RE: New Papers of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

[Tim Williams <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

David Marjanovic wrote:

>> Nevertheless, the Morrison and Tendaguru do show many closely related
>> taxa, even if these taxa aren't congeneric.
>
> Yes, and I managed to forget the carcharodontosaurids shared between
> Laurasia (*Acrocanthosaurus*, *Neovenator*) and Gondwana (all others so far)
> in the "middle" Cretaceous.

Smith's (2007) phylogenetic analysis removed _Acrocanthosaurus_ and 
_Neovenator_ from the Carcharodontosauridae and put them both in the 
Allosauridae (sensu lato).

But from a biogeographical standpoint, it doesn't really matter if 
_Acrocanthosaurus_ and _Neovenator_ are allosaurids or carcharodontosaurids.  
Surely both families had appeared prior to the Laurasia-Gondwana split.  The 
same applies to other theropod clades shared between Laurasia and Gondwana - 
such as dromaeosaurids, alvarezsaurids and (maybe) oviraptorosaurs.

Cheers

Tim

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