Caenagnathid inner ear anatomy + troodontid tooth from Cretaceous of India
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Ben Creisler
Jul 6, 2026, 1:26:46 PM (11 days ago) Jul 6
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Ben Creisler
Free pdf:
Kayla D. Bazzana-Adams, Gregory F. Funston & David C. Evans (2026)
Inner Ear Anatomy of Caenagnathidae (Theropoda: Oviraptorosauria) Emphasizes Mosaic Evolution of the Avian Neurosensory System
Journal of Comparative Neurology 534(7): e70180
doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.70180
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cne.70180
Free pdf:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/cne.70180
The endocranial anatomy of oviraptorosaurian theropods, and their inferred sensory adaptations, has played a key role in understanding the origin of bird-like senses among avian ancestors. However, within oviraptorosaurs, sampling has thus far been limited, and a major gap exists in our understanding of the endocranial anatomy of an enigmatic subclade, Caenagnathidae. Here, we describe the inner ear morphology of three caenagnathid oviraptorosaurs, spanning a wide range of stratigraphy and body size. Our data show that the incipiently bird-like inner ears of caenagnathids were relatively similar both over the course of >10 million years and over multiple orders of magnitude of body mass. Overall, the caenagnathids sampled here show similarities to other maniraptoran theropods and particularly other oviraptorosaurs, but with some key differences that possibly speak to behavioral differences in these groups. In particular, a reduced cochlear duct in the most complete labyrinth suggests restricted hearing sensitivity in caenagnathids, which is at odds with previous suggestions that they were more predatory than oviraptorids. Our results highlight the independent acquisition of some bird-like features along the avian stem and show that late-diverging members of these clades may exhibit divergent features that do not characterize the diversity within the entire group.
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Harsha Dhiman, Fahad Parvez, Anjali Goswami & Guntupalli V. R. Prasad (2026)
A second theropod tooth from the Cauvery Basin reaffirms the presence of troodontid dinosaurs in the Cretaceous of India
The Anatomical Record (advance online publication)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.70280
https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ar.70280
Fossil remains of the small maniraptoran theropod dinosaur group Troodontidae have so far been documented exclusively from the Laurasian continents, with one exception. A single tooth specimen (DUGF/52), recovered from the Upper Cretaceous Kallamedu Formation in the Cauvery Basin, South India, represents the only known record of this group from Gondwana. Recent field investigations in the same locality have yielded a second, better-preserved troodontid tooth (DUGF/168). This study provides a detailed description of the new specimen and compares both Indian teeth with known troodontid material to clarify their taxonomic affinities. In addition to the qualitative morphological comparisons, quantitative statistical analyses, including principal component analysis (PCA) and discriminant function analysis (DFA), were conducted using seven quantitative variables to support taxonomic assessment. The results reaffirm the previous identification of the specimen DUGF/52 as Troodontidae indet and further assign the new specimen to the same family, showing close morphological resemblance to the North American genus Troodon. The occurrence of this typically Laurasian dinosaur group in the Late Cretaceous deposits of India may reflect either the persistence of a once widespread lineage that became restricted to the Northern Hemisphere following the Laurasia–Gondwana breakup or a later dispersal event from Laurasia to India via Europe and Africa.
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New papers:
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Free pdf:
Kayla D. Bazzana-Adams, Gregory F. Funston & David C. Evans (2026)
Inner Ear Anatomy of Caenagnathidae (Theropoda: Oviraptorosauria) Emphasizes Mosaic Evolution of the Avian Neurosensory System
Journal of Comparative Neurology 534(7): e70180
doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.70180
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cne.70180
Free pdf:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/cne.70180
The endocranial anatomy of oviraptorosaurian theropods, and their inferred sensory adaptations, has played a key role in understanding the origin of bird-like senses among avian ancestors. However, within oviraptorosaurs, sampling has thus far been limited, and a major gap exists in our understanding of the endocranial anatomy of an enigmatic subclade, Caenagnathidae. Here, we describe the inner ear morphology of three caenagnathid oviraptorosaurs, spanning a wide range of stratigraphy and body size. Our data show that the incipiently bird-like inner ears of caenagnathids were relatively similar both over the course of >10 million years and over multiple orders of magnitude of body mass. Overall, the caenagnathids sampled here show similarities to other maniraptoran theropods and particularly other oviraptorosaurs, but with some key differences that possibly speak to behavioral differences in these groups. In particular, a reduced cochlear duct in the most complete labyrinth suggests restricted hearing sensitivity in caenagnathids, which is at odds with previous suggestions that they were more predatory than oviraptorids. Our results highlight the independent acquisition of some bird-like features along the avian stem and show that late-diverging members of these clades may exhibit divergent features that do not characterize the diversity within the entire group.
=====
Harsha Dhiman, Fahad Parvez, Anjali Goswami & Guntupalli V. R. Prasad (2026)
A second theropod tooth from the Cauvery Basin reaffirms the presence of troodontid dinosaurs in the Cretaceous of India
The Anatomical Record (advance online publication)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.70280
https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ar.70280
Fossil remains of the small maniraptoran theropod dinosaur group Troodontidae have so far been documented exclusively from the Laurasian continents, with one exception. A single tooth specimen (DUGF/52), recovered from the Upper Cretaceous Kallamedu Formation in the Cauvery Basin, South India, represents the only known record of this group from Gondwana. Recent field investigations in the same locality have yielded a second, better-preserved troodontid tooth (DUGF/168). This study provides a detailed description of the new specimen and compares both Indian teeth with known troodontid material to clarify their taxonomic affinities. In addition to the qualitative morphological comparisons, quantitative statistical analyses, including principal component analysis (PCA) and discriminant function analysis (DFA), were conducted using seven quantitative variables to support taxonomic assessment. The results reaffirm the previous identification of the specimen DUGF/52 as Troodontidae indet and further assign the new specimen to the same family, showing close morphological resemblance to the North American genus Troodon. The occurrence of this typically Laurasian dinosaur group in the Late Cretaceous deposits of India may reflect either the persistence of a once widespread lineage that became restricted to the Northern Hemisphere following the Laurasia–Gondwana breakup or a later dispersal event from Laurasia to India via Europe and Africa.
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