Genusaurus (Cretaceous, France) revised as furileusaurian abelisaurid (free pdf)

[Ben Creisler]

Ben Creisler

bcre...@gmail.com

A new paper:

Free pdf:

Eric Buffetaut (2025)
Furileusaurian osteological characters in Genusaurus sisteronis Accarie et al., 1995, an abelisaurid dinosaur from the Albian (Lower Cretaceous) of south-eastern France
Carnets natures 12: 79-88.
https://carnetsnatures.fr/volume12/Genusaurus%20sisteronis_Buffetaut-CN20025.pdf


A revision of the type material of Genusaurus sisteronis, from the Albian of Bevons in south-eastern France, confirms that it belongs to the family Abelisauridae. Several osteological characters (6 fused sacral vertebrae, thickened dorsal rim of the fused neurapophyses of the sacral vertebrae, straight dorsal margin of the ilium, hatchet-shaped cnemial crest of the tibia) indicate that it should be placed within Furileusauria, a derived clade of Abelisauridae. The dinosaur from Bevons is the earliest known furileusaurian. The evolutionary and biogeographical implications of the presence of Furileusauria in Europe as early as the Albian are discussed. Two distinct lineages of abelisaurids, Furileusauria and Majungasaurinae, appear to have been present in Europe during the Cretaceous, but whether they co-existed is uncertain.

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[Mickey Mortimer]

Woo Genu!