A fast-growing basal troodontid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the latest Cretaceous of Europe.

ABSTRACT: A characteristic fauna of dinosaurs and other vertebrates inhabited the end-Cretaceous European archipelago, some of which were dwarves or had other unusual features likely related to their insular habitats. Little is known, however, about the contemporary theropod dinosaurs, as they are represented mostly by teeth or other fragmentary fossils. A new isolated theropod metatarsal II, from the latest Maastrichtian of Spain (within 200,000 years of the mass extinction) may represent a jinfengopterygine troodontid, the first reported from Europe. Comparisons with other theropods and phylogenetic analyses reveal an autapomorphic foramen that distinguishes it from all other troodontids, supporting its identification as a new genus and species, Tamarro insperatus. Bone histology shows that it was

SUBMITTER: Selles AG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7921422 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature