Biology:Mapusaurus

From HandWiki

Mapusaurus (lit. 'earth lizard') is a genus of giant carcharodontosaurid carnosaurian dinosaur that lived in Argentina during the Turonian age of the Late Cretaceous.

Discovery

Reconstructed skull

Mapusaurus was excavated between 1997 and 2001, by the Argentinian-Canadian Dinosaur Project, from an exposure of the Huincul Formation (late Cenomanian–Turonian[1]) at Cañadón del Gato. It was described and named by paleontologists Rodolfo Coria and Phil Currie in 2006.[2][3][4][5][6]

The name Mapusaurus is derived from the Mapuche word mapu, meaning 'of the Land' or 'of the Earth' and the Greek sauros, meaning 'lizard'. The type species, Mapusaurus roseae, is named for both the rose-colored rocks, in which the fossils were found and for Rose Letwin, who sponsored the expeditions which recovered these fossils.[2]

The designated holotype for the genus and type species, Mapusaurus roseae, is an isolated right nasal (MCF-PVPH-108.1, Museo Carmen Funes, Paleontología de Vertebrados, Plaza Huincul, Neuquén). Twelve paratypes have been designated, based on additional isolated skeletal elements. Taken together, the many individual elements recovered from the Mapusaurus bone bed represent most of the skeleton.[2]

Description

Size of a few specimens compared to a human

Mapusaurus was a large theropod, but slightly smaller in size than its close relative Giganotosaurus, with the largest specimen measuring around 10.2–12.6 metres (33–41 ft) long and weighing up to 3–6 metric tons (3.3–6.6 short tons).[2][7][8][9][10]

It has been determined that Mapusaurus was diagnosed on autapomorphies, or unique traits, in regions of the skeleton that Giganotosaurus does not preserve. In terms of autapomorphic features, Mapusaurus only differs from Giganotosaurus in lacking a second opening on the middle quadrate, and in some details of the topology of the nasal rugosities.[11] Despite this, Mapusaurus differs from Giganotosaurus in a variety of both cranial and postcranial characters, and the fact that said characters are not autapomorphic is not considered suggestive of a potential genus synonymy.[2] Coria and Currie (2006) discovers that the Mapusaurus could be distinguished by its deep and narrow skull, with tall neural spines, as well as blade like teeth.[12]

A biomechanical model of Tyrannosaurus presented by William I. Sellers and colleagues in 2017 suggested that speeds above 11 mph (18 km/h) would probably have shattered the leg bones of Tyrannosaurus. The finding may mean that running was also not possible for other giant theropod dinosaurs like Giganotosaurus, Mapusaurus and Acrocanthosaurus.[13]

Paleobiology

Restoration

The fossil remains of Mapusaurus were discovered in a bone bed containing at least seven to possibly up to nine individuals of various growth stages.[2][14][15] Coria and Currie speculated that this may represent a long term, possibly coincidental accumulation of carcasses (some sort of predator trap) and may provide clues about Mapusaurus behavior.[2] Other known theropod bone beds and fossil graveyards include those of dromaeosaurids Deinonychus and Utahraptor,[16][17] those of Allosaurus from the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry of Utah,[18] and those of tyrannosaurids Teratophoneus, Albertosaurus and Daspletosaurus.[19]

Mapusaurus bones with pathologies

Paleontologist Rodolfo Coria, of the Museo Carmen Funes, contrary to his published article, repeated in a press-conference earlier suggestions that this congregation of fossil bones may indicate that Mapusaurus like Giganotosaurus also hunted in groups and worked together to take down large prey, such as the immense sauropod Argentinosaurus.[20][21]: 206–207  If so, this would be the first substantive evidence of gregarious behavior by large theropods other than Tyrannosaurus rex, although whether they might have hunted in organized packs (as wolves and lions do) or simply attacked in a mob, is unknown. Through the study of bonebed of at least nine Mapusaurus individuals from the Canadon Del Gato site in Neuquén Province, Argentina, researchers have discovered that their skeletal abnormalities were rare but present, containing trauma being the most common cause. meaning that the predatory animal was living in that of a hazardous and perilous lifestyle.[22]The authors interpreted the depositional environment of the Huincul Formation at the Cañadón del Gato locality as a freshwater paleochannel deposit, "laid down by an ephemeral or seasonal stream in a region with arid or semi-arid climate".[2] This bone bed is especially interesting, in light of the overall scarcity of fossilized bone within the Huincul Formation. An ontogenetic study by Canale et al. (2014)[15] found that Mapusaurus displayed heterochrony, an evolutionary condition in which the animals may retain an ancestral characteristic during one stage of their life, but lose it as they develop. In Mapusaurus, the maxillary fenestrae are present in younger individuals, but gradually disappear as they mature.

