The oldest known dinosaur from southeast Asia: a prosauropod from the Nam Phong Formation (late Triassic) of northeastern Thailand

Buffetaut, Éric; Martin, V.; Sattayarak, Nares; Suteethorn, Varavudh

doi:10.1017/s0016756800018951

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…11; modified Smith & Galton 1990). Indeed, in various sauropodomorphs (Young 1941a(Young , 1942Heerden 1979;Buffetaut et al 1995;Efraasia -SMNS 12354), including some sauropods (Janensch 1961;Cooper 1984), the distal ischium has a very broad and flat dorsal margin and a sub-triangular distal outline. Archaeornithomimus) and Elaphrosaurus.…”

Section: Distal Pubis Nearly As Broad As (0) or Significantly Narrowementioning

confidence: 99%

Early dinosaurs: A phylogenetic study

Langer¹,

Benton²

2006

Journal of Systematic Palaeontology

200

615

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SYNOPSIS Early dinosaur evolution has been the subject of several phylogenetic studies and the position of certain basal forms is currently debated. This is the case for the oldest known members of the group, excavated from the Late Triassic Ischigualastian beds of South America, such as Herrerasaurus, Eoraptor, Pisanosaurus, Saturnalia and Staurikosaurus. A new cladistic analysis of the early dinosaur radiation was performed to assess the relationships among the three major clades (Ornithischia, Sauropodomorpha and Theropoda) and to define the phylogenetic position of the basal members of the group. The most parsimonious hypothesis has Silesaurus opolensis as the sister taxon to a dichotomy including monophyletic Saurischia and Ornithischia. The latter includes Pisanosaurus mertii, and the former all other well-known Triassic dinosaurs. Saurischia is composed of two major monophyletic groups: Herrerasauridae (including Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis and Staurikosaurus pricei) and Eusaurischia (including the theropod and sauropodomorph lineages), while Eoraptor lunensis appears to represent the sister taxon to Eusaurischia. Saturnalia tupiniquim is a stem-taxon to Sauropodomorpha and Guaibasaurus candelariensis might belong to the theropod branch. Some of these hypotheses are, however, not strongly supported. Especially uncertain are the affinities of Silesaurus and Guaibasaurus. The latter can only be safely regarded as a saurischian, while the former might belong to the ornithischian lineage. The dinosaurian affinities of Eoraptor and Herrerasauridae are strongly supported. Yet, the possibility that they (especially Eoraptor) represent basal theropods, rather than basal saurischians, cannot be dismissed. In fact, basal saurischian evolution is still too poorly understood for a definitive hypothesis of relationships to be presented.

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Section: Distal Pubis Nearly As Broad As (0) or Significantly Narrowementioning

confidence: 99%

Early dinosaurs: A phylogenetic study

Langer¹,

Benton²

2006

Journal of Systematic Palaeontology

200

615

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“…The “Eurasian” record of Norian‐Raethian dinosaurs (Fig. 7) is completed by the basal sauropodomorphs of the Nam Phong Formation, Thailand, that include Isanosaurus attavipachi (Buffetaut et al , 1995, 2000).…”

