Open Paleo

Abelisauroidea

Bonaparte & Novas, 1985 Type genus Abelisaurus

Its genera lived 165.3–66.0 million years ago Middle Jurassic–Late Cretaceous

Abelisauroidea is a diverse superfamily of ceratosaurian theropod dinosaurs, divided into two families: the abelisaurids and the noasaurids. Though typically regarded as a Cretaceous group, its origins trace back to at least the Middle Jurassic, when abelisauroids had a nearly global distribution. By the Cretaceous they had disappeared from Asia and North America, possibly outcompeted by tyrannosauroids, and flourished instead across the southern continents of Gondwana, where the advanced abelisaurids persisted as dominant terrestrial predators until the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction 66 million years ago. The group spanned a wide range of forms, from small, nimble, lightly built noasaurids, some barely 5 feet (1.5 meters) long, to large, deep-skulled abelisaurids. Noasaurids retained comparatively long, usable arms, whereas the forelimbs of abelisaurids were reduced to tiny, diminished stubs.

Diagnosis

  1. Elongate cervical vertebrae with epipophyses and low neural spines
  2. Anterior cervical ribs directed strongly anteroventrally
  3. Femur with a proximally placed, medially oriented head and reduced trochanteric shelf

Clades within Abelisauroidea

Genera placed directly in Abelisauroidea

  • Bahariasaurus Stromer, 1934 Cenomanian (100.5–93.9 Ma)Egyptincertae sedisunder dispute
  • Betasuchus Nomen dubium Huene, 1932 Maastrichtian (72.2–66.0 Ma)Netherlandsincertae sedisunder dispute
  • Coeluroides Nomen dubium Huene & Matley, 1933 Maastrichtian (72.2–66.0 Ma)Indiaincertae sedisunder dispute
  • Compsosuchus Nomen dubium Huene & Matley, 1933 Maastrichtian (72.2–66.0 Ma)Indiaincertae sedisunder dispute
  • Dahalokely Farke & Sertich, 2013 Turonian (93.9–89.8 Ma)Madagascarunder dispute
  • Huinculsaurus Baiano et al., 2020 Cenomanian–Turonian (100.5–89.8 Ma)Argentinaunder dispute
  • Ligabueino Bonaparte, 1996 Barremian (125.8–121.4 Ma)Argentinaunder dispute
  • Ornithomimoides Nomen dubium Huene & Matley, 1933 Maastrichtian (72.2–66.0 Ma)Indiaincertae sedis

References

  1. Bonaparte, J. F.; Novas, F. E. (1985). Abelisaurus comahuensis, n.g., n.sp., Carnosauria del Crétacico Tardio de Patagonia [Abelisaurus comahuensis, n.g., n.sp., Carnosauria from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia]. Ameghiniana 21: 259-265.

    Named the family Abelisauridae, from which the superfamily name takes its authorship by coordination.

    bonaparte1985b
  2. Bonaparte, J. F. (1991). The Gondwanian theropod families Abelisauridae and Noasauridae. Historical Biology 5(1): 1-25. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/10292389109380385

    Placed Abelisauridae and Noasauridae together in the superfamily Abelisauroidea, which it credits to Novas (1989), within Ceratosauria.

    bonaparte1991b
  3. Novas, F. E. (1989). Los dinosaurios carnívoros de la Argentina [The carnivorous dinosaurs of Argentina]. 1-509. Doctoral thesis, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.

    The doctoral thesis to which Bonaparte (1991) credits the superfamily Abelisauroidea.

    novas1989a