Monolophosaurus and spinosaurs

[Pharris Nicholas J <pharrinj@plu.edu>]

Random observations with possible relevance to the origin of
Spinosauridae:

I was just looking at a figure of the skull of the ?basal tetanuran/?basal
avetheropod _Monolophosaurus jiangi_ and noticed some interesting
similarities to the reconstructed spinosaurid skull in the _Suchomimus_
paper.  The elongate external naris, lacrimal, and triradiate maxilla are
somewhat similar in the two skulls, and even the nasal crest, buttressed
in both cases by a flange of the lacrimal, shows some similarity.  But
what is really strikingly similar are the jaws, particularly the long,
shallow, curved dentaries.

Take it for what it's worth.

==================================
References:

Sereno et al. "A Long-Snouted Predatory Dinosaur from Africa and the
Evolution of Spinosaurids." _Science_, vol. 282, pp. 1298-1302 (13 Nov
1998).

Xi-Jin Zhao and Philip J. Currie. "A Large Crested Theropod from the
Jurassic of Xinjiang, People's Republic of China." _Canadian Journal of
Earth Sciences_, vol. 30, nos. 10 & 11, pp. 2027-2036 (Oct-Nov 1993).


Nick Pharris
Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WA 98447
(253)535-7045