NEOVENATOR'S POSITION

[darren.naish@port.ac.uk]

Re: the phylogenetic position of _Neovenator_, in the 
original description (Hutt et al. 1996) it was provisionally 
regarded as an allosaurid (that is, closest to _Allosaurus_). 
This has been supported recently by one major study (Holtz 
1998/2000) but other observations contradict it. The main 
problem is that the full monograph remains unpublished. 
Here is some text from a Naish in-press MS that might 
prove useful...

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The only associated Wealden allosauroid skeleton (BMNH 
R10001/MIWG.6348) is the holotype of _Neovenator 
salerii_. While _N. salerii_ has been monographed by Hutt 
(1999), this remains unpublished and Hutt et al. (1989, 
1996) and Naish et al. (2001) remain the only widely 
available source of _N. salerii_ illustrations.

The presence in _N. salerii_ of paired dorsolateral ridges on 
the nasals, an antorbital fossa that excavates the 
ventrolateral part of the nasal and a pubic boot which is 
triangular in ventral view show that it is an allosauroid but 
within this clade its affinities require further study. Based 
on the shared derived characters of five premaxillary teeth, 
prezygapophyses on the distal caudals that extend more than 
one half (but less than one) centrum length and other 
characters, Hutt et al. (1996) and Holtz (2000) suggested 
that _N. salerii_ was closest to _Allosaurus_ (both taxa thus 
forming a monophyletic Allosauridae). _N. salerii_ also 
however exhibits several features seen in 
carcharodontosaurids (including an ischial foot, broad 
obturator notch and pleurocoelous caudal dorsal vertebrae) 
leading Harris (1998), Hutt (1999) and Naish et al. (2001) 
to favour an affinity with the carcharodontosaurids.
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I am trying to get Hutt to publish the monograph.. is it 
number 347 on the list of things to do. When that day comes 
we'll have loads of new data to play with.

-- 
Darren Naish
School of Earth & Environmental Sciences
University of Portsmouth UK, PO1 3QL

email: darren.naish@port.ac.uk
tel: 023 92846045