A new Heterodontosaurus specimen elucidates the unique ventilatory macroevolution of ornithischian dinosaurs.

ABSTRACT: Ornithischian dinosaurs were ecologically prominent herbivores of the Mesozoic Era that achieved a global distribution by the onset of the Cretaceous. The ornithischian body plan is aberrant relative to other ornithodiran clades, and crucial details of their early evolution remain obscure. We present a new, fully articulated skeleton of the early branching ornithischian Heterodontosaurus tucki. Phase-contrast enhanced synchrotron data of this new specimen reveal a suite of novel postcranial features unknown in any other ornithischian, with implications for the early evolution of the group. These features include a large, anteriorly projecting sternum; bizarre, paddle-shaped sternal ribs; and a full gastral basket - the first recovered in Ornithischia. These unusual anatomical traits

SUBMITTER: Radermacher VJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8260226 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature