Eocene Parachute Creek Member of the Green River Formation in eastern Utah, USA, have provided more information on the species previously attributed to the Proteaceae as Banksia comptonifolia R.W.Br. The leaves are simple, estipulate with short petioles, and elongate laminae with prominent angular nonglandular teeth. The laminae have a thick midvein and pinnate craspedodromous secondaries, and are distinctive in the presence of a thick, often coalified, marginal rim. Vegetative and reproductive buds occur in the axils of the leaves. These features indicate that the species belongs to Palibinia Korovin—an extinct Eudicot genus previously known only from the Paleogene of Asia and Europe. Small pedicellate ovoid fruits 1.5–2.2 mm wide are borne in fascicles of three and are seen to be capsules with four apical valves. Despite the specific epithet referring to similarity of the foliage to that of Comptonia (Myricaceae), the fasciculate inflorescence organization with axillary flowers is quite distinct from the catkins characteristic of that family. Assignment to Banksia or other Proteaceae with complex inflorescences and follicular fruits is also problematic. Additionally, MacGinitie′s transfer of the species to Vauquelinia of the Rosaceae is contradicted by the lack of stipule scars on the twig and by differences in leaf venation and floral morphology. We transfer the species to Palibinia comptonifolia (R.W.Br.) comb. nov., but its familial affinity within the Pentapetalae remains uncertain. This new occurrence augments records from the Paleogene of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, China, England, and Germany.

Palibinia comptonifolia (R.W.Br.) comb. nov. leafy twigs in a slab of shale from Bonanza, UT. DMNH EPI.43698.
A, Portions of three twigs showing alternate leaves. B, Enlargement of a twig with mature leaves giving rise to a flush of new growth. C, Another portion of a twig enlarged from (A), showing the axillary position of young fruits. D, Enlargement from (C), with pedicellate axillary globose fruits. E, Enlargement from another twig in (A), showing an axillary fruit.

F–H, Individual twigs digitally extricated from the image of (A). 

Scale bars = 2 cm in (A), (F–H), 1 cm in (B, C), 5 mm in (D, E).

Systematics

Group Pentapetalae D.E. Soltis, P.S. Soltis & W.S. Judd

Order indet.

Family indet.

Genus Palibinia Korovin

Palibinia comptonifolia (R.W.Br.) comb. nov.

Conceptual diagrams of Palibinia twigs.
A, B, Palibinia comptonifolia (R.W.Br.) comb. nov. twigs including axillary fruits and vegetative growth, diagram by Ashley Hamersma.
C–E, Original diagrams of Korovin (1932), slightly enhanced and reduced. C, Twig of Palibinia laxifolia Forma laxifolia showing axillary flowers or fruits. D, Forma densifolia. E, Forma lanceolata.

 

Steven R. Manchester, Walter S. Judd and Tatiana Kodrul. 2023. First Recognition of the Extinct Eudicot Genus Palibinia in North America: Leaves and Fruits of Palibinia comptonifolia (R.W.Br.) comb. nov. from the Eocene of Utah and Colorado, USA. Journal of Systematics and Evolution. DOI: doi.org/10.1111/jse.13011

  x.com/AsiaPaleoFloras/status/1696603495183405158

[Paleontology • 2024] The First Occurrence of a Basal Tyrannosauroid in Southeast Asia: Dental Evidence from the Upper Jurassic of Northeastern Thailand

Tyrannosauroidea indet.

in Chowchuvech, Manitkoon, Chanthasit et Ketwetsuriya, 2024.

   li01.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/TNH/article/view/261261

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Illustration: Chatcharin Somboon.

Abstract

Isolated theropod teeth are one of the most common vertebrate fossils that have been found in the Khorat Group of Thailand. Furthermore, several isolated teeth have been discovered from the Upper Jurassic Phu Kradung Formation, located in Phu Noi locality of Kalasin Province, Northeastern Thailand. Three of those theropod teeth from the Phu Noi locality show unique dental features that can be distinguished from previous discovered metriacanthosaurid theropod, including the lateral teeth with mesiolingual twisted mesial carinae extending above the cervix line and braided enamel surface texture. Morphological examination with cladistics and morphometric analyses show that these isolated teeth exhibit the synapomorphies of basal tyrannosauroids, closely related to Guanlong wucaii and Proceratosaurus bradleyi from the Jurassic Period. This paper notes the first report of a basal tyrannosauroid in Southeast Asia as well as significantly contributes to our understanding of paleoecology of the Upper Jurassic Phu Kradung Formation and paleobiogeography of Tyrannosauroidea during the Jurassic Period.

