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An abelisaurid humerus from the Upper Cretaceous of India

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An Erratum to this article was published on 02 July 2010

Abstract

The Lameta Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Maastrichtian) of India has yielded abundant fossils of abelisaurid theropods, including bones from the cranium, vertebral column, pectoral and pelvic girdles, and hindlimb. However, the forelimbs of Indian abelisaurids remain unknown. Here we describe an abelisaurid humerus from exposure of the Lameta Formation near the village of Rahioli in northwestern India. This new material exhibits derived traits that are distinctive of Abelisauridae, for example an articular head that is hemispherical in proximal view, thus establishing the specimen as the first abelisaurid humerus from India.

Kurzfassung

Die Lameta-Formation (Oberkreide, Maastrichtian) hat zahlreiche Fossilien von Abelisauriden-Theropoden geliefert, hauptsächlich Schädel, Rückgrat, Schulter- und Beckengürtel und Hinterglieder. Die Vorderglieder der indischen Abelisauriden sind jedoch weiterhin unbekannt. Hier beschreiben wir einen Abelisaurier-Humerus aus dem Aufschluss der Lameta Formation nahe der Ortschaft Rahioli in Nordwestindien. Dieses neue Material zeigt abgeleitete Merkmale die kennzeichnend für Abelisauridae sind, wie einen in Nahansicht halbkugeligen Gelenkkopf. Somit ist das Exemplar der erste Abelisauriden humerus aus Indien.

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Acknowledgments

Paleontological fieldwork in India was carried out in collaboration with Texas Tech University, the Indian Statistical Institute, and the Geological Survey of India. We thank the National Geographic Society, the Dinosaur Society, and the Smithsonian Institution for continued funding of field projects in India, and the directors of the Indian Statistical Institute and the Geological Survey of India for logistical support. We thank D. Pradhan and S. Roy for field assistance and the Indian Statistical Institute and the Geological Survey of India for access to their theropod collections. M. Lamanna and F. Agnolín provided valuable comments and suggestions which improved the quality of the paper. We are grateful to M. Ezcurra for his comments on nomenclature of Coelophysoidea. M. M. Haupt kindly translated the abstract of this contribution into German. Texas Tech University, the Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Técnica (PICT 58), CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas), the National Geographic Society, and the Jurassic Foundation supported this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Conicet, Laboratorio de Anatomía Comparada y Evolución de los Vertebrados, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”, Av. Ángel Gallardo 470, 1405, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Ariel H. Méndez & Fernando E. Novas

  2. Department of Geosciences, Museum of Texas Tech University, Box 43191, Lubbock, TX, 79409-3191, USA

    Sankar Chatterjee

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  1. Ariel H. Méndez
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  2. Fernando E. Novas
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  3. Sankar Chatterjee
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Correspondence to Ariel H. Méndez.

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An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12542-010-0077-6

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Méndez, A.H., Novas, F.E. & Chatterjee, S. An abelisaurid humerus from the Upper Cretaceous of India. Paläontol Z 84, 421–425 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-010-0055-z

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