A HIGHLY PNEUMATIC MIDDLE CRETACEOUS THEROPOD FROM THE BRITISH LOWER GREENSAND
A HIGHLY PNEUMATIC MIDDLE CRETACEOUS THEROPOD FROM THE BRITISH LOWER GREENSAND
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DOI：
10.1002/spp2.1338
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发表时间：
2020-09-03
影响因子：
2.3
通讯作者：
Gostling, Neil J.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Barker, Chris T.;Naish, Darren;Gostling, Neil J.
在英国怀特岛诺克崖附近的前滨发现了一系列来自下绿砂群阿普第亚含铁砂组的轴向元素（除了一些来自森诺曼剑桥绿砂的孤立牙齿和破碎的后颅材料），这是英国中生代最年轻的非鸟类兽脚亚目化石。这些标本有可能揭示欧洲恐龙记录中鲜为人知的部分。大小、外观和附着基质的一致性表明椎骨属于同一个体。这是一个中等大小的破伤风，存在几个诊断特征表明它应该被认为是一个新的分类单元，在此命名为Vectaerovenator inopinatus。颈椎和背椎是驼背状的，高度充气。Tetanuran的特征包括位于窝内的后腔颈和充气孔;然而，将该标本分配给特定的Glade是有问题的。在Tetanurae中，矢脉龙拥有巨龙科、Carcharodontosaurian和某些腔上龙类的轴向结构和相似的特征。Vectaerovenator不仅是英国最年轻的非鸟类恐龙之一，也是少数几个有效的英国绿砂分类群之一，它也是第一个在欧洲Aptian沉积物中命名的兽脚亚目分类群。
A series of axial elements from the Aptian Ferruginous Sands Formation of the Lower Greensand Group, discovered on the foreshore near Knock Cliff on the Isle of Wight, UK are (bar some isolated teeth and fragmentary post-cranial material from the Cenomanian Cambridge Greensand) the youngest non-avian theropod remains reported from the British Mesozoic. These specimens have the potential to shed light on a poorly known section of the European dinosaur record. Consistency in size, appearance and adhering matrix indicates that the vertebrae belong to the same individual. This was a mid-sized tetanuran, the presence of several diagnostic characters indicating that it should be recognized as a new taxon, herein named Vectaerovenator inopinatus. The cervical and dorsal vertebrae are camerate and highly pneumatic. Tetanuran features include opisthocoelous cervicals and pneumatic foramina located within fossae; however, assigning this specimen to a specific Glade is problematic. Within Tetanurae, Vectaerovenator possesses axial structures and homoplastic features seen in megalosauroids, carcharodontosaurians and certain coelurosaurs. Not only is Vectaerovenator one of the UK's youngest non-bird dinosaurs, and one of few valid British Greensand taxa, it is also the first diagnosable theropod taxon to be named from Aptian deposits of Europe.