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Skull of the spinosaurid Suchomimus tenerensis. Articulated premaxillae and maxillae (MNN GDF501) in left (A) lateral (reversed from right) and (B) ventral views. Skull reconstruction of S. tenerensis based on remains from Niger and Baryonyx walkeri in (C) dorsal and (D) lateral views. Shaded portions are not currently known in any spinosaurid. (E) Scanning electron micrograph of the crown margin of an isolated tooth of S. tenerensis showing the small marginal serrations and textured enamel. Scale bar in (A) through (D), 10 cm; in (E), 1 mm. Abbreviations: a, angular; aj, articular surface for jugal; an, articular surface for nasal; antfe, antorbital fenestra; antfo, antorbital fossa; ar, articular; bo, basioccipital; bs, basisphenoid; d, dentary; emf, external mandibular fenestra; en, external naris; eo, exoccipital; f, frontal; j, jugal; l, lacrimal; lh, lacrimal horn; m, maxilla; n, nasal; nh, nasal horn; p, parietal; pm, premaxilla; po, postorbital; popr, paroccipital process; pra, prearticular; prf, prefrontal; pt, pterygoid; q, quadrate; qf, quadrate foramen; qj, quadratojugal; sa, surangular; saf, surangular foramen; so, supraoccipital; sq, squamosal; stf, supratemporial fossa; and 1 through 17, tooth positions.
Source publication
Fossils discovered in Lower Cretaceous (Aptian) rocks in the Ténéré Desert of central Niger provide new information about
spinosaurids, a peculiar group of piscivorous theropod dinosaurs. The remains, which represent a new genus and species, reveal
the extreme elongation and transverse compression of the spinosaurid snout. The postcranial bones inc...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... regard the bones that were identified as the left postorbital, left jugal, right atlantal neural arch, and left angular (13) as the posterior portion of the right suran- gular, right prearticular, central body of the left ptery- goid, and right angular, respectively. These are reposi- tioned accordingly in our cranial reconstruction (Fig. 2, C and D). The plate-shaped anteromedial process of the maxilla was formerly identified as the vomer (13). We regard the deeper proportions of the occiput as recon- structed in B. walkeri (13) as an artifact of unnatural ventral displacement of the quadrate. The cranium in Baryonyx was probably as low, long, and narrow as in Table 2. ...
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Citations
... SPINOSAURIDAE Stromer, 1915. BARYONYCHINAE Charig and Milner, 1986, sensu Sereno et al., 1998. Genus Protathlitis nov. ...
... Protathlitis cinctorrensis is recovered as a basal baryonychine (Fig. 7). Unambiguous synapomorphies include character 14, which corresponds to a: (14) Maxilla, subcircular depression in the anterior corner of the antorbital fossa present. ...
... Sereno et al. 14 recognized some features that differentiate Baryonychinae from Spinosaurinae. The former has curved tooth crowns, teeth with fine serrations, external naris retracted to the first half of the maxillary tooth row and an elevated number of maxillary teeth (22 in Suchomimus). ...
A new spinosaurid genus and species is described based on the right maxilla and five caudal vertebrae of a single specimen from the Arcillas de Morella Formation (Early Cretaceous) at the locality of Cinctorres (Castellón, Spain). Protathlitis cinctorrensis gen. et sp. nov. is diagnosed by one autapomorphic feature as well as by a unique combination of characters. The autapomorphy includes a subcircular depression in the anterior corner of the antorbital fossa in the maxilla. The new Iberian species is recovered as a basal baryonychine. The recognition of Protathlitis cinctorrensis gen. et sp. nov. as the first baryonychine dinosaur species identified from the Arcillas de Morella Formation (late Barremian) from the same time as Vallibonavenatrix cani, the first spinosaurine dinosaur from the same formation in the Morella subbasin (Maestrat Basin, eastern Spain), indicates that the Iberian Peninsula was home to a highly diverse assemblage of medium-to-large bodied spinosaurid dinosaurs. It seems that spinosaurids appeared during the Early Cretaceous in Laurasia, with the two subfamilies occupying the western part of Europe during this period. Later, during the Barremian–Aptian, they migrated to Africa and Asia, where they would diversify. In Europe, baryonychines were dominant, while in Africa, spinosaurines were most abundant.
