Another New Paper

["Jerry D. Harris" <LOKICORP@compuserve.com>]

Hi All -

        Here's another new paper which may be of interest to the list:

Heckert, A.B. and Luca, S.G.  1999.  Global correlation and chronology of
Triassic theropods (Archosauria: Dinosauria). _Albertiana_ 23:  22-35.

Here's the abstract:
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        Theropod dinosaur body fossils are known from Upper Triassic
(Carnian-Rhaetian) strata in North and South America, Greenland, Europe,
and India. Theropod footprints, usualy assigned to the ichnogenus
_Grallator_ Hitchcock and related ichnotaxa, have been described from the
Upper Triassic of North America, Greenland, Europe and Africa.  These
theopod occurrences are readily correlated as latest Carnian, Norian, and
Rhaetian records.  The earliest theropods are among the first dinosaurs and
apear essentially synchronusly in the pper Triassic of the United States,
the United Kingdom, Brazil, Argentina, and India.  These theropods include
herrerasaurs, including _Caseosaurus crosbyensis_ Hunt, Lucas, Heckert,
Sullivan, and Lockley and the ceratosaur _Camposaurus arizonensis_ Hunt,
Lucas, Heckert, Sullivna, and Lockley from te lower Chinle Group in the
southwestern United States, the problematic theropod _Saltopus elginensis_
Huene fromthe Lossiemouth Sandstone in Scotland, the herrerasaurid
_Staurikosaurus pricei_ Colbert from the Santa Maria Formation in Brazil,
the herrerasaurid _Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis_ Reig and the basal
theropod _Eoraptor lunensis_ Sereno, Forster, Rogers, and Monetta from te
Ischigualasto Formation in Argentina, and the probable basal theropod
_Alwalkeria maleriensis_ (Chatterjee) from the Maleri Formation in India. 
All of these occurrences are of late Carnian age, approximately 228 Ma. 
Thus, the oldest dinosaurs are not from South America, as commonly claimed,
but instead appear synchronously across Pangea in the upper Carnian fossil
record of four modern continents.
        There are several ceratosaurs and herrerasaurs of Norian age,
including the herrerasaur _Chindesaurus bryansmalli_ Long & Murry, several
unnamed herrerasaurs, and at least four ceratosaurs, including
_Eucoelophysis baldwini_ Sullivan & Lucas and _Gojirasaurus quayi_
Carpenter from the middle Chinle Group, USA, as well as the ceratosaurs
_Procompsognathus triassicus_ Huene and _Liliensternus liliensterni_
(Huene) and problematic theropods such as _Halticosaurus_ Huene from the
Midle Stubensandstein, Germany. The Rhaetian fossil record of theropods is
characterized by abundant tracks, particularly of the ichnogenus
_Grallator_ Hitchcock, in the USA, Europe, and Africa, and numerous
theropods, including the Whitaker quarry theropods _Coelophysis bauri_ Cope
and _Syntarsus?_ Raath from the United States, the ceratosaur
_Liliensternus airelensis_ Cuny & Galton and other, indeterminate forms
from France, and a poorly known theropod fauna from the Los Colorados
Formation of Argentina.  With the notbale exception of the Whitaker Quarry
at Ghost Ranch, which preserved dozens of theropod skeletons, Late Triassic
theropods never dominated the tetrapod predator guild.
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                     Jerry D. Harris
                 Fossil Preparation Lab
          New Mexico Museum of Natural History
                   1801 Mountain Rd NW
               Albuquerque  NM  87104-1375
                 Phone:  (505) 841-2809
                  Fax: ; (505) 841-2808
                LOKICORP@compuserve.com