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Notohypsilophodon (basal ornithopod) from Cretaceous of Argentina restudied



From: Ben Creisler
bcreisler@gmail.com


A new paper (misspellings in the original):


Lucio M. Ibiricu, Rubén D. Martínez, Marcelo Luna & Gabriel a. Casal
A reappraisal of Notohypsilophodon comodorensis (Ornithischia:
Ornithopoda) from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina.
Zootaxa 3786 (4): 401-422
http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2014/f/z03786p422f.pdf



The Bajo Barreal Formation (Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous; central
Patagonia, Argentina) preserves an important and rich fossil record.
Among the dinosaurs described, a small ornithischian,
Notohypsilophodon comodorensis, was named in the 1990s. This
small-bodied dinosaur, the most complete representative of the group
discovered in that formation, was de-scribed as a "hypsilophodontid"
ornithopod based on close morphological affinities with other members
of that group, which is currently regarded as paraphyletic. Within
this context, we present a restudy of Notohypsilophodon. This dinosaur
is considered a basal ornithopod, probably more basal than
Gasparinisaura. Likewise, this analysis emends and provides additional
unique anatomical characters that support its taxonomic validity and
position. On the basis of weak evidence, Notohypsilophodon might share
the presence of gastroliths with other basal ornithopods
(Gasparinisaura and Haya), which could suggest a specific behavior in
response to its food ingestion. Finally, this study increases our
knowledge of the evolutionary dynamics of South American Cretaceous
ornithopods, and therefore broadens our knowledge of the early Late
Cretaceous continental vertebrate assemblages of central Patagonia and
of the Southern Hemisphere in general.