Skip to content
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
earth and planetary sciences
A new coelurosaurian dinosaur from the early cretaceous of south africa
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Volume 20, No. 2, Year 2000
Notification
URL copied to clipboard!
Description
We report the well preserved skeleton of a small theropod dinosaur, Nqwebasaurus thwazi, gen. et sp. nov., from the Lower Cretaceous Kirkwood Formation of South Africa. Nqwebasaurus has an elongate three-digit manus with a partially opposable first digit, a long and slender pes with a highly reduced metatarsal IV, and preserves gastroliths (stomach stones) in its abdominal region. As a basal coelurosaurian, Nqwebasaurus pushes back the Gondwanan record of this derived group of tetanuran theropods approximately 50 million years. This confirms that coelurosaurians were present on the Gondwana supercontinent well before its main phase of fragmentation and supports the hypothesis that this clade could have achieved a global distribution early in their evolution. Nqwebasaurus is one of the most complete and best preserved Cretaceous theropods described thus far from Africa. © 2000 by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Authors & Co-Authors
de Klerk, William J.
South Africa, Grahamstown
Albany Museum
Forster, Catherine A.
United States, Stony Brook
Stony Brook University
Ross, Callum F.
United States, Stony Brook
Stony Brook University
Sampson, Scott Donald
United States, Salt Lake City
Natural History Museum of Utah
Chinsamy, Anusuya
South Africa, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
Statistics
Citations: 72
Authors: 5
Affiliations: 4
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1671/0272-4634(2000)020[0324:ANCDFT]2.0.CO;2
ISSN:
02724634
e-ISSN:
19372809
Study Locations
South Africa