Classification

Comparison of two Mapusaurus roseae skulls

Cladistic analysis carried out by Coria and Currie definitively showed that Mapusaurus is nested within the clade Carcharodontosauridae. The authors noted that the structure of the femur suggests a closer relationship with Giganotosaurus than either taxon shares with Carcharodontosaurus. They created a new monophyletic taxon based on this relationship, the subfamily Giganotosaurinae, defined as all carcharodontosaurids closer to Giganotosaurus and Mapusaurus than to Carcharodontosaurus. They tentatively included the genus Tyrannotitan in this new subfamily, pending publication of more detailed descriptions of the known specimens of that form.[2]

In their 2022 description of the large carcharodontosaurine Meraxes, Canale et al. recovered the following relationships for Mapusaurus and the Giganotosaurini.[23]

 
  Neovenator
75px
 
 
 

Concavenator 75px

 
  Eocarcharia
65px
 
 

Lajasvenator

 
 

Lusovenator

 
 
  Acrocanthosaurus
75px
 
 
  Shaochilong
80px
 
Carcharodontosaurinae
  Carcharodontosaurus spp.
75px
 
Giganotosaurini
  Meraxes
75px
 
 
 

Tyrannotitan

 
 
  Giganotosaurus
75px
 
  Mapusaurus
80px
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

In his 2024 review of theropod relationships, Cau recovered similar results, with Tyrannotitan as the sister taxon to the clade formed by Mapusaurus and Giganotosaurus. His results are displayed in the cladogram below:[24]

Carcharodontosauridae
  Neovenator
75px
 
 
 
 

Sauroniops

 
 

Veterupristisaurus

 
 

Lusovenator

 
  Eocarcharia (type skull roof)
65px
 
 

Concavenator 75px

 
 
 
 

Carcharodontosaurus iguidensis (holotype maxilla)

 
 
  Acrocanthosaurus
75px
 
 
 

Eocarcharia (referred maxilla)

 
 
 
 
  Meraxes
75px
 
 

Carcharodontosaurus iguidensis (referred cranial material)

 
 
 
 

Lajasvenator

 
 
 

Labocania

 
  Shaochilong
80px
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Carcharodontosaurus saharicus (neotype)
75px
 
 

Carcharodontosaurus saharicus (described by Stromer in 1931)

 
 
 
 

Tyrannotitan

 
 
  Mapusaurus
80px
 
  Giganotosaurus
75px
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Paleoecology

Silhouettes of dinosaurs from the Huincul Formation as size comparison
Size comparison of several dinosaurs from the Huincul Formation, Mapusaurus in red

As previously mentioned, the Huincul Formation is thought to represent an arid environment with ephemeral or seasonal streams. The age of this formation is estimated at 97 to 93.5 MYA.[25] The dinosaur record is considered sparse here. Mapusaurus shared its environment with the sauropods Argentinosaurus (one of the largest sauropods, if not the largest), Choconsaurus, Chucarosaurus and Cathartesaura. Two other giant carcharodontosaurids, Meraxes and Taurovenator, were found in the same formation, but in older rocks than Mapusaurus, so they likely were not coevals.[26][27] The abelisaurid theropods Skorpiovenator and Ilokelesia also lived in the region.[28]

Fossilized pollen indicates a wide variety of plants was present in the Huincul Formation. A study of the El Zampal section of the formation found hornworts, liverworts, ferns, Selaginellales, possible Noeggerathiales, gymnosperms (including gnetophytes and conifers), and angiosperms (flowering plants), in addition to several pollen grains of unknown affinities.[29] The Huincul Formation is among the richest Patagonian vertebrate associations, preserving fish including dipnoans and gar, chelid turtles, squamates, sphenodonts, neosuchian crocodilians, and a wide variety of dinosaurs.[30][31] Vertebrates are most commonly found in the lower, and therefore older, part of the formation.[32]