... Spinosauridae is a clade of large-bodied theropods exhibiting highly specialized craniodental morphology such as an elongated and laterally compressed rostrum, six to seven premaxillary teeth arranged in a terminal rosette, retracted external nares, procumbent mesial maxillary dentition, and conical teeth (Charig & Milner 1997;Sereno et al. 1998;Hendrickx et al. 2015a;Hone & Holtz 2017;. With regard to its post cranium, features such as expanded/hypertrophied neural spines, large forelimbs and claws, and tail ecomorphological adaptations are also found in this enigmatic group (Stromer 1915;Charig & Milner 1997;Allain et al. 2012;Ibrahim et al. 2020). ...
... Although they have an origin, probably in the Jurassic (Milner 2003;Carrano et al. 2012;Barker et al. 2021) fossil remains are rare to absent during the Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous, and several occurrences of the clade refer to materials of Barremian and Aptian/Albian ages (Bertin 2010;Hone et al. 2010;Novas et al. 2013). Spinosaurids have a widespread distribution; fossils have been recorded in Africa, Europe, Asia, and South America (e.g., Kellner & Campos 1996;Charig & Milner 1997;Sereno et al. 1998;Kellner et al. 2011;Allain et al. 2012;Novas et al. 2013;Barker et al. 2021;Mateus & Estraviz-López 2022) being absent only in North America, Oceania and Antarctica to date. ...
... Spinosaurids are commonly divided into two major clades, Spinosaurinae and Baryonychinae. The distinction between both is based mainly on craniodental features (Sereno et al. 1998), while recently proposed interpretations challenge the monophyletic status of Baryonychinae (e.g., , see also Barker et al. 2021), or recover this clade as a generalized polytomy (e.g., Malafaia et al. 2020). However, most approaches recognize the monophyly of Baryonychinae, but with a species composition and valid taxa different from previous hypotheses (e.g., Sereno et al. 1998;Allain et al. 2012;Carrano et al. 2012;Malafaia et al. 2020;Barker et al. 2021;Lacerda et al. 2022;Mateus & Estraviz-López 2022). ...
We report the first occurrence in South America of spinosaurid specimens belonging to the clade Baryonychinae. The material comprises three tooth crowns recovered from the Lower Cretaceous (Berriasian–Valanginian) of the Feliz Deserto Formation, State of Sergipe, northeast Brazil. The three specimens have the typical conidont condition, displaying a fluted morphology, veined enamel texture and carinae extending to the cervix region, conditions similar to those shared among spinosaurid theropods. Furthermore, a notable feature is the presence of a serrated carinae composed of 6–7 diminutive denticles per millimetre, a key feature shared by baryonychine spinosaurids. Phylogenetic and multivariate analyses performed on dentition-based and crown-based datasets of theropod taxa confirm the relationship of the three tooth crowns described here with the well-supported spinosaurid clade. Our results retrieve the taxa which comprise the “classically” baryonychine clade as individual branches within a polytomy which includes the three tooth crowns and a subclade of spinosaurines (Spinosaurus + Angaturama/Irritator). Additionally, the discriminant and cluster analyses suggest that the materials are more similar to Suchomimus than to Baryonyx morphometrically, but clearly bearing similarities with baryonychines (sharing a similar morphospace). These new findings paleogeographically expand the occurrence of this clade to western Gondwana, and comprise one of the oldest spinosaurid records worldwide, which brings implications on hypotheses for the emergence and evolution of the clade. Furthermore, these new records indicate the presence of more than one spinosaurid taxon in the Lower Cretaceous deltaic paleoenvironment of the Feliz Deserto Formation.
