Extreme and rapid bursts of functional adaptations shape bite force in amniotes. [PDF]
Proc Biol Sci, 2019 Adaptation is the fundamental driver of functional and biomechanical evolution. Accordingly, the states of biomechanical traits (absolute or relative trait values) have long been used as proxies for adaptations in response to direct selection.
Sakamoto M, Ruta M, Venditti C.
europepmc +4 more sources
The body plan of Halszkaraptor escuilliei (Dinosauria, Theropoda) is not a transitional form along the evolution of dromaeosaurid hypercarnivory [PDF]
PeerJ, 2020 The dromaeosaurid theropod Halszkaraptor escuilliei is characterized by several unusual features absent in other paravians, part of which has been interpreted as diagnostic of a novel lineage adapted to a semiaquatic ecology. Recently, these evolutionary
Andrea Cau
doaj +3 more sources
Shake a tail feather: the evolution of the theropod tail into a stiff aerodynamic surface. [PDF]
PLoS One, 2013 Theropod dinosaurs show striking morphological and functional tail variation; e.g., a long, robust, basal theropod tail used for counterbalance, or a short, modern avian tail used as an aerodynamic surface.
Pittman M +4 more
europepmc +10 more sources
First evidence of an unenlagiid (Dinosauria, Theropoda, Maniraptora) from the Bauru Group, Brazil
Cretaceous Research, 2012 In this study, we describe a small theropod dorsal vertebra from the Late Cretaceous Bauru Group (Brazil). The specimen is referred to the maniraptoran clade Unenlagiidae based on the following combination of characters: diapophyses short, wide and weakly inclined; dorsal surface of the neural spine transversely expanded; neural spine at least twice as
Andrea Cau +2 more
exaly +3 more sources
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 2017 Troodontid material from the Maastrichtian of North America is extremely rare, beyond isolated teeth from microvertebrate sites. Here we describe troodontid frontals from the early Maastrichtian Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Horsethief Member). The most complete specimen, TMP 1993.105.0001, is notably foreshortened and robust when compared with numerous ...
Thomas M Cullen +2 more
exaly +3 more sources
A fast-growing basal troodontid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the latest Cretaceous of Europe. [PDF]
Sci Rep, 2021 Altres ajuts: "Xarxes paleocològiques dels jaciments de dinosaures del Cretaci català" ("Paleoecological networks of the dinosaur quarries of the Catalan Cretaceous") CLT/903/2018/67, funded by the Departament de Cultura of the Generalitat de Catalunya.A
Sellés AG +4 more
europepmc +4 more sources
Postcranial skeletal anatomy of the holotype and referred specimens of Buitreraptor gonzalezorum Makovicky, Apesteguía and Agnolín 2005 (Theropoda, Dromaeosauridae), from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia. [PDF]
PeerJ, 2018 Here we provide a detailed description of the postcranial skeleton of the holotype and referred specimens of Buitreraptor gonzalezorum. This taxon was recovered as an unenlagiine dromaeosaurid in several recent phylogenetic studies and is the best ...
Gianechini FA +3 more
europepmc +6 more sources
An Eudromaeosaurian Theropod from Lo Hueco (Upper Cretaceous. Central Spain)
Diversity, 2023 The Lo Hueco fossil site (Cuenca, Spain) is one of the most relevant localities for the study of Late Cretaceous continental vertebrate faunas from Europe.
Elisabete Malafaia +3 more
doaj +1 more source
A new North American therizinosaurid and the role of herbivory in ‘predatory’ dinosaur evolution [PDF]
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2009 Lindsay E Zanno
exaly +2 more sources
Papers in Palaeontology, Volume 9, Issue 2, March/April 2023., 2023 Abstract Current research suggests that the initial radiation of maniraptoran theropods occurred in the Middle Jurassic, although their fossil record is known almost exclusively from the Cretaceous. However, fossils of Jurassic maniraptorans are scarce, usually consisting solely of isolated teeth, and their identifications are often disputed.
Simon Wills +3 more
wiley +1 more source