Rapator and friends (was Re: Cretaceous therapods of the south)

[<twilliams@canr1.cag.uconn.edu>]

>The recent discovery of a whole slew of allosaur-like
> carnivores (Giganotosaurus, Carcharadontosaurus, Rapator?) from
> various parts of the post Gondwanan continents seems to support the
> idea that maybe they were just as plentiful.  

The Aussie theropod  _Rapator_ (which was actually named and described
in 1932) has been called an abelisaur, and I think the idea goes back to Ralph
Molnar.  I haven't seen any published comparisons between _Rapator_'s 
metacarpals (the only material known for this genus) and the manus of 
(?other) abelisaurs.  (I'm not certain, but among abelisaurs metacarpals are
preserved only for _Carnotaurus_, and possibly one of the Indian abelisaurs.)

> Or maybe there are
> really more abelisaur finds than I am aware of. 

Apart from _Abelisaurus_ and _Carnotaurus_ , there's also 
_Xenotarsosaurus_ and possibly _Genyodectes_ (both S. America), 
_Indosaurus_ and _Indosuchus_ (India), _Majungatholus_ (Madagascar), 
and possibly _Tarascosaurus_ (Europe).  There's also indeterminate 
abelisaur material collected from northern Africa and various parts 
of Europe.  I've also seen _Betasuchus_ and _Erectopus_ listed as abelisaurs 
(without supporting diagnoses), and Phil Currie interprets _Piatnitzkysaurus_ 
as a basal abelisaur (again, I haven't seen anything published).