... Spinosauridae is an aberrant clade of long-snouted, large-bodied theropod dinosaurs, with representative taxa and key specimens known from the fossil records of Europe, Asia, Africa and South America (Allain et al., 2012;Barker et al., 2021;Charig & Milner, 1986;Dal Sasso et al., 2005;Ibrahim et al., 2014Ibrahim et al., , 2020Kellner et al., 2011;Malafaia et al., 2020;Mateus & Estraviz-López, 2022;Sereno et al., 1998;Stromer, 1915;Sues et al., 2002). Generally limited to Lower to "mid" Cretaceous deposits (Bertin, 2010;Holtz et al., 2004), phylogenetic analyses nevertheless support a Jurassic origin for the clade (Barker et al., 2021;Carrano et al., 2012), although definitive material from this period remains unknown (Hendrickx et al., 2019;Soto et al., 2020). ...
... Generally limited to Lower to "mid" Cretaceous deposits (Bertin, 2010;Holtz et al., 2004), phylogenetic analyses nevertheless support a Jurassic origin for the clade (Barker et al., 2021;Carrano et al., 2012), although definitive material from this period remains unknown (Hendrickx et al., 2019;Soto et al., 2020). Spinosauridae is typically subdivided into Baryonychinae and Spinosaurinae (Arden et al., 2019;Benson, 2010;Carrano et al., 2012;Rauhut & Pol, 2019;Sereno et al., 1998), although support for this dichotomy may be weaker than previously thought (Barker et al., 2021;Evers et al., 2015;Sales & Schultz, 2017). Nevertheless, for ease of comparison, we follow the baryonychine-spinosaurine dichotomy throughout this work. ...
The digital reconstruction of neurocranial endocasts has elucidated the gross brain structure and potential ecological attributes of many fossil taxa, including Irritator, a spinosaurine spinosaurid from the "mid" Cretaceous (Aptian) of Brazil. With unexceptional hearing capabilities, this taxon was inferred to integrate rapid and controlled pitch-down movements of the head that perhaps aided in the predation of small and agile prey such as fish. However, the neuroanatomy of baryonychine spinosaurids remains to be described, and potentially informs on the condition of early spinosaurids. Using micro-computed tomographic scanning (μCT), we reconstruct the braincase endocasts of Baryonyx walkeri and Ceratosuchops inferodios from the Wealden Supergroup (Lower Cretaceous) of England. We show that the gross endocranial morphology is similar to other non-maniraptoriform theropods, and corroborates previous observations of overall endocranial conservatism amongst more basal theropods. Several differences of unknown taxonomic utility are noted between the pair. Baryonychine neurosensory capabilities include low-frequency hearing and unexceptional olfaction, whilst the differing morphology of the floccular lobe tentatively suggests less developed gaze stabilisation mechanisms relative to spinosaurines. Given the morphological similarities observed with other basal tetanurans, baryonychines likely possessed comparable behavioural sophistication, suggesting that the transition from terrestrial hypercarnivorous ancestors to semi-aquatic "generalists" during the evolution of Spinosauridae did not require substantial modification of the brain and sensory systems.
... See caption for Fig. 2 for taxa abbreviations has a well-preserved pelvis. This is the situation with two carcharodontosaurids-Giganotosaurus carolinii (Coria and Salgado 1995) and Merxaxes gigas (Canale et al. 2022), and two spinosaurids-Spinosaurus aegyptiacus (Ibrahim et al. 2020) and Suchomimus tenerensis (Sereno et al. 1998), none of which are known from anything like single, complete skeletons, but do have nearly complete pelves (Fig. 4). Based on the published illustrations of their preserved pelves, and using the triangular decomposition method (Henderson 2002) for determination of their areas, their body length range estimates are Giganotosaurus 11.6-13.4 ...
