Re: Abelisaurs

[Dinogeorge@aol.com]

In a message dated 97-10-03 16:52:18 EDT, MGibb21521@aol.com writes:

<< Yes, Abelisaurus is only known from an incomplete skull.  Abelisaurs had
 short, deep snouts and usually two bull like horns over their eye sockets.
  Very little is known about them because most of the dinosaurs in the group
 are known from incomplete skeletons.  The only dinosaurs in this group that
I
 can say right off the top of my head are Abelisaurus and Carnotaurus. >>

There seem to be two kinds of abelisaurs (probably subfamilies). The
"abelisaurines" had long, narrow snouts and relatively unthickened frontals
with no signs of supraorbital horns, whereas the "carnotaurines" had short,
high skulls, slender jaws, thickened frontals and/or supraorbital horns. Your
description fits the "carnotaurines" rather than the "abelisaurines." Among
the "abelisaurines" are _Abelisaurus_, _Indosuchus_, and perhaps
_Genyodectes_; among the "carnotaurines" are _Carnotaurus_, _Indosaurus_,
_Majungatholus_ (?=_Majungasaurus_), and perhaps _Labocania_. Other
abelisaurid genera are not known from cranial material and cannot yet be
assigned to either group, especially since postcranial material positively
associated with cranial material is still unavailable for "abelisaurines."
The "abelinsaurines" are the more plesiomorphic of the two groups and may
eventually turn out to be a series of stem genera converging on
"carnotaurines."