[D] Irritator challengeri [Su] [sG] [T]
Describer
Martill, Cruickshank, Frey, Small & Clarke, 1996
Time
Cretaceous Early Aptian
Classification
Saurischia Theropoda Tetanurae Spinosauroidae Spinosauridae
Diet
Carnivore
Fossilsite
Santana Formation along the foothills of the Chapada do Araripe, Ceará State, northeastern Brazil
Info
Genus - Typespecies - Skull
The authors note that there is a similarity between the teeth of Irritator and those of Spinosaurids. The majority of Santana vertebrate fossils are fish, which occur in great quantity and diversity. Santana pterosaurs, most of which were described only during the past ten years or so, have become quite famous for the bizarre shapes of their skulls.
So it is extremely interesting that a Santana concretion bearing the partial skull of a fairly large theropod dinosaur recently turned up in the collection of the Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde in Stuttgart, Germany. How the skull got to Stuttgart is unknown.
The Santana Formation is mined systematically by the villagers, who process tons of concretions annually and sell them as souvenirs to supplement their income. In the course of preparing the fossils for sale, the locals frequently doctor them with carvings and \\\\\\\"repair\\\\\\\" them to make them more attractive to the untrained eye. This kind of fossil fakery was found on the Stuttgart theropod skull, much to the chagrin of the describers.
The snout had been plastered up from broken parts of the skull to look as if it were longer than it was in life, and the whole repair job was blatantly concealed by matrix held in place with a thick layer of car-body filler. This fakery was revealed when the describers CAT-scanned it as part of their work. Altogether, five paleontologists co-authored the paper describing the skull: David M. Martill, A. R. I. Cruickshank, Eberhard Frey, P. G. Small, and M. Clarke.
Principal author Martill has worked with Santana pterosaur fossils for quite some time, and he has written about how fossils have been faked by the locals. To express their annoyance with the phoniness, they named the new dinosaur Irritator challengeri, irritator being a good Latin word (as well as an English word) meaning \\\\\\\"one who arouses, annoys, excites, or (naturally) irritates.\\\\\\\"
Known material/holotype
SMNS 58022, almost complete skull, missing rostral portion of snout, preserved in large calcareous concretion with bones from both mandibilar rami.
Diagnosis of genus (as for the type species)
Nasals having prominent median bony crest terminating caudally in knoblike, somewhat dorsoventrally flattened projection; dorsal surface of parietals facing posterodorsally; vertical axis of braincase inclinend antroventrally; caudal surface of basisphenoid having deep dorsoventrally oval median recess; surangular with broad lateral shelf. (Sues, Frey, Martill and Scott , 2002)
Martill, Cruickshank, Frey, Small & Clarke, 1996
Time
Cretaceous Early Aptian
Classification
Saurischia Theropoda Tetanurae Spinosauroidae Spinosauridae
Diet
Carnivore
Fossilsite
Santana Formation along the foothills of the Chapada do Araripe, Ceará State, northeastern Brazil
Info
Genus - Typespecies - Skull
The authors note that there is a similarity between the teeth of Irritator and those of Spinosaurids. The majority of Santana vertebrate fossils are fish, which occur in great quantity and diversity. Santana pterosaurs, most of which were described only during the past ten years or so, have become quite famous for the bizarre shapes of their skulls.
So it is extremely interesting that a Santana concretion bearing the partial skull of a fairly large theropod dinosaur recently turned up in the collection of the Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde in Stuttgart, Germany. How the skull got to Stuttgart is unknown.
The Santana Formation is mined systematically by the villagers, who process tons of concretions annually and sell them as souvenirs to supplement their income. In the course of preparing the fossils for sale, the locals frequently doctor them with carvings and \\\\\\\"repair\\\\\\\" them to make them more attractive to the untrained eye. This kind of fossil fakery was found on the Stuttgart theropod skull, much to the chagrin of the describers.
The snout had been plastered up from broken parts of the skull to look as if it were longer than it was in life, and the whole repair job was blatantly concealed by matrix held in place with a thick layer of car-body filler. This fakery was revealed when the describers CAT-scanned it as part of their work. Altogether, five paleontologists co-authored the paper describing the skull: David M. Martill, A. R. I. Cruickshank, Eberhard Frey, P. G. Small, and M. Clarke.
Principal author Martill has worked with Santana pterosaur fossils for quite some time, and he has written about how fossils have been faked by the locals. To express their annoyance with the phoniness, they named the new dinosaur Irritator challengeri, irritator being a good Latin word (as well as an English word) meaning \\\\\\\"one who arouses, annoys, excites, or (naturally) irritates.\\\\\\\"
Known material/holotype
SMNS 58022, almost complete skull, missing rostral portion of snout, preserved in large calcareous concretion with bones from both mandibilar rami.
Diagnosis of genus (as for the type species)
Nasals having prominent median bony crest terminating caudally in knoblike, somewhat dorsoventrally flattened projection; dorsal surface of parietals facing posterodorsally; vertical axis of braincase inclinend antroventrally; caudal surface of basisphenoid having deep dorsoventrally oval median recess; surangular with broad lateral shelf. (Sues, Frey, Martill and Scott , 2002)