Despite nearly 200 years of scientific collecting and study, none of the extinct, bipedal, predatory, theropod dinosaurs have been reliably shown to exceed 12 m in length. Using digital 3D models of theropods with lengths spanning 80 cm to 12 m, their body masses were found to scale to the 3.5 power of body lengths. The lateral area of the pelvis and the cross-sectional area of the tail base of these animals corresponds to the cross-sectional areas of key muscle groups important for balance and locomotion, and both scale to the 2.4 power of body length. Body accelerations in the lateral and forward directions are, using F = ma, given by dividing muscle area (force proxy) by body mass. Plotting these acceleration estimates against body length shows them to decrease exponentially. The largest theropods with body lengths of 10–12 m have less than 10% of the acceleration capacity of the smaller forms. The distinct lack of fossil remains of theropods demonstrably longer than 12 m suggests that the theropod body plan had an upper size limit based on a minimum acceleration threshold. Rotational inertia of the theropod body was found to be proportional to body length raised to the 5.5 power, and with increasing length, the capacity for agility would rapidly diminish. The tight relationship between theropod pelvic area and body length allows for the estimation of body lengths of specimens lacking complete axial skeletons, and this is done for four, large, well-preserved pelves.
... In general terms, all described teeth share the morphology of flutes and enamel texture similar to spinosaurids, such as Angaturama (Kellner and Campos, 1996), Spinosaurus (Hasegawa et al., 2010;Hendrickx et al., 2015) and the indeterminate spinosaurine from the same locality and previously described (Sales et al., 2017). In contrast to baryonychine spinosaurids such as Baryonyx (Charig and Milner, 1997) and Iberospinus (Mateus and Estraviz-L opez, 2022), the teeth presented here lack the denticles in the mesial and distal carinae, which is a discernible feature shared among spinosaurines (Sereno et al., 1998;Hendrickx et al., 2015;Alonso and Canudo, 2016). Besides, the overall texturization of the enamel of the described specimens is anastomosed, which seems to be a common feature in spinosaurines (Hendrickx et al., 2019). ...
... It is interesting to note that, according to the hypothesis of Sereno et al. (1998), the initial distribution of spinosaurids was cosmopolitan, with later vicarious and dispersal events from Laurasia. Recently, a biogeographic model proposed by Barker et al. (2021) suggests the origin of the group in the Laurasia landmasses as later dispersion pulses to Gondwana. ...
The Feliz Deserto Formation (Berriasian–Valanginian, Sergipe-Alagoas Basin, NE Brazil) preserved some of the earliest South American fossil records of the rifting stages which resulted in the Gondwana supercontinent break-up during the Lower Cretaceous. Recently, the first spinosaurid theropod record of this formation was described, based on a tooth recovered from Canafístula 01 fossil locality in Sergipe State. We add herein twenty-seven isolated specimens to the fossil record of the Lower Cretaceous Feliz Deserto Formation. The new material includes seven isolated spinosaurid theropod teeth of the spinosaurine clade, as well as an indeterminate theropod preungual pedal phalanx. In addition, we describe an isolated crocodyliform osteoderm, as well as eighteen isolated teeth, some of which were taxonomically identified in three distinct morphotypes of neosuchian crocodyliforms. These findings expand the Gondwanan fossil record of both spinosaurine theropods and neosuchian crocodyliforms. Despite the fragmented nature of the specimens, these new fossils allowed the characterization of their general taphonomic features with low fluvial transport of bioclast prior to the burial. The depositional paleoenvironment of the Canafístula 01 locality is compatible with the deltaic system unit, that characterizes part of the Feliz Deserto Formation during the Lower Cretaceous. These fossil findings exemplify the co-occurrence of spinosaurids and more than one taxon of crocodyliforms in the deltaic-lacustrine paleoenvironment represented by the Feliz Deserto Formation. These new occurrences reinforce the fossiliferous potential of the Canafístula 01 locality, especially related to the paleovertebrates from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil.
... Whereas other giant theropods are interpreted as hypercarnivorous apex predators (e.g., Molnar and Farlow, 1992), spinosaurids show an aberrant skull morphology that indicates a different feeding ecology. Spinosaurids probably fed on prey items considerably smaller than their own body size, maybe predominantly, but not exclusively, fish (e.g., Taquet, 1984;Milner, 1986, 1997;Sereno et al., 1998 Hone and Holtz, 2021). However, although the name-giving genus Spinosaurus was described more than 100 years ago (Stromer, 1915), the skull and the postcranial osteology of spinosaurids is still rather poorly known due to the fragmentary nature of most of the recovered material (e.g., Kellner and Campos, 1996;Taquet and Russel, 1998;Milner, 2003 Most spinosaurid specimens described so far have no or only very limited skull remains. ...
