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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
general
Ecologically distinct dinosaurian sister group shows early diversification of Ornithodira
Nature, Volume 464, No. 7285, Year 2010
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Description
The early evolutionary history of Ornithodira (avian-line archosaurs) has hitherto been documented by incomplete (Lagerpeton) or unusually specialized forms (pterosaurs and Silesaurus). Recently, a variety of Silesaurus-like taxa have been reported from the Triassic period of both Gondwana and Laurasia, but their relationships to each other and to dinosaurs remain a subject of debate. Here we report on a new avian-line archosaur from the early Middle Triassic (Anisian) of Tanzania. Phylogenetic analysis places Asilisaurus kongwe gen. et sp. nov. as an avian-line archosaur and a member of the Silesauridae, which is here considered the sister taxon to Dinosauria. Silesaurids were diverse and had a wide distribution by the Late Triassic, with a novel ornithodiran bauplan including leaf-shaped teeth, a beak-like lower jaw, long, gracile limbs, and a quadrupedal stance. Our analysis suggests that the dentition and diet of silesaurids, ornithischians and sauropodomorphs evolved independently from a plesiomorphic carnivorous form. As the oldest avian-line archosaur, Asilisaurus demonstrates the antiquity of both Ornithodira and the dinosaurian lineage. The initial diversification of Archosauria, previously documented by crocodilian-line archosaurs in the Anisian, can now be shown to include a contemporaneous avian-line radiation. The unparalleled taxonomic diversity of the Manda archosaur assemblage indicates that archosaur diversification was well underway by the Middle Triassic or earlier. © 2010 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.
Authors & Co-Authors
Nesbitt, Sterling J.
United States, Palisades
Lamont-doherty Earth Observatory
United States, New York
American Museum of Natural History
United States, Austin
Jackson School of Geosciences
Sidor, Christian A.
United States, Seattle
University of Washington
Irmis, Randall B.
United States, Salt Lake City
Natural History Museum of Utah
United States, Salt Lake City
The University of Utah
Angielczyk, Kenneth David
United States, Chicago
Field Museum of Natural History
Smith, R. M.H.
South Africa, Cape Town
Iziko South African Museum
Tsuji, Linda Akiko
Germany, Berlin
Humboldt-universität zu Berlin
Statistics
Citations: 236
Authors: 6
Affiliations: 9
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1038/nature08718
ISSN:
00280836
e-ISSN:
14764687
Research Areas
Cancer
Study Locations
Tanzania