References

  1. ↑ Canale, Juan I.; Apesteguía, Sebastián; Gallina, Pablo A.; Mitchell, Jonathan; Smith, Nathan D.; Cullen, Thomas M.; Shinya, Akiko; Haluza, Alejandro et al. (July 2022). "New giant carnivorous dinosaur reveals convergent evolutionary trends in theropod arm reduction". Current Biology 32 (14): 3195–3202.e5. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2022.05.057. PMID 35803271. Bibcode: 2022CBio...32E3195C. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Coria, R. A.; Currie, P. J. (2006). "A new carcharodontosaurid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Argentina". Geodiversitas 28 (1): 71–118. ISSN 1280-9659. https://dinonews.net/rubriq/docs/2006_coria_mapusaurus.pdf. 
  3. ↑ Wilford, John Noble (April 18, 2006). "A Meat Eater Bigger Than T. Rex Is Unearthed". http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/18/science/a-meat-eater-bigger-than-t-rex-is-unearthed.html. 
  4. ↑ Viegas, Jennifer (April 19, 2006). "Giant flesh-ripping dinos hunted in packs". http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2006/04/19/1618886.htm. 
  5. ↑ Evans, Meryl K. (April 19, 2006). "Mapusaurus Crowned Largest Meat Eater". https://www.technewsworld.com/story/mapusaurus-crowned-largest-meat-eater-50042.html. 
  6. ↑ Lallanilla, Marc (April 17, 2006). "Huge Meat-Eating Dinosaur Discovered". https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=1851725. 
  7. ↑ Holtz, T. (2015). Paleontologists: Searching for Dinosaur Bones. Enslow Publishing, LLC. p. 54. ISBN 978-0-7660-6964-0. 
  8. ↑ Paul, Gregory S. (2024). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (3rd ed.). Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-691-23157-0. 
  9. ↑ Holtz, Thomas R. (2021). "Theropod guild structure and the tyrannosaurid niche assimilation hypothesis: implications for predatory dinosaur macroecology and ontogeny in later Late Cretaceous Asiamerica". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 58 (9): 778−795. doi:10.1139/cjes-2020-0174. Bibcode: 2021CaJES..58..778H. 
  10. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Holtz2011
  11. ↑ Carrano, Matthew T.; Benson, Roger B. J.; Sampson, Scott D. (June 1, 2012). "The phylogeny of Tetanurae (Dinosauria: Theropoda)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 10 (2): 211–300. doi:10.1080/14772019.2011.630927. ISSN 1477-2019. Bibcode: 2012JSPal..10..211C. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230808558. 
  12. ↑ Coria, & Currie. (n.d.). A new carcharodontosaurid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Argentina. Web of science. https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:000237233900004
  13. ↑ Sellers, W. I.; Pond, S. B.; Brassey, C. A.; Manning, P. L.; Bates, K. T. (July 18, 2017). "Investigating the running abilities of Tyrannosaurus rex using stress-constrained multibody dynamic analysis". PeerJ 5. doi:10.7717/peerj.3420. ISSN 2167-8359. PMID 28740745. 
  14. ↑ Eddy, Drew R.; Clarke, Julia A. (March 21, 2011). "New Information on the Cranial Anatomy of Acrocanthosaurus atokensis and Its Implications for the Phylogeny of Allosauroidea (Dinosauria: Theropoda)". PLOS ONE 6 (3). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0017932. ISSN 1932-6203. PMID 21445312. Bibcode: 2011PLoSO...617932E. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Canale, Juan Ignacio; Novas, Fernando Emilio; Salgado, Leonardo; Coria, Rodolfo Aníbal (December 1, 2015). "Cranial ontogenetic variation in Mapusaurus roseae (Dinosauria: Theropoda) and the probable role of heterochrony in carcharodontosaurid evolution" (in en). Paläontologische Zeitschrift 89 (4): 983–993. doi:10.1007/s12542-014-0251-3. ISSN 0031-0220. Bibcode: 2015PalZ...89..983C. 
  16. ↑ Maxwell, W. D.; Ostrom, J.H. (1995). "Taphonomy and paleobiological implications of Tenontosaurus–Deinonychus associations". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 15 (4): 707–712. doi:10.1080/02724634.1995.10011256. Bibcode: 1995JVPal..15..707M.  (abstract )
  17. ↑ Kirkland, J.I.; Simpson, E.L.; DeBlieux, D.D.; Madsen, S.K.; Bogner, E.; Tibert, N.E. (September 1, 2016). "Depositional constraints on the Lower Cretaceous stikes quarry dinosaur site: Upper yellow cat member, cedar mountain formation, Utah". PALAIOS 31 (9): 421–439. doi:10.2110/palo.2016.041. Bibcode: 2016Palai..31..421K. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308041652. 
  18. ↑ Hunt, Adrian P; Lucas, Spencer G.; Krainer, Karl; Spielmann, Justin (2006). "The taphonomy of the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry, Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation, Utah: a re-evaluation". in Foster, John R.. Paleontology and Geology of the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin, 36. Albuquerque, New Mexico: New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. pp. 57–65. 