Keywords: Dinosauria, Theropod, isolated teeth, Phu Kradung Formation, Mesozoic Era

Paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the Late Jurassic Phu Kradung Formation of Northeastern Thailand.

Illustrated by Chatcharin Somboon.

Wongwech Chowchuvech, Sita Manitkoon, Phornphen Chanthasit and Chatchalerm Ketwetsuriya. 2024. The First Occurrence of a Basal Tyrannosauroid in Southeast Asia: Dental Evidence from the Upper Jurassic of Northeastern Thailand. Tropical Natural History. 24(1); 84–95.   li01.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/tnh/article/view/261261

  facebook.com/ESCIKU/posts/972463088223334

Researchgate.net/publication/376029479_The_First_Occurrence_of_Tyrannosauroid_Dinosaur_in_Southeast_Asia

ค้นพบ ฟันไดโนเสาร์ไทแรนโนซอรอยด์ ญาติเก่าแก่ของ T. rex ยุคจูแรสซิกในประเทศไทย 🦖

...  ซากดึกดำบรรพ์ฟันไดโนเสาร์ไทแรนโนซอรอยด์แรกเริ่ม จากหมวดหินภูกระดึงตอนล่าง ยุคจูแรสซิกตอนปลาย ในแหล่งซากดึกดำบรรพ์ภูน้อย อำเภอคำม่วง จังหวัดกาฬสินธ์ุ ซึ่งเป็นหนึ่งในญาติเก่าแก่ของไดโนเสาร์กินเนื้อขนาดใหญ่ชื่อดังอย่างไทแรนโนซอรัส เร็กซ์ หรือ ที. เร็กซ์ ในยุคครีเทเชียสตอนปลาย ทวีปอเมริกาเหนือ ...

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[Paleontology • 2023] Giant Baleen Whales emerged from A Cold southern Cradle

Chaeomysticete mandible fragments NMV P218462 (Museums Victoria) from the Aquitanian–Burdigalian of South Australia.

in Rule, Duncan, Marx, Pollock, Evans & Fitzgerald, 2023.

 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2177

 twitter.com/Palaeo_JRule

Abstract

Baleen whales (mysticetes) include the largest animals on the Earth. How they achieved such gigantic sizes remains debated, with previous research focusing primarily on when mysticetes became large, rather than where. Here, we describe an edentulous baleen whale fossil (21.12–16.39 mega annum (Ma)) from South Australia. With an estimated body length of 9 m, it is the largest mysticete from the Early Miocene. Analysing body size through time shows that ancient baleen whales from the Southern Hemisphere were larger than their northern counterparts. This pattern seemingly persists for much of the Cenozoic, even though southern specimens contribute only 19% to the global mysticete fossil record. Our findings contrast with previous ideas of a single abrupt shift towards larger size during the Plio-Pleistocene, which we here interpret as a glacially driven Northern Hemisphere phenomenon. Our results highlight the importance of incorporating Southern Hemisphere fossils into macroevolutionary patterns, especially in light of the high productivity of Southern Ocean environments.

Keywords: Mysticeti, Chaeomysticeti, Southern Hemisphere, body size, gigantism

Systematic palaeontology

Cetacea Brisson 1762

Neoceti Fordyce & Muizon 2001

Mysticeti Gray 1864

Chaeomysticeti Mitchell 1989

Chaeomysticeti gen. et sp. indet.

Referred specimen. NMV P218462, symphyseal regions of both mandibles, plus fragments of the left premaxilla and maxilla.

Locality and horizon. NMV P218462 was found by F.A. Cudmore (on 15 February 1921) eroding from limestone cliffs on the east bank of the Murray River, opposite Wongulla, about 5 km south of Devon Downs, South Australia. ...

