Abelisaurids from Upper Cretaceous Ibero-Armorican landmass + abelisaurid humerus (free pdfs)
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Ben Creisler
Dec 2, 2025, 12:34:03 PM (5 days ago) Dec 2
to DinosaurMa...@googlegroups.com
Ben Creisler
Recent papers:
Erik Isasmendi and Elisabete Malafaia (2025)
New contributions to the knowledge of Abelisauridae (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous Ibero-Armorican landmass
Ameghiniana (advance online publication)
doi: 10.5710/AMGH.17.10.2025.3660
https://www.ameghiniana.org.ar/index.php/ameghiniana/libraryFiles/downloadPublic/156
Abelisaurids were medium- to large-bodied theropod dinosaurs that inhabited Gondwana and Europe, even becoming the apex predators in the latest Cretaceous ecosystems of many of these areas. European abelisaurids remain elusive, but their remains are becoming increasingly abundant in the Late Cretaceous deposits of IberoArmorica. In this work, systematic, morphometric, and cladistic analyses of tooth samples from the Campanian–Maastrichian deposits of three localities (Chera 2, Montrebei and Viso) from the Iberian Peninsula have allowed these elements to be reassigned to abelisaurids. The specimen from Chera 2 is assigned to Arcovenator sp. whereas teeth from Montrebei and Viso are classified as Abelisauridae indet. The latter represents the first confirmed abelisaurid remain from the Cretaceous of Portugal. The axial remains identified as belonging to Rhabdodon from the Laño site are here attributed to cf. Arcovenator. These findings indicate that abelisaurids were the only apex terrestrial predators and among the most abundant theropods in the Late Cretaceous faunas of the Ibero-Armorican landmass. The reclassification of mid- to large-sized isolated teeth from Ibero-Armorica as abelisaurids, rather than carcharodontosaurids or closely related forms, suggests that Abelisauridae had already become the dominant apex theropod lineage by the Cenomanian. The abelisauroid fossil record in Ibero-Armorica spans from the Albian to the latest Maastrichtian, indicating a complex and temporally extensive presence. Despite most of the specimens being fragmentary, the available evidence supports the persistence and diversification of abelisaurids across the Ibero-Armorican domain, with multiple evolutionary lineages arising either from a possible Albian stock or resulting from successive dispersals, followed by insular diversification throughout the Late Cretaceous.
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The Cerro Overo-La Invernada área (Bajo de la Carpa Formation, Upper Cretaceous, Santonian) in northern Patagonia has yielded abundant fossils of abelisaurid theropods, including cranial, vertebral, pectoral and pelvic remains. However, forelimb bones were unknown. Here, we describe a humerus that exhibits distinctive features that allow its assignment to Abelisauridae, for example, flattened distal condyles, greater tubercle distally located, and humeral head subspherical in proximal view. It also exhibits a noticeable torsion of the distal end. Morphofunctional analysis indicates a substantial capacity for protraction along with a limited capacity for lateromedial movement. In a general aspect, MAU-PV-LI-737 is morphologically intermediate between the more gracile humerus of noasaurids and the robust shape observed in Campanian-Maastrichtian abelisaurid forms.
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Free pdf:
Erik Isasmendi and Elisabete Malafaia (2025)
New contributions to the knowledge of Abelisauridae (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous Ibero-Armorican landmass
Ameghiniana (advance online publication)
doi: 10.5710/AMGH.17.10.2025.3660
https://www.ameghiniana.org.ar/index.php/ameghiniana/libraryFiles/downloadPublic/156
Abelisaurids were medium- to large-bodied theropod dinosaurs that inhabited Gondwana and Europe, even becoming the apex predators in the latest Cretaceous ecosystems of many of these areas. European abelisaurids remain elusive, but their remains are becoming increasingly abundant in the Late Cretaceous deposits of IberoArmorica. In this work, systematic, morphometric, and cladistic analyses of tooth samples from the Campanian–Maastrichian deposits of three localities (Chera 2, Montrebei and Viso) from the Iberian Peninsula have allowed these elements to be reassigned to abelisaurids. The specimen from Chera 2 is assigned to Arcovenator sp. whereas teeth from Montrebei and Viso are classified as Abelisauridae indet. The latter represents the first confirmed abelisaurid remain from the Cretaceous of Portugal. The axial remains identified as belonging to Rhabdodon from the Laño site are here attributed to cf. Arcovenator. These findings indicate that abelisaurids were the only apex terrestrial predators and among the most abundant theropods in the Late Cretaceous faunas of the Ibero-Armorican landmass. The reclassification of mid- to large-sized isolated teeth from Ibero-Armorica as abelisaurids, rather than carcharodontosaurids or closely related forms, suggests that Abelisauridae had already become the dominant apex theropod lineage by the Cenomanian. The abelisauroid fossil record in Ibero-Armorica spans from the Albian to the latest Maastrichtian, indicating a complex and temporally extensive presence. Despite most of the specimens being fragmentary, the available evidence supports the persistence and diversification of abelisaurids across the Ibero-Armorican domain, with multiple evolutionary lineages arising either from a possible Albian stock or resulting from successive dispersals, followed by insular diversification throughout the Late Cretaceous.
