RE: Antarctosaurus mandible

["Jaime A. Headden" <qilongia@yahoo.com>]

Tom Holtz (tholtz@geol.umd.edu) wrote:
 
<[T]he A. wichmannianus mandible shares features with Nigersaurus
that are not found in titanosaur skulls (like Rapetosaurus): *The
teeth are arrayed in rows only along the anterior margin (not unlike
grazing rhinos, among other taxa); in Rapetosaurus the teeth extend
down most of the length of the dentary *The dentary forms a real nice
right angle between the tooth-bearing surface and the ramus leading
posteriorly to the post-dentary bones; in Rapetosaurus (and other
titanosaurs), the dentary is more gently curved.]
 
So the weight of the evidence points to A. wichmannianus being a
rebbachisaurid.>

  I would say that, because the mandible does not comprise the type
of *Antarctosaurus wichmannianus*, the jaw itself is referrable to
the Rebbachisauridae, whereas cranial material of the types of both
species of *Antarctosaurus* compare closely with the Nemegtosauridae
(incl. *Rapetosaurus*, apparently).


=====
Jaime A. Headden

  Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhr-gen-ti-na
  Where the Wind Comes Sweeping Down the Pampas!!!!

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