 

Conclusion: 

Baleen whales first evolved large body size in the Southern Hemisphere, perhaps facilitated by the onset of the ACC and high seasonal productivity in the Southern Ocean. Previous suggestions of an abrupt global Plio-Pleistocene shift towards mysticete gigantism are hampered by a strong collection bias against austral localities that obscures more gradual and regional trends. Medium-large mysticetes may have helped to engineer ocean ecosystems, albeit in a comparatively limited fashion, since the beginning of the Neogene. Further exploration of the Southern Hemisphere is crucial to constructing a truly global picture of the nature, timing and impacts of whale evolution.

James P. Rule, Ruairidh J. Duncan, Felix G. Marx, Tahlia I. Pollock, Alistair R. Evans† and Erich M.G. Fitzgerald. 2023. Giant Baleen Whales emerged from A Cold southern Cradle. Proc. R. Soc. B. 290: 20232177. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2177

 twitter.com/Palaeo_JRule/status/1737286061276242142

[PaleoIchthyology • 2023] An enigmatic large mawsoniid coelacanth (Sarcopterygii: Actinistia) from the Upper Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay Formation of England

  Mawsoniidae gen. et sp. indet. (MJML K785).

in Toriño, Gausden, Etches, Rankin, Marshall & Gostling, 2023. 

DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2022.2125813 

  twitter.com/PabloTorino4

  Researchgate.net/publication/364672796

(artwork by S. Gausden).

 

Abstract

A large mawsoniid coelacanth from the lower part of the marine Kimmeridge Clay Formation of England (Kimmeridgian, Upper Jurassic) is studied here. The material is constituted by a group of bones from the head and shoulder girdle of a considerably large individual (estimated length ca. 1.5 m), including the left angular, left dentary, left prearticular, left palatoquadrate complex, both ceratohyals and right cleithrum. Characters such as the coarse external ornamentation of the angular, and the robustness of the quadrate and the cleithrum allow classification of the individual as a member of the Mawsoniidae; whereas the configuration of external bones of the lower jaw (ornamentation of the angular constituted mainly by longitudinal ridges, the presence of a lateral swelling in the dentary) indicates stronger Gondwanan affinities than previously expected (i.e., with the genus Mawsonia, up to now only recorded in South America by the end of the Jurassic). Considering the above, two alternative evolutionary, paleobiogeographic, and taxonomic scenarios are discussed: (1) the new individual can be referred to the European mawsoniid genus Trachymetopon (Lower–Middle Jurassic), in which case it should be assumed this genus reached the Upper Jurassic, and with a morphological variability higher than previously suspected (including some characters previously assumed as diagnostic for Mawsonia). Or (2) an unknown Mawsonia-like form was present in the Upper Jurassic of Europe. The last scenario puts the identification of isolated elements of European Jurassic giant mawsoniids in a new complex taxonomic and paleobiogeographic context, which will deserve further research.

  

 

A, stratigraphic profile of the lower part of the Kimmeridge Clay Formation indicating the level where the material was collected (adapted from Gallois, 2020); B, photograph of the collecting site at Ringstead Bay (one of the authors –S. Etches– for scale).

  Mawsoniidae gen. et sp. indet. (MJML K785).
A, schematic anatomical restoration of the head in left lateral view, showing the preserved bones (missing gray parts based on Maisey 1986; Toriño et al., 2021a); B, hypothetical life restoration

(artwork by S. Gausden).

 A, map showing the geographic provenance of the material studied in this work; B, paleogeographic context during Kimmeridge Clay times, with special reference to Laurasian masses (based on the reconstructions of Cox, 2020 after Callomon, 1985; Thierry, 2000; Gallois, 2020; Stumpf et al., 2021)

  

 

 

Pablo Toriño, Shane F. Gausden, Steve Etches, Kathryn Rankin, John E. A. Marshall and Neil J. Gostling. 2023. An enigmatic large mawsoniid coelacanth (Sarcopterygii, Actinistia) from the Upper Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay Formation of England. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 42(1);  e2125813. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2022.2125813 

  twitter.com/PabloTorino4/status/1585261494916235265

 Researchgate.net/publication/364672796_An_enigmatic_large_mawsoniid_coelacanth_from_the_Upper_Jurassic_Kimmeridge_Clay_Formation_of_England

[Paleontology • 2023] The First Fossil Coelacanth from Thailand (Cretaceous, Phu Kradung Formation)

A left angular (PRC 160)

Mawsoniidae indeterminate

in Cavin, Tong, Buffetaut, Wongko, Suteethorn & Deesri, 2023. 