Section: Dinosaur “Trail Blazers” In Space Time and Evolutionamentioning

confidence: 99%

The origin and early evolution of dinosaurs

et al. 2010

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The oldest unequivocal records of Dinosauria were unearthed from Late Triassic rocks (approximately 230 Ma) accumulated over extensional rift basins in southwestern Pangea. The better known of these are Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis, Pisanosaurus mertii, Eoraptor lunensis, and Panphagia protos from the Ischigualasto Formation, Argentina, and Staurikosaurus pricei and Saturnalia tupiniquim from the Santa Maria Formation, Brazil. No uncontroversial dinosaur body fossils are known from older strata, but the Middle Triassic origin of the lineage may be inferred from both the footprint record and its sister-group relation to Ladinian basal dinosauromorphs. These include the typical Marasuchus lilloensis, more basal forms such as Lagerpeton and Dromomeron, as well as silesaurids: a possibly monophyletic group composed of Mid-Late Triassic forms that may represent immediate sister taxa to dinosaurs. The first phylogenetic definition to fit the current understanding of Dinosauria as a node-based taxon solely composed of mutually exclusive Saurischia and Ornithischia was given as "all descendants of the most recent common ancestor of birds and Triceratops". Recent cladistic analyses of early dinosaurs agree that Pisanosaurus mertii is a basal ornithischian; that Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis and Staurikosaurus pricei belong in a monophyletic Herrerasauridae; that herrerasaurids, Eoraptor lunensis, and Guaibasaurus candelariensis are saurischians; that Saurischia includes two main groups, Sauropodomorpha and Theropoda; and that Saturnalia tupiniquim is a basal member of the sauropodomorph lineage. On the contrary, several aspects of basal dinosaur phylogeny remain controversial, including the position of herrerasaurids, E. lunensis, and G. candelariensis as basal theropods or basal saurischians, and the affinity and/or validity of more fragmentary taxa such as Agnosphitys cromhallensis, Alwalkeria maleriensis, Chindesaurus bryansmalli, Saltopus elginensis, and Spondylosoma absconditum. The identification of dinosaur apomorphies is jeopardized by the incompleteness of skeletal remains attributed to most basal dinosauromorphs, the skulls and forelimbs of which are particularly poorly known. Nonetheless, Dinosauria can be diagnosed by a suite of derived traits, most of which are related to the anatomy of the pelvic girdle and limb. Some of these are connected to the acquisition of a fully erect bipedal gait, which has been traditionally suggested to represent a key adaptation that allowed, or even promoted, dinosaur radiation during Late Triassic times. Yet, contrary to the classical "competitive" models, dinosaurs did not gradually replace other terrestrial tetrapods over the Late Triassic. In fact, the radiation of the group comprises at least three landmark moments, separated by controversial (Carnian-Norian, Triassic-Jurassic) extinction events. These are mainly characterized by early diversification in Carnian times, a Norian increase in diversity and (especially) abundance, and the occupation of new niches from the ...

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“…Recent key discoveries, in stratigraphic order, include the discovery of primitive sauropods in Africa (e.g., Charig et al 1965;Allain et al 2004) and India (e.g., Jain et al 1975;Yadagiri 2001); Middle Jurassic sauropods from China Tang et al 2001;Ouyang and Ye 2002) and Argentina (Bonaparte 1986b); and well preserved sauropod skeletons from the Cretaceous of Asia Suteethorn et al 1995), South America (Salgado and Bonaparte 1991;), India , Africa , and Madagascar .…”

Section: Sauropod Systematic Recordmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…4.1). In the Late Triassic, remains of the sauropod Isanosaurus (late Norian-Rhaetian, Thailand ) were recovered from the same unit as indeterminate prosauropod material (Buffetaut et al 1995); similarly, the sauropod Blikanasaurus (?late Carnian-?early Norian, South Africa ) was a member of the diverse Lower Elliot Formation dinosaur fauna, which also included a minimum of two prosauropod genera (Euskelosaurus and Melanorosaurus ). The association between prosauropods and sauropods continues in the Early Jurassic, particularly in China, where the prosauropods of the Lower Lufeng Formation and adjacent penecontemporaneous faunas (Hettangian-Pliensbachian [Young 1951;Dong 1992;Luo and Wu 1994;Barrett 2000]) lived alongside a variety of early sauropods (Dong et al 1983;Barrett 1999Barrett , 2000; P.M.B.…”

Section: Competition Between Prosauropods and Sauropods?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Sauropods: evolution and paleobiology

2006

Choice Reviews Online

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The oldest known dinosaur from southeast Asia: a prosauropod from the Nam Phong Formation (late Triassic) of northeastern Thailand

Cited by 10 publications

References 2 publications

Early dinosaurs: A phylogenetic study

Early dinosaurs: A phylogenetic study

The origin and early evolution of dinosaurs

The Sauropods: evolution and paleobiology

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