Metriacanthosauridae
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Metriacanthosauridae
Metriacanthosauridae is an extinct family of allosauroid theropod dinosaurs that lived from the Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous. When broken down into its Greek roots, it means "moderately-spined lizards". The family is split into two subgroups: Metriacanthosaurinae, which includes dinosaurs closely related to ''Metriacanthosaurus'', and another group composed of the close relatives of ''Yangchuanosaurus''. Metriacanthosaurids are considered carnosaurs, belonging to the Allosauroidea superfamily. The group includes species of large range in body size. Of their physical traits, most notable are their neural spines.Bailey, Jack Bowman. "Neural Spine Elongation in Dinosaurs: Sailbacks or Buffalo-Backs?" Journal of Paleontology, vol. 71, no. 06, 1997, pp. 1124–1146., doi:10.1017/s0022336000036076. The records of the group are mostly confined to Asia, though ''Metriacanthosaurus'' is known from Europe. Metriacanthosauridae is used as a senior synonym of Sinraptoridae. Diagno ...
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Allosauroidea
Allosauroidea is a superfamily or clade of theropod dinosaurs which contains four family (biology), families — the Metriacanthosauridae, Allosauridae, Carcharodontosauridae, and Neovenatoridae. Allosauroids, alongside the family Megalosauroidea, were among the apex predators that were active during the Middle Jurassic to Late Cretaceous periods. The most famous and best understood allosauroid is the North American genus ''Allosaurus''. The oldest-known allosauroid, ''Shidaisaurus jinae'', appeared in the early Middle Jurassic about 174 million years ago (Earliest Aalenian stage) of China. The last known definitive surviving members of the group died out around 89 million years ago in Asia (''Shaochilong'') and South America (''Mapusaurus''), though the megaraptorans, which survived until the end of Maastrichtian, may belong to the group as well. A frontal assigned to an allosauroid found to be most closely related to ''Sinraptor'' has also been found in the Coniacian (89-86.3 ...
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Metriacanthosaurus Parkeri
''Metriacanthosaurus'' (meaning "moderately-spined lizard") is a genus of metriacanthosaurid dinosaur from the upper Oxford Clay of England, dating to the Late Jurassic period, about 160 million years ago (lower Oxfordian). History of discovery In 1923, German paleontologist Friedrich von Huene wrote a paper on Jurassic and Cretaceous European carnivorous dinosaurs within Saurischia. In this paper, he examined a specimen (OUM J.12144) including an incomplete hip, a leg bone, and part of a backbone, assigning it to a new species of ''Megalosaurus'': ''Megalosaurus parkeri''. The specific name honours W. Parker who in the nineteenth century had collected the fossils near Jordan's Cliff at Weymouth. These bones were from the Oxford Clay Formation, which dates to the Upper Jurassic. In 1932, however, von Huene concluded it was a species of '' Altispinax'', ''A. parkeri''. In 1964, scientist Alick Walker decided these fossils were too different from ''Altispinax'', as they lacke ...
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Sinraptor
''Sinraptor'' is a genus of metriacanthosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic. The name ''Sinraptor'' comes from the Latin prefix "Sino", meaning Chinese, and "raptor" meaning robber. The specific name ''dongi'' honours Dong Zhiming. Despite its name, ''Sinraptor'' is not related to dromaeosaurids (often nicknamed "raptors") like ''Velociraptor''. Instead, it was a carnosaur distantly related to ''Allosaurus''. ''Sinraptor'' and its close relatives were among the earliest members of the Jurassic carnosaurian radiation. ''Sinraptor'' still remains the best-known member of the family Metriacanthosauridae, with some older sources even using the name "Sinraptoridae" for the family. Discovery The holotype specimen of ''Sinraptor'' was uncovered from the Shishugou Formation during a joint Chinese/Canadian expedition to the northwestern Chinese desert in 1987, and described by Philip J. Currie and Zhao Xijin in 1993. Standing nearly tall and measuring roughly in length, t ...