... The original material of Spinosaurus only included the anterior ends of the mandibles and a fragment of the maxilla (Stromer, 1915), and only few and fragmentary skull remains were referred to the clade up to the mid-1990s (Taquet, 1984;Buffetaut, 1989Buffetaut, , 1992. The most complete specimen was the type of Baryonyx walkeri, which includes a complete premaxilla, partial maxilla, nasal, lacrimal, braincase, and several mandibular elements Milner, 1986, 1997; see also Sereno et al., 1998). Premaxillae and braincase material are also known for the recently described Riparovenator milnerae and Ceratosuchops inferodios (Barker et al., 2021), and a snout and further isolated cranial elements, including a braincase, have been referred to Suchomimus tenerensis (Sereno et al., 1998;Hendrickx et al., 2016;Sereno et al., 2022), but the latter three taxa lack detailed osteological descriptions. ...
... The most complete specimen was the type of Baryonyx walkeri, which includes a complete premaxilla, partial maxilla, nasal, lacrimal, braincase, and several mandibular elements Milner, 1986, 1997; see also Sereno et al., 1998). Premaxillae and braincase material are also known for the recently described Riparovenator milnerae and Ceratosuchops inferodios (Barker et al., 2021), and a snout and further isolated cranial elements, including a braincase, have been referred to Suchomimus tenerensis (Sereno et al., 1998;Hendrickx et al., 2016;Sereno et al., 2022), but the latter three taxa lack detailed osteological descriptions. Other specimens mainly include partial snouts (Kellner Campos, 1996;Taquet and Russell, 1998 The spinosaurid Irritator from the Araripe Basin of north-eastern Brazil was initially briefly described and assigned to Maniraptora by Martill et al. (1996). ...
... Riparovenator and Suchomimus (Sereno et al., 1998;Barker et al., 2021;Samathi et al., 2021), and even basal coelurosaurs such as Sinosauropteryx (Currie & Chen, 2001). ...
The Cerro Overo-La Invernada area in north Patagonia has provided a rich record of Cretaceous continental tetrapods in the last two decades, mainly from the Bajo de la Carpa Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Santonian). The dinosaur fauna from this area is diverse, including several new taxa, with abelisaurid theropods particularly abundant. Recently, a new isolated caudal vertebra (MAU-Pv-CO-598) was here
recovered. Although fragmentary, it shows features that differentiate it from other abelisaurid remains previously found in this area. It is considered a mid-caudal vertebra and is mainly characterized by a longitudinal groove on the ventral surface of the centrum; a scarcely elevated transverse process with an anteroposteriorly expanded and laterally concave distal end; a longitudinal dorsal crest anteriorly extended from the anterior border of the neural spine; and small tubercles extended from the ends of the zygapophyses, which are considered as accessory interlocking structures between vertebrae. Some characters, such as the dorsal longitudinal crest and the accessory tubercles of the zygapophyses, are present also in the non-brachyrostran abelisaurid Majungasaurus. However, the transverse process is similar to that of caudal vertebrae of non-furileusaur brachyrostrans, such as Ilokelesia, Ekrixinatosaurus, and Skorpiovenator. A phylogenetic analysis here conducted clusters MAU-Pv-Co-598 with the latter three taxa. MAU-Pv-CO-598 comes from lower levels of the Bajo de la Carpa Formation than the furileusaurs Viavenator and Llukalkan. The presence of a specimen with non-furileusaurian affinities in this formation indicates that a possible replacement from non-furileusaur to furileusaur brachyrostrans occurred during the Santonian, after the proposed Turonian faunal
turnover.
... alvarezsauridae ;Senter 2005;Holtz Jr 2018), piscivory (e.g. spinosaurids; Charig and Milner 1997;Sereno et al. 1998), and herbivory (e.g. therizinosaurs ;Lautenschlager 2014). ...
