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Re: Megalosaurs
On Mon, 3 Jun 1996, Tim Williams wrote:
> G'day Adam.
>
> Nice to hear from a fellow Aussie. (Or at least someone who resides
> in Australia)
Indeed I am an Aussie, born and bred.
> > Marshosaurus certainly is not, it is fairly clearly an avetheropod
> {deleted}
> > either a carnosaur or a basal avetheropod. I think it is probably a
> > sinraptorid carnosaur because it has (I think, though i'll have to
> > drag out the description to make sure) two openings to the maxillary
> > sinus within the antorbital fossa.
BTW I had a look at Madsen's original paper and indeed there are two
maxillary fenestrae, I am sure it is a sinraptorid now.
> What do you define as an "avetheropod" - is it equivalent to Paul
> Sereno's Neotetanurae (Allosauroidea+Coelurosauria)?
Avetheropoda (= Neotetanurae) consists of the Carnosauria ( =
Allosauroidea) + Coelurosauria. Greg Paul was the first to coin a name
for the assemblage containing Allosaurus, Ornitholestes, Tyrranosaurus,
Compsognathus, Dromaeosaurids etc., so his has priority over Sereno's
and is used by at least one prominant theropod systematist (there are
some who call him...... Tim).
> Also, I heard from someone that a partial skull of Marshosaurus had
> been discovered which confirmed its megalosaur affinities. Is this
> what you're referring to when you mention the maxilla?
I hadn't heard about the skull, the maxilla was amongst the original
material when Madsen erected the genus.
Adam Yates