 DOI: 10.3390/d15020286 

Abstract

Mawsoniidae is a family of coelacanths restricted to the Mesozoic. During the Cretaceous, mawsoniids were mainly represented by the Mawsonia/Axelrodichthy complex, long known to be from western Gondwana only (South America and Africa). This apparent biogeographical distribution then faded following the discovery of representatives in the Late Cretaceous of Laurasia (Europe and North America). We report here the presence, in the Lower Cretaceous site of Kham Phok, NE Thailand, of an angular bone referred to the Mawsonia/Axelrodichthys complex. A comparison with angulars referring to both genera found in various regions of the world between the Late Jurassic and the Late Cretaceous indicated that the distinctions between these genera, and even more so between their constituent species, are unclear. This discovery is further confirmation of the very slow morphological evolution within this lineage, which may explain why their evolutionary history appears to be disconnected, at least in part, from their geographical distribution over time.

Keywords: Actinistia; Mawsoniidae; paleobiogeography; angular; Khorat Plateau; Early Cretaceous; Axelrodichthys; Mawsonia

 Systematic Paleontology

Actinistia Cope, 1871 

Latimerioidei Schultze, 1993 

Mawsoniidae Schultze, 1993  

Mawsoniidae indeterminate

Referred material: A left angular associated with a dermal skull bone (supraorbital?) (PRC 160) from the Kham Phok fossil site.

Locality and horizon: Kham Phok, Khamcha-i district, Mukdahan Province, upper part of the Phu Kradung Formation, basal Cretaceous.

 Comparison in labial (a–k) and lingual (a’–k’) views between left angular PRC 160, Kham Phok locality ((g), framed in red), and other angulars referred to the Mawsonia/Axelrodichthys complex, discovered in various parts of the world dated between the Late Jurassic and the Late Cretaceous (red spots). Remark: Specimens i and j, figured by Cupello et al. [2016] and Batista et al. [2019] are both from a formation called Missão Velha and Brejo Santo, respectively, with an uncertain age of the Late Jurassic or Late Cretaceous. (a) A. megadromos, Southern France, terminal Cretaceous (inverted); (b) M. sp., USA, Woodbine Fm. (inverted); (c), A. lavocati, Northern Africa, ‘Continental Intercalaire’; (d) A. araripensis, Brazil, Santana Fm. (inverted); (e) M. gigas, Brazil, Marfim Fm.; (f) M. gigas, Brazil, Sanfranciscana Fm. (inverted); (h) mawsoniid indet., UK, Kimmeridge Clay; (i) mawsoniid indet., Brazil, MissãoVelha/Brejo Santo Fm.; (j) M. gigas, Brazil, MissãoVelha/Brejo Santo Fm. (inverted); (k) M. gigas, Brazil, Taruarembó Fm. Data from Cavin et al. (2021). Orange spots indicate other mawsoniid remains, not detailed here. The main anatomical structures are figured with colored areas.

Abbreviations: a.f, adductor fossa (blue); con.Part, contact surface with prearticular (red); gr.VII.m.ext groove for external mandibular ramus of VII (green); l.f, longitudinal fossa (orange); m.s.c, mandibular sensory canal (yellow); sut.p.Co, sutural contact surface with principal coronoid (purple); sut.De: sutural surface for dentary (pink); sut.Spl: sutural surface for splenial (grey).

Conclusions: 

The discovery of a mawsoniid coelacanth in the Lower Cretaceous of Thailand is an important new addition to the already rich vertebrate assemblages of the Phu Kradung Formation and, more generally, the Jurassic–Early Cretaceous assemblages of the Khorat Group. On a global scale and on the scale of tens of millions of years, this new occurrence blurs the palaeobiogeographical model previously proposed for this clade. It questions both the vicariance and dispersal events previously proposed to explain the observed distribution. The recognition of the coelacanths as forming a slowly evolving clade, in particular the mawsoniid clade, can explain the disconnection between the phylogenetic pattern and the paleobiogeographical framework, whereas such a connection is normally expected in biogeographical studies. One way to test this scenario is (1) to attempt to build a stronger phylogeny based on a re-study of known and hopefully new material and (2) to better decipher the Cenozoic evolutionary history of the extant coelacanth, Latimeria, which shows a split of species between 30 and 40 million years ago associated with almost no morphological differentiation and therefore represents a good model to better understand the Cretaceous mawsoniid case.

