Furileusauria

Furileusauria ("stiff back lizards") is an extinct clade of derived abelisaurid dinosaurs only known from South American fossil remains.[1] They represent some of the largest members of the Abelisauridae, with an average length of 7.1 ± 2.1 m (23.3 ± 6.9 ft).[2] The clade is defined as the most inclusive clade containing Carnotaurus sastrei but not Ilokelesia aguadagrandensis, Skorpiovenator bustingorryi, or Majungasaurus crenatissimus.[1]

Furileusaurians Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, Santonian–Maastrichtian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Restoration of a sprinting Carnotaurus sastrei
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	Theropoda
Family:	†Abelisauridae
Clade:	†Brachyrostra
Clade:	†Furileusauria Filippi, 2016
Genera
†Carnotaurus †Niebla? †Pycnonemosaurus †Quilmesaurus †Viavenator †Abelisaurinae †Abelisaurus †Aucasaurus

Classification

Distinguishing traits

Furileusauria is distinguished by several traits exclusive to the members of this clade. These are:[1]

• the presence of a tip in the middle area of the posterior surface of the ventral process of the postorbital
• the presence of a knob followed by a deep notch in the postorbital-squamosal contact
• an absence of fenestra (openings in the skull) between the frontal, postorbital and lacrimal
• an anterior projection of the distal end of the cervical epiphophyses
• the posterior margin of the postzygapophyses at level with the intervertebral articulation in dorsal vertebrae
• a crescent-shaped morphology of the distal tip of the transverse processes in anterior and middle caudal vertebrae
• the transverse processes of anterior caudal vertebrae distally expanded and only anteriorly projected
• a convex external margin of the transverse processes in anterior caudal vertebrae
• cnemial crest of the tibia with a downturned process

Phylogeny

In the description of the abelisaurid Viavenator, the authors performed a phylogenetic analysis to test the affinities of the new taxon. The simplified strict consensus tree of the analysis is shown below.[1]

Abelisauridae	Kryptops       Rugops     Majungasaurinae     Genusaurus     Arcovenator         Rajasaurus     Indosaurus     Majungasaurus       Brachyrostra   Xenotarsosaurus         Dahalokely     Rahiolisaurus           Ilokelesia       Ekrixinatosaurus     Skorpiovenator       Furileusauria   Pycnonemosaurus     Quilmesaurus     Viavenator       Carnotaurus   Abelisaurinae   Aucasaurus     Abelisaurus

See also

• Timeline of ceratosaur research

References

1. Filippi, Leonardo S.; Méndez, Ariel H.; Juárez Valieri, Rubén D.; Garrido, Alberto C. (2016-06-01). "A new brachyrostran with hypertrophied axial structures reveals an unexpected radiation of latest Cretaceous abelisaurids" (PDF). Cretaceous Research. 61: 209–219. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2015.12.018. ISSN 0195-6671.
2. Grillo, Orlando Nelson; Delcourt, Rafael (2017-01-01). "Allometry and body length of abelisauroid theropods: Pycnonemosaurus nevesi is the new king". Cretaceous Research. 69: 71–89. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2016.09.001. ISSN 0195-6671.