Dinos galore in latest Acta Paleontologica Polonica (including gen. et sp. nov.)

["Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." <tholtz@geol.umd.edu>]

Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 48 (2), 2003 (at http://app.pan.pl/), contains
a number of important papers (a few of whom I've aluded to in the past):

Jørn H. Hurum and Karol Sabath
Giant theropod dinosaurs from Asia and North America: Skulls of Tarbosaurus
bataar and Tyrannosaurus rex compared   161?190

Describes a WONDERFUL new skull of Tarbosaurus bataar ZPAL MgD-I/4, giving a
good comprehensive cranial osteology of this species.  Among the most
important aspects of this study is the identification of potential
synapomorphies with Alioramus remotus (particularly in the region of the
nasal-lacrimal-frontal contacts).  Suggests a different form of crushing
bite in the Asiatic tyrannosaurines vs. the North American ones.  While
Hurum and Sabath (pers. comm.) once considered the possibility that
Alioramus and Tarbosaurus were outside of the clade comprised of
Tyrannosaurus, Daspletosaurus, Albertosaurus, and Gorgosaurus, they do not
now: see Currie et al. below.

Philip J. Currie
Cranial anatomy of tyrannosaurid dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous of
Alberta, Canada  191?226

Includes comprehensive cranial osteologies of Albertosaurus sarcophagus,
Gorgosaurus libratus, and Daspletosaurus sp. (a juvenile from the Dinosaur
Park Fm.).  Much detailed anatomy for those interested.  Suggests that
Alioramus might be a juvenile, and that Nanotyrannus is a juvenile but
possibly a juvenile of a non-T. rex species otherwise unknown.

Philip J. Currie, Jørn H. Hurum, and Karol Sabath
Skull structure and evolution in tyrannosaurid dinosaurs  227?234

A phylogenetic analysis of Tyrannosauridae based on skulls only,
incorporating the information of the above papers.  This paper formally uses
Albertosaurinae (comprised here of Albertosaurus and Gorgosaurus), with the
sister taxon Tyrannosaurinae (itself comprised of Tyrannosaurus +
Nanotyrannus as one branch, and Daspletosaurus + (Alioramus + Tarbosaurus)
as the other.

Yoshitsugu Kobayashi and Jun-Chang Lü
A new ornithomimid dinosaur with gregarious habits from the Late Cretaceous
of China 235?259

Names Sinornithomimus dongi, from the Ulansuhai Fm. (early Late Cretaceous)
of Inner Mongolia.  Fourteen individuals were found, ranging from juveniles
to adults.  It is edentulous, arctometatarsalian, and rather short-necked
for an ornithomimosaur.  Metacarpal I is slightly shorter than the others,
but much longer proportionately than in non-ornithomimosaur coelurosaurs.  A
phylogenetic analysis finds the following topology (using Tyrannosaurids and
Allosaurus as progressively  more distant outgroups):
Pelecanimimus
unnamed
        Harpymimus
        unnamed
                Garudimimus
                Ornithomimidae
                        Archaeornithomimus
                        unnamed
                                Sinornithomimus
                                unnamed
                                        unnamed Asian Clade
                                                Gallimimus
                                                Anserimimus
                                        unnamed North Am. Clade
                                                Struthiomimus
                                                unnamed
                                                        Dromiceiomimus
                                                        Ornithomimus



As they were found in a monospecific, non-scavenged bone bed, they authors
hypothesize that they were gregarious.  Gastroliths aplenty are found!

Hai-Lu You and Peter Dodson
Redescription of neoceratopsian dinosaur Archaeoceratops and early evolution
of Neoceratopsia     261?272

Describes, in more detail, the holo- and paratypes.  Their phylogeny yields:
Hypsilophodon
Marginocephalia
        Stegoceras
        Ceratopsia
                Psittacosaurus
                Neoceratopsia
                        Chaoyangsaurus
                        unnamed
                                Liaoceratops
                                unnamed
                                        Archaeoceratops
                                        Coronosauria
                                                Protoceratopsidae
                                                        Protoceratops
                                                        Bagaceratops
                                                Ceratopsoidea
                                                        Leptoceratopsidae
                                                                Montanaceratops
                                                                Leptoceratops
                                                        Ceratopsidae
                                                                Centrosaurus
                                                                Triceratops



                Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
                Vertebrate Paleontologist
Department of Geology           Director, Earth, Life & Time Program
University of Maryland          College Park Scholars
                College Park, MD  20742
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/tholtz.htm
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~jmerck/eltsite
Phone:  301-405-4084    Email:  tholtz@geol.umd.edu
Fax (Geol):  301-314-9661       Fax (CPS-ELT): 301-405-0796