 

 Lionel Cavin, Haiyan Tong, Eric Buffetaut, Kamonlak Wongko, Varavudh Suteethorn  and Uthumporn Deesri. 2023. The First Fossil Coelacanth from Thailand. Diversity. 15(2), 286. DOI: 10.3390/d15020286  (This article belongs to the Special Issue Evolution and Diversity of Fishes in Deep Time)

[Paleontology • 2022] Plesiosaurs from the Fluvial Kem Kem Group (mid-Cretaceous) of eastern Morocco and A Review of Non-marine Plesiosaurs

in Bunker, Martill, ... et Longrich, 2022. 

 DOI: 10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105310 

Abstract

Plesiosaurs were a long-lived and widespread group of marine reptiles, with a worldwide distribution and a temporal range from the Late Triassic to the Late Cretaceous. Most occur in marine deposits, but some occur in low-salinity, brackish to freshwater environments. We report plesiosaurs from the freshwater fluvial deposits of the mid-Cretaceous (?Albian-Cenomanian) Kem Kem Group of Morocco. Remains include numerous shed teeth, vertebrae, and a humerus. The humerus represents a young juvenile; vertebrae likely belong to sub-adults. Teeth show heavy wear, similar to teeth of co-occurring spinosaurids. While coeval plesiosaurs from the Bahariya Formation of Egypt are members of Polycotylidae, the Kem Kem fossils show features of Leptocleididae, small-bodied plesiosaurs that were widely distributed in nearshore and non-marine settings in the Early Cretaceous. These fossils are the first freshwater plesiosaurs from Morocco, and are among the youngest representatives of Leptocleididae. The Kem Kem leptocleidids could have been infrequent visitors from the sea, freshwater-tolerant, or even freshwater-adapted, as in modern river dolphins. The abundance of shed teeth in the Kem Kem Group supports the hypothesis that they had some degree of freshwater tolerance. Furthermore, leptocleidids occur almost exclusively in shallow nearshore, brackish, or freshwater environments, suggesting adaptation to shallow, low-salinity environments. Other plesiosaur groups and other Mesozoic marine reptiles, including teleosaurids and mosasaurids, also occur in freshwater settings, suggesting plesiosaurs and other marine reptiles frequently exploited non-marine environments.

Keywords: Plesiosauria, Leptocleididae, Palaeoecology, Kem Kem Group, Morocco, Freshwater

Plesiosaurs and spinosaurus may have both inhabited freshwater rivers.

 

Georgina Bunker, David M. Martill, Roy Smith, Samir Zourhi and Nick Longrich. 2022. Plesiosaurs from the Fluvial Kem Kem Group (mid-Cretaceous) of eastern Morocco and A Review of Non-marine Plesiosaurs.   Cretaceous Research. 105310. In Press. DOI: 10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105310 

bath.ac.uk/announcements/plesiosaur-fossils-found-in-the-sahara-suggest-they-werent-just-marine-animals

[Paleontology • 2022] Vertebrate Paleobiodiversity of the Early Cretaceous (Berriasian) Angeac-Charente Lagerstätte (southwestern France): Implications for Continental Faunal Turnover at the J/K Boundary

 Reconstruction of the Angeac-Charente landscape, 140 Million years ago,

in Allain, Vullo, Rozada, et al., 2022. 

© Mazan 

 geodiversitas.com/44/25

This contribution describes the continental micro- and macrovertebrate fauna of Angeac-Charente (Berriasian, Early Cretaceous). The rich and diversified fauna includes at least 38 different vertebrate taxa from all major clades, and is represented by more than 50 000 specimens. The Angeac-Charente locality includes the most diverse earliest Cretaceous mixed continental bonebed and the only Lagerstätte known to date in the World, and it provides a good picture of a Purbeckian paleocommunity. It includes remarkable taxa such as a new ornithomimosaur, a large turiasaur, an helochelydrid turtle and numerous mammals. The vertebrate fauna of Angeac-Charente has beyond all a Purberckian character. Many exclusively European genera and species belong to families with an essentially Laurasian paleogeographic distribution. Some taxa nevertheless suggest dispersal events between Africa and Europe at the Jurassic/Cretaceous transition. The successive Charentese faunas of Chassiron (Tithonian), Cherves-de-Cognac (Berriasian) and Angeac-Charente improve our poor knowledge of the evolution of continental vertebrate faunas at the Jurassic/Cretaceous transition. Rather than reflecting an important faunal turnover between the Tithonian and the Berriasian, they record environmental changes related to the sea–level regression that characterizes the end of the Jurassic.