This chapter aims to provide an overview of the state of knowledge on non-avian dinosaur paleoneurology, throughout the history and synthesis of recent advances in the field. Today, the endocranial morphology of approximately 150 dinosaur taxa has been described using natural or artificial cranial endocasts. They represent all major clades, although there is a bias towards Cretaceous -and more derived- forms. From this sample more than a half of the publications were made in the last 20 years, hand in hand with the use of non-invasive technologies. This larger amount of anatomical data opened the door to more comprehensive analyses (quantitative methods), allowing us to better understand the evolution of the dinosaur brain pattern and sense biology through deep time.
... Aratasaurus museunacionali constitui o primeiro coelurossauriano basal reconhecido na Bacia do Araripe, sendo sugestivo de que este grupo era amplamente distribuído durante o Cretáceo Inicial (Kellner & Campos, 1996;Martill et al., 1996;Kellner, 1999;Aureliano et al., 2018;Sayão et al., 2020). Diferentes autores consideraram a possibilidade de os restos de Angaturama limai representarem a terminação anterior do rosto de Irritator challengeri (Sereno et al., 1998;Sues et al., 2002). ...
O rifteamento do Gondwana resultou em mudanças importantes na
composição química e distribuição de nutrientes dos oceanos, além de ter contribuído para modificações na circulação de massas de água, o que acarretou na abertura de novos espaços ecológicos. Com a reativação de sistemas de falhas do embasamento durante a ruptura, tem-se a formação de lagos de riftes perenes e temporários, por vezes alimentados por incursões fluviais. Além disso, os pulsos de incursões marinhas durante os eventos de transgressão no final do Cretáceo Inicial também geraram importantes modificações na biota da Bacia do Araripe. A gênese desses novos ecoespaços resultou em grandes transformações bióticas, criando novas possibilidades para o surgimento, a diversificação e a extinção de espécies em um curto espaço temporal. As rochas da Bacia do Araripe registram este momento em que ficam evidentes as relações intrínsecas entre as alterações dos espaços ecológicos e as consequentes biotas registradas em ambientes continentais e marinhos. A integração entre os dados sedimentológicos, estratigráficos e paleontológicos
das rochas da Bacia do Araripe permite categorizar três biotas, Missão Velha, Crato e Romualdo, produtos das dinâmicas tectônicas globais associadas à ruptura do Gondwana e suas decorrentes variações climáticas e oceanográficas. Essas biotas apresentam registros paleobiológicos singulares, com animais e vegetais abundantes, diversificados e muitas vezes de caráter endêmico. Muitos dos fósseis identificados são espécies com preservação
excepcional, que possibilitam o entendimento de aspectos-chave para a evolução biológica e a relação com as espécies viventes.
... A similarly, large-bodied carnivorous dinosaur, Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, is here tentatively predicted to have had F Bite at just under 12,000N, roughly in the same range as Sinraptor (10,845N), Gorgosaurus (13,817N), and Daspletosaurus (16,641N), all substantially smaller theropods. With the caveat that W Sk for Spinosaurus was simply scaled up from the skull-width ratio of Suchomimus (Sereno et al., 1998), I offer additional support for this taxon to have had unique feeding habits for a theropod of its size. Spinosaurus shows adaptations in the craniomandibular morpho-functional complexes that are advantageous for generating relatively faster shutting speeds with less muscle input force (higher displacement advantage) at the expense of F Bite (lower mechanical advantage) (Sakamoto, 2010). ...
I present a Bayesian phylogenetic predictive modelling (PPM) framework that allows the prediction of muscle parameters (physiological cross-sectional area, A Phys ) in extinct archosaurs from skull width ( W Sk ) and phylogeny. This approach is robust to phylogenetic uncertainty and highly versatile given its ability to base predictions on simple, readily available predictor variables. The PPM presented here has high prediction accuracy (up to 95%), with downstream biomechanical modelling yielding bite force estimates that are in line with previous estimates based on muscle parameters from reconstructed muscles. This approach does not replace muscle reconstructions but one that provides a powerful means to predict A Phys from skull geometry and phylogeny to the same level of accuracy as that measured from reconstructed muscles in species for which soft tissue data are unavailable or difficult to obtain.