=====
Free pdf:
Ariel H. Méndez, E. Emanuel Seculi-Pereyra, Javier González-Dionis, Lucía F. Vettorazi, Ariana Paulina-Carabajal, Federico A. Gianechini, Leonardo S. Filippi, Alberto C. Garrido, Magalí Cárdenas, Penélope Cruzado-Caballero, Do-Kwon Kim, and Yuong-Nam Lee (2025)
The humerus in Abelisauridae
Ameghiniana (advance online publication)
doi: 10.5710/AMGH.24.09.2025.3642
https://www.ameghiniana.org.ar/index.php/ameghiniana/libraryFiles/downloadPublic/148
Ariel H. Méndez, E. Emanuel Seculi-Pereyra, Javier González-Dionis, Lucía F. Vettorazi, Ariana Paulina-Carabajal, Federico A. Gianechini, Leonardo S. Filippi, Alberto C. Garrido, Magalí Cárdenas, Penélope Cruzado-Caballero, Do-Kwon Kim, and Yuong-Nam Lee (2025)
The humerus in Abelisauridae
Ameghiniana (advance online publication)
doi: 10.5710/AMGH.24.09.2025.3642
https://www.ameghiniana.org.ar/index.php/ameghiniana/libraryFiles/downloadPublic/148
The Cerro Overo-La Invernada área (Bajo de la Carpa Formation, Upper Cretaceous, Santonian) in northern Patagonia has yielded abundant fossils of abelisaurid theropods, including cranial, vertebral, pectoral and pelvic remains. However, forelimb bones were unknown. Here, we describe a humerus that exhibits distinctive features that allow its assignment to Abelisauridae, for example, flattened distal condyles, greater tubercle distally located, and humeral head subspherical in proximal view. It also exhibits a noticeable torsion of the distal end. Morphofunctional analysis indicates a substantial capacity for protraction along with a limited capacity for lateromedial movement. In a general aspect, MAU-PV-LI-737 is morphologically intermediate between the more gracile humerus of noasaurids and the robust shape observed in Campanian-Maastrichtian abelisaurid forms.
====
Mickey Mortimer
Dec 3, 2025, 4:06:18 PM (4 days ago) Dec 3
to Dinosaur Mailing Group
The actual title of Mendez et al.'s paper is "AN ABELISAURID HUMERUS FROM THE BAJO DE LA CARPA FORMATION (UPPER CRETACEOUS, SANTONIAN), NORTHERN
PATAGONIA, WITH COMMENTS ON MORPHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF
THE HUMERUS IN ABELISAURIDAE".
Mickey Mortimer
Ben Creisler
Dec 3, 2025, 4:17:51 PM (4 days ago) Dec 3
to DinosaurMa...@googlegroups.com
Thanks. Another problem with highlighting and copy-paste, which seems to happen more with Windows 11. Things I highlight get chopped off when pasted and automatic correction capitalizes the first word, or it pastes something else on the clipboard instead of what I highlighted. I missed this one before I hit send obviously.
Ariel H. Méndez, E. Emanuel Seculi-Pereyra, Javier González-Dionis, Lucía F. Vettorazi, Ariana Paulina-Carabajal, Federico A. Gianechini, Leonardo S. Filippi, Alberto C. Garrido, Magalí Cárdenas, Penélope Cruzado-Caballero, Do-Kwon Kim, and Yuong-Nam Lee (2025)
An abelisaurid humerus from the Bajo de la Carpa Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Santonian), Northern Patagonia, with comments on morphological aspects of the humerus in Abelisauridae
Ameghiniana (advance online publication)
doi: 10.5710/AMGH.24.09.2025.3642
https://www.ameghiniana.org.ar/index.php/ameghiniana/libraryFiles/downloadPublic/148
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