First elaphrosaurine theropod dinosaur (Ceratosauria: Noasauridae) from Australia — a cervical vertebra from the early Cretaceous of Victoria

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dc.contributor.authorPoropat, SFen_AU
dc.contributor.authorPentland, AHen_AU
dc.contributor.authorDuncan, RJen_AU
dc.contributor.authorBevitt, JJen_AU
dc.contributor.authorVickers-Rich, Pen_AU
dc.contributor.authorRich, THen_AU
dc.date.accessioned2025-01-09T21:49:01Zen_AU
dc.date.available2025-01-09T21:49:01Zen_AU
dc.date.issued2020-08en_AU
dc.date.statistics2024-09-11en_AU
dc.description.abstractElaphrosaurinae is an enigmatic clade of gracile ceratosaurian theropod dinosaurs known from the Late Jurassic of Africa (Elaphrosaurus bambergi) and Asia (e.g., Limusaurus inextricabilis), and the early Late Cretaceous of Argentina (Huinculsaurus montesi). Elaphrosaurinae is often placed within Noasauridae as the sister taxon to Noasaurinae, a clade of small-bodied theropods that lived in South America, Africa, Madagascar and India throughout much of the Cretaceous. Herein, we report the first evidence of Elaphrosaurinae from Australia: a nearly complete middle cervical vertebra from the upper Lower Cretaceous (lower Albian) Eumeralla Formation of Cape Otway, Victoria, Australia. The fact that this site would have been situated at ~76°S towards the end of the Early Cretaceous (~110–107 Ma) implies that elaphrosaurines were capable of tolerating near-polar palaeoenvironments, whereas its age indicates that elaphrosaurines persisted in Australia until at least the late Early Cretaceous. The new Australian elaphrosaurine, in tandem with the recently described Huinculsaurus montesi from the Cenomanian–Turonian of Argentina, implies that the spatiotemporal distribution of Elaphrosaurinae has heretofore been greatly underestimated. Historic confusion of elaphrosaurines with coelurosaurs, especially ornithomimosaurs, coupled with our generally poor understanding of noasaurid evolution, might explain the apparent dearth of fossils of this theropod clade worldwide. © 2020 International Association for Gondwana Research. Published by Elsevier B.V.en_AU
dc.identifier.citationPoropat, S. F., Pentland, A. H., Duncan, R. J., Bevitt, J. J., Vickers-Rich, P., & Rich, T. H. (2020). First elaphrosaurine theropod dinosaur (Ceratosauria: Noasauridae) from Australia — a cervical vertebra from the early Cretaceous of Victoria. Gondwana Research, 84, 284-295. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2020.03.009en_AU
dc.identifier.issn1342-937Xen_AU
dc.identifier.journaltitleGondwana Researchen_AU
dc.identifier.pagination284-295en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2020.03.009en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://apo.ansto.gov.au/handle/10238/15878en_AU
dc.identifier.volume84en_AU
dc.languageEnglishen_AU
dc.language.isoenen_AU
dc.publisherElsevieren_AU
dc.subjectCretaceous perioden_AU
dc.subjectVertebraeen_AU
dc.subjectAustraliaen_AU
dc.subjectVictoriaen_AU
dc.subjectFossilsen_AU
dc.subjectPolar regionsen_AU
dc.subjectRecords managementen_AU
dc.titleFirst elaphrosaurine theropod dinosaur (Ceratosauria: Noasauridae) from Australia — a cervical vertebra from the early Cretaceous of Victoriaen_AU
dc.typeJournal Articleen_AU
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