A new small-bodied ornithopod (Dinosauria, Ornithischia) from a deep, high-energy Early Cretaceous river of the Australian-Antarctic rift system

• Published in: PeerJ (San Francisco, CA) Vol. 5; p. e4113
• Main Authors: Herne, Matthew C, Tait, Alan M, Weisbecker, Vera, Hall, Michael, Nair, Jay P, Cleeland, Michael, Salisbury, Steven W
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States PeerJ. Ltd 11-01-2018; PeerJ, Inc; PeerJ Inc
• Subjects: Analysis; Australia–Antarctica; Biogeography; Biological diversity; Diluvicursor pickeringi; Dinosaur; Dinosaurs; Ecosystems; Evolutionary Studies; Fossils; Geology; Gondwana; Identification and classification; Natural history; New species; Ornithischia; Ornithopod; Ornithopoda; Paleontology; Phylogeny; Rivers; Sedimentology; Spine; Taphonomy; Taxonomy; Trauma; Vertebrae; Zoology; Australia; Sedimentology; Palaeoecology; Pathology; Australia–Antarctica; Systematics; Dinosaur; Ornithopod; palaeontology; Gondwana; Taphonomy
• ISSN: 2167-8359; 2167-8359
• DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4113

A new small-bodied ornithopod dinosaur,
, gen. et sp. nov., is named from the lower Albian of the Eumeralla Formation in southeastern Australia and helps shed new light on the anatomy and diversity of Gondwanan ornithopods. Comprising an almost complete tail and partial lower right hindlimb, the holotype (NMV P221080) was deposited as a carcass or body-part in a log-filled scour near the base of a deep, high-energy river that incised a faunally rich, substantially forested riverine floodplain within the Australian-Antarctic rift graben. The deposit is termed the 'Eric the Red West Sandstone.' The holotype, interpreted as an older juvenile ∼1.2 m in total length, appears to have endured antemortem trauma to the pes. A referred, isolated posterior caudal vertebra (NMV P229456) from the holotype locality, suggests
grew to at least 2.3 m in length.
is characterised by 10 potential autapomorphies, among which dorsoventrally low neural arches and transversely broad caudal ribs on the anterior-most caudal vertebrae are a visually defining combination of features. These features suggest
had robust anterior caudal musculature and strong locomotor abilities. Another isolated anterior caudal vertebra (NMV P228342) from the same deposit, suggests that the fossil assemblage hosts at least two ornithopod taxa.
and two stratigraphically younger, indeterminate Eumeralla Formation ornithopods from Dinosaur Cove, NMV P185992/P185993 and NMV P186047, are closely related. However, the tail of
is far shorter than that of NMV P185992/P185993 and its pes more robust than that of NMV P186047. Preliminary cladistic analysis, utilising three existing datasets, failed to resolve
beyond a large polytomy of Ornithopoda. However, qualitative assessment of shared anatomical features suggest that the Eumeralla Formation ornithopods, South American
and
, Afro-Laurasian dryosaurids and possibly Antarctic
share a close phylogenetic progenitor. Future phylogenetic analysis with improved data on Australian ornithopods will help to test these suggested affinities.