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The first definitive carcharodontosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from Asia and the delayed ascent of tyrannosaurids

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Abstract

Little is known about the evolution of large-bodied theropod dinosaurs during the Early to mid Cretaceous in Asia. Prior to this time, Asia was home to an endemic fauna of basal tetanurans, whereas terminal Cretaceous ecosystems were dominated by tyrannosaurids, but the intervening 60 million years left a sparse fossil record. Here, we redescribe the enigmatic large-bodied Chilantaisaurus maortuensis from the Turonian of Inner Mongolia, China. We refer this species to a new genus, Shaochilong, and analyze its systematic affinities. Although Shaochilong has previously been allied with several disparate theropod groups (Megalosauridae, Allosauridae, Tyrannosauroidea, Maniraptora), we find strong support for a derived carcharodontosaurid placement. As such, Shaochilong is the first unequivocal Asian member of Carcharodontosauridae, which was once thought to be restricted to Gondwana. The discovery of an Asian carcharodontosaurid indicates that this clade was cosmopolitan in the Early to mid Cretaceous and that Asian large-bodied theropod faunas were no longer endemic at this time. It may also suggest that the ascent of tyrannosaurids into the large-bodied dinosaurian predator niche was a late event that occurred towards the end of the Cretaceous, between the Turonian and the Campanian.

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Acknowledgments

We thank numerous curators and researchers for access to specimens in their care, foremost A. Kramarz, J. Canale, R. Cifelli, R. Coria, M. Getty, S. Hutt, M. Munt, J. Person, P. Sereno, V. Schneider, and X.-J. Zhao. We thank T. Carr, N. Smith, and an anonymous reviewer for their critiques, and P. Barrett, M. Benton, R. Butler, R. Cifelli, and S. Nesbitt for comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. Grants from the Cambridge Philosophical Society, the Jurassic Foundation, NERC, and the Palaeontographical Society supported collections visits. SLB is supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. RBJB’s research is supported by National Environmental Research Council studentship NER/S/A/2005/13488. Additional support was provided by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XX, CS, DWEH) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (XX).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY, 10024, USA

    Stephen L. Brusatte

  2. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Stephen L. Brusatte

  3. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EQ, UK

    Roger B. J. Benson

  4. Dinosaur National Monument, Box 128, Jensen, UT, 84035, USA

    Daniel J. Chure

  5. Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 643, Beijing, 100044, People’s Republic of China

    Xing Xu, Corwin Sullivan & David W. E. Hone

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  1. Stephen L. Brusatte
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Correspondence to Stephen L. Brusatte.

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Brusatte, S.L., Benson, R.B.J., Chure, D.J. et al. The first definitive carcharodontosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from Asia and the delayed ascent of tyrannosaurids. Naturwissenschaften 96, 1051–1058 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-009-0565-2

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