Browsing by Author "Elliott, DA"

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    Abdominal contents reveal Cretaceous crocodyliforms ate dinosaurs
    (Elsevier, 2022-06) White, MA; Bell, PR; Campione, NE; Sansalone, G; Brougham, T; Bevitt, JJ; Molnar, RE; Cook, AG; Wroe, S; Elliott, DA
    Crocodylians are among Earth's most successful hyper-carnivores, with their crocodyliform ancestors persisting since the Triassic. The diets of extinct crocodyliforms are typically inferred from distinctive bite-marks on fossil bone, which indicate that some species fed on contemporaneous dinosaurs. Nevertheless, the most direct dietary evidence (i.e. preserved gut contents) of these interactions in fossil crocodyliforms has been elusive. Here we report on a new crocodyliform, Confractosuchus sauroktonos gen. et sp. nov., from the Cenomanian (92.5–104 Ma) of Australia, with exceptionally preserved abdominal contents comprising parts of a juvenile ornithopod dinosaur. A phylogenetic analysis recovered Confractosuchus as the sister taxon to a clade comprising susisuchids and hylaeochampsids. The ornithopod remains displayed clear evidence of oral processing, carcass reduction (dismemberment) and bone fragmentation, which are diagnostic hallmarks of some modern crocodylian feeding behaviour. Nevertheless, a macro-generalist feeding strategy for Confractosuchus similar to extant crocodylians is supported by a morphometric analysis of the skull and reveals that dietary versatility accompanied the modular assembly of the modern crocodylian bauplan. Of further interest, these ornithopod bones represent the first skeletal remains of the group from the Winton Formation, previously only known from shed teeth and tracks, and may represent a novel taxon. 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of International Association for Gondwana Research. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
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    The osteology of Ferrodraco lentoni, an anhanguerid pterosaur from the mid-Cretaceous of Australia
    (Taylor & Francis, 2022-03-28) Pentland, AH; Poropat, SF; White, MA; Rigby, SL; Bevitt, JJ; Duncan, RJ; Sloan, T; Elliott, RA; Elliott, HA; Elliott, JA; Elliott, DA
    Ferrodraco lentoni, an anhanguerid from the Upper Cretaceous Winton Formation of northeast Australia, is the most complete Australian pterosaur described to date, represented by a partial cranium, incomplete cervical series and wing elements. Herein we present a comprehensive osteological description of Ferrodraco, as well as an emended diagnosis for this taxon. In addition, we compare Ferrodraco with other isolated pterosaur remains from Australian Cretaceous deposits. Subtle, yet salient, differences indicate that at least three of these specimens, all derived from the upper Albian Toolebuc Formation, are distinct from Ferrodraco. However, we are uncertain whether these specimens are attributable to Mythunga camara, Aussiedraco molnari, Thapunngaka shawi, or an as yet un-named taxon. Detailed description of the postcranial material of Ferrodraco also provides an opportunity to reassess its phylogenetic position. In one analysis, Ferrodraco and Mythunga are resolved as sister taxa within Tropeognathinae, whereas in another, Ferrodraco, Mythunga, and Tropeognathus form a polytomy within Coloborhynchinae. Either way, these slight differences notwithstanding, a close relationship between Ferrodraco and Mythunga is evident, supporting the interpretation that they form a clade. By contrast, Aussiedraco molnari is resolved as a member of Targaryendraconia, a clade with a cosmopolitan distribution. The presence of several anhanguerian taxa or lineages in the late Early and early Late Cretaceous of northeast Australia is suggestive of even greater diversity in the Australian pterosaur fauna. © 2022. A. H. Pentland, S. F. Poropat, M. A. White, S. L. Rigby, J. J.Brevitt, R. J. Duncan, T. Sloan, R. A. Elliott, H. A. Elliott, J. A.Elliott, and D. A. Elliott. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Crea-tive Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, pro-vided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed,or built upon in any way