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Metriacanthosaurus
''Metriacanthosaurus'' (meaning "moderately-spined lizard") is a genus of metriacanthosaurid dinosaur from the upper Oxford Clay of England, dating to the Late Jurassic period, about 160 million years ago (lower Oxfordian). History of discovery In 1923, German paleontologist Friedrich von Huene wrote a paper on Jurassic and Cretaceous European carnivorous dinosaurs within Saurischia. In this paper, he examined a specimen (OUM J.12144) including an incomplete hip, a leg bone, and part of a backbone, assigning it to a new species of ''Megalosaurus'': ''Megalosaurus parkeri''. The specific name honours W. Parker who in the nineteenth century had collected the fossils near Jordan's Cliff at Weymouth. These bones were from the Oxford Clay Formation, which dates to the Upper Jurassic. In 1932, however, von Huene concluded it was a species of '' Altispinax'', ''A. parkeri''. In 1964, scientist Alick Walker decided these fossils were too different from ''Altispinax'', as they lacke ...
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Yangchuanosaurus
''Yangchuanosaurus'' is an extinct genus of metriacanthosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in China from the Middle to Late Jurassic periods (Bathonian to Oxfordian stages), and was similar in size and appearance to its North American and European relative, ''Allosaurus''. ''Yangchuanosaurus'' hails from the Upper Shaximiao Formation and was the largest predator in a landscape that included the sauropods ''Mamenchisaurus'' and ''Omeisaurus'' and the stegosaurs ''Chialingosaurus'', ''Tuojiangosaurus'' and ''Chungkingosaurus''. This theropod was named after the area in which was discovered, Yongchuan, in China. Discovery and species Dong ''et al.'' (1978) named ''Yangchuanosaurus shangyouensis'' on the basis of CV 00215, a complete skull and skeleton which was collected from the Shangshaximiao Formation, near Yongchuan, Yongchuan District, Sichuan. It dates to the Oxfordian stage of the Late Jurassic period, about 161.2 to 157.3 million years ago. It was discovered ...
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Carnosauria
Carnosauria is an extinct large group of predatory dinosaurs that lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Starting from the 1990s, scientists have discovered some very large carnosaurs in the carcharodontosaurid family, such as ''Giganotosaurus'', ''Mapusaurus'', ''Carcharodontosaurus'' and ''Tyrannotitan'' which are among the largest known predatory dinosaurs. While it originally contained a wide assortment of giant theropods that were not closely related, the group has since been defined to encompass only the allosaurs and their closest kin. However, with the description and publication in 2019 of ''Asfaltovenator vialidadi'', a basal allosauroid curiously displaying both primitive and derived features seen in Tetanurae, the new phylogenetic analysis has found Megalosauroidea to be a basal grade of carnosaurs in respect to Allosauroidea; thus significantly expanding Carnosauria's inclusiveness towards its original context. Distinctive characteristics of carnosaurs ...
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Yangchuanosaurus NT Small
''Yangchuanosaurus'' is an extinct genus of metriacanthosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in People's Republic of China, China from the Middle Jurassic, Middle to Late Jurassic periods (Bathonian to Oxfordian (stage), Oxfordian stages), and was similar in size and appearance to its North American and European relative, ''Allosaurus''. ''Yangchuanosaurus'' hails from the Upper Shaximiao Formation and was the largest predator in a landscape that included the sauropods ''Mamenchisaurus'' and ''Omeisaurus'' and the Stegosauria, stegosaurs ''Chialingosaurus'', ''Tuojiangosaurus'' and ''Chungkingosaurus''. This theropod was named after the area in which was discovered, Yongchuan, in China. Discovery and species Dong ''et al.'' (1978) named ''Yangchuanosaurus shangyouensis'' on the basis of Municipal Museum of Chongqing, CV 00215, a complete skull and skeleton which was collected from the Shangshaximiao Formation, near Yongchuan, Yongchuan District, Sichuan. It dates to the Oxfo ...
