A new possible megalosauroid theropod from the Middle Jurassic Xintiangou Formation of Chongqing, People's Republic of China and its implication for early tetanuran evolution.

ABSTRACT: Tetanurae is a special group of theropod dinosaurs that originated by the late Early Jurassic. It includes several early-diverging groups of generally large-bodied predators (megalosauroids, allosauroids, tyrannosauroid coelurosaurs) as well as morphologically disparate small-bodied coelurosaurs, including birds. Aspects of the evolutionary history of tetanurans remain contested, including the topology of their deep phylogenetic divergences (among Megalosauroidea, Allosauroidea and Coelurosauria). We report a new theropod, Yunyangosaurus puanensis gen. et sp. nov., based on a fragmentary specimen recovered from the Middle Jurassic Xintiangou Formation of Chongqing, southwestern China. It shares several features uniquely with some megalosauroids (the clade of megalosaurids + spinosaurids + 

SUBMITTER: Dai H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6954265 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature