[D] Proceratosaurus bradleyi [Su] [T]
Describer
Woodward, 1910
Time
Jurassic Middle Bathonian
Classification
Saurischia Theropoda Tyrannosauria Tyrannosauroidea Proceratosauridae
Diet
Carnivore
Fossilsite
Great Oolite, Glouchestershire, England
Fall Under
Proceratosaurus
Info
Typespecies - Skull
Proceratosaurus (Huene, 1926) > Proceratosaurus bradleyi (Woodward, 1910) = Megalosaurus bradleyi (Woodward, 1910)
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"before Ceratosaurus\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Partial skull and mandible. A single skull with both jaws but lacking the cranial roof is the basis of Proceratosaurus bradleyi (Woodward,1910), originally described as a species of Megalosaurus.
Although the dorsal portion of the skull is missing, enough remains to show that a medial horn core sat on the nasals above the nares. The skull is lightly built and the premaxillary and mesial dentary teeth are distinctly smaller than the more distal teeth of both jaws. Paul,1988 has argued that Proceratosaurus bradleyi is related to Ornitholestes hermanni.
It bears a large, circular maxillary fenestra and an antorbital maxillary tooth row, diagnostic characters of Tetanurae (Gauthier, 1986), and it lacks the diagnostic characters of Ceratosauria. Proceratosaurus bradleyi (Bathonian) and Gasosaurus constructus are the oldest coelurosaurs documented.
Rauhut, O.W.M., Milner, A.C. and Moore-Fay, S. (2009) Cranial osteology and phylogenetic position of the theropod dinosaur Proceratosaurus bradleyi (Woodward, 1910) from the Middle Jurassic of England. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society Early View 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00591.x
Abstract
The cranial osteology of the small theropod dinosaur Proceratosaurus from the Bathonian of Minchinhampton, England, is described in detail, based on new preparation and computed tomography (CT) scan images of the type, and only known, specimen. Proceratosaurus is an unusual theropod with markedly enlarged external nares and a cranial crest starting at the premaxillary–nasal junction.
The skull is highly pneumatic, with pneumatized nasals, jugals, and maxillae, as well as a highly pneumatic braincase, featuring basisphenoid, anterior tympanic, basipterygoid, and carotid recesses. The dentition is unusual, with small premaxillary teeth and much larger lateral teeth, with a pronounced size difference of the serrations between the mesial and distal carina. The first dentary tooth is somewhat procumbent and flexed anteriorly.
Phylogenetic analysis places Proceratosaurus in the Tyrannosauroidea, in a monophyletic clade [Proceratosauridae], together with the Oxfordian Chinese taxon Guanlong. The Bathonian age of Proceratosaurus extends the origin of all clades of basal coelurosaurs back into the Middle Jurassic, and provides evidence for an early, Laurasia-wide, dispersal of the Tyrannosauroidea during the late Middle to Late Jurassic
Woodward, 1910
Time
Jurassic Middle Bathonian
Classification
Saurischia Theropoda Tyrannosauria Tyrannosauroidea Proceratosauridae
Diet
Carnivore
Fossilsite
Great Oolite, Glouchestershire, England
Fall Under
Proceratosaurus
Info
Typespecies - Skull
Proceratosaurus (Huene, 1926) > Proceratosaurus bradleyi (Woodward, 1910) = Megalosaurus bradleyi (Woodward, 1910)
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"before Ceratosaurus\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Partial skull and mandible. A single skull with both jaws but lacking the cranial roof is the basis of Proceratosaurus bradleyi (Woodward,1910), originally described as a species of Megalosaurus.
Although the dorsal portion of the skull is missing, enough remains to show that a medial horn core sat on the nasals above the nares. The skull is lightly built and the premaxillary and mesial dentary teeth are distinctly smaller than the more distal teeth of both jaws. Paul,1988 has argued that Proceratosaurus bradleyi is related to Ornitholestes hermanni.
It bears a large, circular maxillary fenestra and an antorbital maxillary tooth row, diagnostic characters of Tetanurae (Gauthier, 1986), and it lacks the diagnostic characters of Ceratosauria. Proceratosaurus bradleyi (Bathonian) and Gasosaurus constructus are the oldest coelurosaurs documented.
Rauhut, O.W.M., Milner, A.C. and Moore-Fay, S. (2009) Cranial osteology and phylogenetic position of the theropod dinosaur Proceratosaurus bradleyi (Woodward, 1910) from the Middle Jurassic of England. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society Early View 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00591.x
Abstract
The cranial osteology of the small theropod dinosaur Proceratosaurus from the Bathonian of Minchinhampton, England, is described in detail, based on new preparation and computed tomography (CT) scan images of the type, and only known, specimen. Proceratosaurus is an unusual theropod with markedly enlarged external nares and a cranial crest starting at the premaxillary–nasal junction.
The skull is highly pneumatic, with pneumatized nasals, jugals, and maxillae, as well as a highly pneumatic braincase, featuring basisphenoid, anterior tympanic, basipterygoid, and carotid recesses. The dentition is unusual, with small premaxillary teeth and much larger lateral teeth, with a pronounced size difference of the serrations between the mesial and distal carina. The first dentary tooth is somewhat procumbent and flexed anteriorly.
Phylogenetic analysis places Proceratosaurus in the Tyrannosauroidea, in a monophyletic clade [Proceratosauridae], together with the Oxfordian Chinese taxon Guanlong. The Bathonian age of Proceratosaurus extends the origin of all clades of basal coelurosaurs back into the Middle Jurassic, and provides evidence for an early, Laurasia-wide, dispersal of the Tyrannosauroidea during the late Middle to Late Jurassic