KEYWORDS: Vertebrata, Dinosauria, Mammalia, Amphibia, Reptilia, Early Cretaceous, Jurassic/Cretaceous boundary, Berriasian, France, Lagerstätte, Faunal list

 Reconstruction of the Angeac-Charente landscape, 140 Million years ago,

© Mazan

geodiversitas.com/44/25

  

Ronan Allain, Romain Vullo, Lee Rozada, Jérémy Anquetin, Renaud Bourgeais, ... et al. 2022. Vertebrate Paleobiodiversity of the Early Cretaceous (Berriasian) Angeac-Charente Lagerstätte (southwestern France): Implications for Continental Faunal Turnover at the J/K Boundary.  Geodiversitas. 44 (25): 683-752. DOI: 10.5252/geodiversitas2022v44a25. geodiversitas.com/44/25

  

france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/nouvelle-aquitaine/charente/angouleme/nouveau-femur-dinosaure-geant-deterre-site-paleontologique-angeac-charente-1702440.html

[Paleontology • 2022] A European Giant: A Large Spinosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Vectis Formation (Wealden Group, Early Cretaceous), UK

in Barker​, Lockwood, Naish, ... et Gostling, 2022.  

DOI: 10.7717/peerj.13543

Abstract 

Postcranial elements (cervical, sacral and caudal vertebrae, as well as ilium, rib and limb bone fragments) belonging to a gigantic tetanuran theropod were recovered from the basal unit (the White Rock Sandstone equivalent) of the Vectis Formation near Compton Chine, on the southwest coast of the Isle of Wight. These remains appear to pertain to the same individual, with enormous dimensions similar to those of the Spinosaurus holotype and exceeding those of the largest European theropods previously reported. A combination of features—including the presence of spinodiapophyseal webbing on an anterior caudal vertebra—suggest that this is a member of Spinosauridae, though a lack of convincing autapomorphies precludes the identification of a new taxon. Phylogenetic analysis supports spinosaurid affinities but we were unable to determine a more precise position within the clade weak support for a position within Spinosaurinae or an early-diverging position within Spinosauridae were found in some data runs. Bioerosion in the form of curved tubes is evident on several pieces, potentially related to harvesting behaviour by coleopteran bioeroders. This is the first spinosaurid reported from the Vectis Formation and the youngest British material referred to the clade. This Vectis Formation spinosaurid is unusual in that the majority of dinosaurs from the Lower Cretaceous units of the Wealden Supergroup are from the fluviolacustrine deposits of the underlying Barremian Wessex Formation. In contrast, the lagoonal facies of the upper Barremian–lower Aptian Vectis Formation only rarely yield dinosaur material. Our conclusions are in keeping with previous studies that emphasise western Europe as a pivotal region within spinosaurid origination and diversification.

Chris T. Barker​, Jeremy A.F. Lockwood, Darren Naish, Sophie Brown, Amy Hart, Ethan Tulloch and Neil J. Gostling. 2022.  A European Giant: A Large Spinosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Vectis Formation (Wealden Group, Early Cretaceous), UK. PeerJ. 10:e13543. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.13543

[Paleontology • 2022] First Definitive Record of Abelisauridae (Theropoda: Ceratosauria) from the Cretaceous Bahariya Formation, Bahariya Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt

 Reconstruction of the palaeoecosystem of the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian) Bahariya Formation of the Bahariya Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt, showing diversity of large-bodied theropod dinosaurs.

in Salem, Lamanna, O'Connor, ... et Sallam, 2022. 