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Xuanhanosaurus
''Xuanhanosaurus'' (meaning "Xuanhan lizard") is a genus of theropod dinosaur that lived during the Middle Jurassic of China, around 167.7 to 161.2 million years ago. Discovery The type species ''Xuanhanosaurus qilixiaensis'' was named by Dong Zhiming in 1984. The generic name refers to Xuanhan County in Sichuan, while the specific name is derived from the town of Qilixia. The holotype specimen, IVPP V.6729, was found in China's Lower Shaximiao Formation. It consists of a partial skeleton without a skull.Dong, Z. (1984). "A new theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Sichuan Basin". ''Vertebrata PalAsiatica'' 22(3):213-218 Description ''Xuanhanosaurus'' was approximately 4.5 meters (15 ft) in length, with a weight of 250 kilograms (550  lb). ''Xuanhanosaurus'' had powerful forelimbs, over 65 cm long; this, along with the retention of the fourth metacarpal in the hand, led Dong to suggest that ''Xuanhanosaurus'' might have walked on all f ...
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Piatnitzkysauridae
Piatnitzkysauridae is an extinct family of megalosauroid or basal Allosauroid dinosaurs. It only consists of three known dinosaur genera: '' Condorraptor'', ''Marshosaurus'', and ''Piatnitzkysaurus.'' The most complete and well known member of this family is ''Piatnitzkysaurus'', which also gives the family its name. Description So far all known piatnitzkysaurids have only been found in Jurassic deposits of the western hemisphere/New world. ''Piatnitzkysaurus'' and ''Condorraptor'' hail from the Cañadón Asfalto Formation of Argentina, which has been dated from the Toarcian epoch of the Early Jurassic to the Bathonian epoch of the Middle Jurassic (approximately 179 to 168 million years ago). ''Marshosaurus'' was found in the Morrison Formation of the United States, which was dated to the Kimmeridgian epoch of the Late Jurassic. Piatnitzkysaurids were among the first large theropods present in South America, and are evidence for a radiation of basal tetanurans in the middle Jur ...
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Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is the subject of active research. They became the dominant terrestrial vertebrates after the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event 201.3 mya; their dominance continued throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The fossil record shows that birds are feathered dinosaurs, having evolved from earlier theropods during the Late Jurassic epoch, and are the only dinosaur lineage known to have survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event approximately 66 mya. Dinosaurs can therefore be divided into avian dinosaurs—birds—and the extinct non-avian dinosaurs, which are all dinosaurs other than birds. Dinosaurs are varied from taxonomic, morphological and ecological standpoints. Birds, at over 10,700 living species, are among ...
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Shidaisaurus
''Shidaisaurus'' is a genus of metriacanthosaurid dinosaur. Its fossil was found in early Middle Jurassic-age rocks of the Chuanjie Formation in Yunnan, China. It is known from a partial skeleton, holotype DML-LCA 9701-IV, found at the bottom of an assemblage of nine dinosaur individuals, lacking most of the tail vertebrae, ribs, pectoral girdle, and limb bones. ''Shidaisaurus'' was described in 2009 by Wu and colleagues. The type species is ''Shidaisaurus jinae''. Generic name and specific name in combination refer to the Jin-Shidai ("Golden Age") Company that exploits the Jurassic World Park near the site. This theropod according to Gregory Paul Gregory Scott Paul (born December 24, 1954) is an American freelance researcher, author and illustrator who works in paleontology, and more recently has examined sociology and theology. He is best known for his work and research on theropod dino ... was about long and it weighed around . In 2016 another estimation listed it highe ...
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Megalosauroidea
Megalosauroidea (meaning 'great/big lizard forms') is a superfamily (or clade) of tetanuran theropod dinosaurs that lived from the Middle Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous period. The group is defined as ''Megalosaurus bucklandii'' and all taxa sharing a more recent common ancestor with it than with ''Allosaurus fragilis'' or ''Passer domesticus''. Members of the group include ''Spinosaurus'', ''Megalosaurus'', and ''Torvosaurus''. They are possibly paraphyletic in nature. Classification The name Spinosauroidea is sometimes used in place of Megalosauroidea. The superfamily Spinosauroidea was named in 1915 by Ernst Stromer. It is a synonym of Megalosauroidea in almost all modern phylogenetic analyses, and it is therefore redundant. Spinosauroidea was defined as a clade in 1998 by Paul Sereno as the node clade containing the common ancestor of ''Spinosaurus'' and ''Torvosaurus'' and all its descendants. Thomas Holtz in 2004 defined a branch clade with the same name containing all spec ...
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