  19. ↑ Titus, Alan L.; Knoll, Katja; Sertich, Joseph J. W.; Yamamura, Daigo; Suarez, Celina A.; Glasspool, Ian J.; Ginouves, Jonathan E.; Lukacic, Abigail K. et al. (April 19, 2021). "Geology and taphonomy of a unique tyrannosaurid bonebed from the upper Campanian Kaiparowits Formation of southern Utah: implications for tyrannosaurid gregariousness". PeerJ 9. doi:10.7717/peerj.11013. PMID 33976955. 
  20. ↑ "Details Revealed About Huge Dinosaurs". Associated Press. ABC News US. 2006. https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=1852246&page=1. 
  21. ↑ Hallett, M.; Wedel, M. (2016), The Sauropod Dinosaurs: Life in the Age of Giants, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN 978-1-4214-2028-8, https://books.google.com/books?id=pIHVDAAAQBAJ 
  22. ↑ Bell, P., & Coria, R. (n.d.). Palaeopathological Survey of a Population of Mapusaurus (Theropoda: Carcharodontosauridae) from the Late Cretaceous Huincul Formation, Argentina. Web of science. https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:000319052700035
  23. ↑ Canale, Juan I.; Apesteguía, Sebastián; Gallina, Pablo A.; Mitchell, Jonathan; Smith, Nathan D.; Cullen, Thomas M.; Shinya, Akiko; Haluza, Alejandro et al. (July 2022). "New giant carnivorous dinosaur reveals convergent evolutionary trends in theropod arm reduction" (in en). Current Biology 32 (14): 3195–3202.e5. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2022.05.057. PMID 35803271. Bibcode: 2022CBio...32E3195C. 
  24. ↑ Cau, Andrea (2024). "A Unified Framework for Predatory Dinosaur Macroevolution". Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana 63 (1): 1-19. doi:10.4435/BSPI.2024.08. https://www.paleoitalia.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Cau_2024_BSPI_ONLINE.pdf. Retrieved May 2, 2024. 
  25. ↑ Huincul Formation at Fossilworks.org
  26. ↑ Canale, J.I.; Apesteguía, S.; Gallina, P.A.; Mitchell, J.; Smith, N.D.; Cullen, T.M.; Shinya, A.; Haluza, A. et al. (July 7, 2022). "New giant carnivorous dinosaur reveals convergent evolutionary trends in theropod arm reduction". Current Biology 32 (14): 3195–3202.e5. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2022.05.057. PMID 35803271. Bibcode: 2022CBio...32E3195C. 
  27. ↑ Motta, Matías J.; Aranciaga Rolando, Alexis M.; Rozadilla, Sebastián; Agnolín, Federico E.; Chimento, Nicolás R.; Egli, Federico Brissón; Novas, Fernando E. (June 2016). "New theropod fauna from the Upper Cretaceous (Huincul Formation) of northwestern Patagonia, Argentina". New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 71: 231–253. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304013683. 
  28. ↑ Sánchez, Maria Lidia; Heredia, Susana; Calvo, Jorge O. (2006). "Paleoambientes sedimentarios del Cretácico Superior de la Formación Plottier (Grupo Neuquén), Departamento Confluencia, Neuquén". Revista de la Asociación Geológica Argentina 61 (1): 3–18. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287905148. 
  29. ↑ Vallati, P. (2001). "Middle cretaceous microflora from the Huincul Formation ("Dinosaurian Beds") in the Neuquén Basin, Patagonia, Argentina". Palynology 25 (1): 179–197. doi:10.2113/0250179. Bibcode: 2001Paly...25..179V. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/241723727. 
  30. ↑ Motta, M.J.; Aranciaga Rolando, A.M.; Rozadilla, S.; Agnolín, F.E.; Chimento, N.R.; Egli, F.B.; Novas, F.E. (2016). "New theropod fauna from the upper cretaceous (Huincul Formation) of Northwestern Patagonia, Argentina". New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 71: 231–253. https://books.google.com/books?id=OsJQDwAAQBAJ&q=huincul+formation+Argentinosaurus&pg=PA231. 
  31. ↑ Motta, M.J.; Brissón Egli, F.; Aranciaga Rolando, A.M.; Rozadilla, S.; Gentil, A. R.; Lio, G.; Cerroni, M.; Garcia Marsà, J. et al. (2019). "New vertebrate remains from the Huincul Formation (Cenomanian–Turonian;Upper Cretaceous) in Río Negro, Argentina". Publicación Electrónica de la Asociación Paleontológica Argentina 19 (1): R26. doi:10.5710/PEAPA.15.04.2019.295. http://www.peapaleontologica.org.ar/index.php/peapa/article/viewFile/295/355. Retrieved December 14, 2019. 
  32. ↑ Bellardini, F.; Filippi, L.S. (2018). "New evidence of saurischian dinosaurs from the upper member of the Huincul Formation (Cenomanian) of Neuquén Province, Patagonia, Argentina". Reunión de Comunicaciones de la Asociación Paleontológica Argentina: 10. 

Template:Theropoda Wikidata ☰ Q131176 entry



Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Biology:Mapusaurus&oldid=3997842"