 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.220106

 AUCEgypt.edu 

Artwork by Andrew McAfee, Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Abstract

Numerous non-avian theropod dinosaur fossils have been reported from the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian) Bahariya Formation, Bahariya Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt, but unambiguous materials of Abelisauridae have yet to be documented. Here we report Mansoura University Vertebrate Paleontology Center (MUVP) specimen 477, an isolated, well-preserved tenth cervical vertebra of a medium-sized abelisaurid from the Bahariya Formation. The new vertebra shows affinities with those of other Upper Cretaceous abelisaurids from Madagascar and South America, such as Majungasaurus crenatissimus, Carnotaurus sastrei, Viavenator exxoni and a generically indeterminate Patagonian specimen (Museo Padre Molina specimen 99). Phylogenetic analysis recovers the Bahariya form within Abelisauridae, either in a polytomy of all included abelisaurids (strict consensus tree) or as an early branching member of the otherwise South American clade Brachyrostra (50% majority rule consensus tree). MUVP 477, therefore, represents the first confirmed abelisaurid fossil from the Bahariya Formation and the oldest definitive record of the clade from Egypt and northeastern Africa more generally. The new vertebra demonstrates the wide geographical distribution of Abelisauridae across North Africa during the middle Cretaceous and augments the already extraordinarily diverse large-bodied theropod assemblage of the Bahariya Formation, a record that also includes representatives of Spinosauridae, Carcharodontosauridae and Bahariasauridae.

Keywords: Abelisauridae, Egypt, Africa, Cretaceous, Bahariya Formation

Tenth cervical vertebra of Abelisauridae indet. (MUVP 477)
in cranial (a), caudal (b), left lateral (c), right dorsolateral (d), ventral (e) and dorsal (f) views.

 Reconstruction of the palaeoecosystem of the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian) Bahariya Formation of the Bahariya Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt, showing diversity of large-bodied theropod dinosaurs.
In the foreground, the unidentified abelisaurid described herein (right) confronts the spinosaurid Spinosaurus aegyptiacus (left centre, with dipnoan (lungfish) Retodus tuberculatus in jaws) and the carcharodontosaurid Carcharodontosaurus saharicus (right centre) while two individuals of the stomatosuchid crocodyliform Stomatosuchus inermis (left) look on. In the background, a herd of the titanosaurian sauropod Paralititan stromeri (left) warily regards these theropods and two individuals of the bahariasaurid Bahariasaurus ingens (far right) while a small flock of an undescribed pterosaur soars above. The vegetation is dominated by the mangrove-like tree fern Weichselia reticulata.

Artwork by Andrew McAfee, Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Conclusion: 

The cervical vertebra (MUVP 477) described herein represents the first confirmed fossil of Abelisauridae from the Bahariya Formation, establishing it as the oldest definitive record of this theropod clade from Egypt and northeastern Africa more generally. The new vertebra demonstrates the wide geographical distribution of abelisaurids across North Africa during the middle Cretaceous and augments the already extraordinarily diverse large-bodied non-avian theropod record of the Bahariya Formation, a unit that also preserves representatives of Spinosauridae, Carcharodontosauridae and Bahariasauridae. This abelisaurid/spinosaurid/carcharodontosaurid/bahariasaurid faunal assemblage appears to have extended across most or all of northern Africa during the Cenomanian, suggesting that the Trans-Saharan Seaway did not represent a significant barrier to large-bodied theropod dispersal at this time. The Bahariya Formation holds unrealized potential to improve understanding of this northern African Cenomanian fauna due to the relative commonality of phylogenetically informative associated partial skeletons in this stratigraphic unit.

 

Belal S. Salem, Matthew C. Lamanna, Patrick M. O'Connor, Gamal M. El-Qot, Fatma Shaker, Wael A. Thabet, Sanaa El-Sayed and Hesham M. Sallam. 2022. First Definitive Record of Abelisauridae (Theropoda: Ceratosauria) from the Cretaceous Bahariya Formation, Bahariya Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt. R. Soc. open sci. 9220106. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.220106 

Hesham Sallam Leads Egyptian Team’s Discovery of Bizarre Meat-Eating Dinosaur in Egypt’s Bahariya Oasis 

AUCEgypt.edu/news/hesham-sallam-leads-egyptian-team%E2%80%99s-discovery-bizarre-meat-eating-dinosaur-egypt%E2%80%99s-bahariya