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15 October 2020 Osteological Redescription of the Late Triassic Sauropodomorph Dinosaur Thecodontosaurus antiquus Based on New Material from Tytherington, Southwestern England
Antonio Ballell, Emily J. Rayfield, Michael J. Benton
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Abstract

Thecodontosaurus antiquus is a basal sauropodomorph from the Rhaetian locality of Durdham Down in Bristol, U.K. Sauropodomorph material putatively assigned to this species was found at the nearby site of Tytherington. Here, we describe the Tytherington specimens and compare them with T. antiquus and other Late Triassic sauropodomorphs from Britain. We find that this material can be assigned to T. antiquus based on multiple shared morphological traits, and we provide a revised diagnosis of this taxon. The new anatomical information from the Tytherington specimens enriches the osteology of the species, particularly of previously unknown parts of the skeleton such as the skull. We find poor anatomical support to distinguish the contemporary Pantydraco caducus from T. antiquus, such that the former might represent a juvenile of the latter. We also discuss the questionable validity of Asylosaurus yalensis. Thecodontosaurus antiquus is one of the most basal sauropodomorphs that show craniodental traits related to herbivory, while retaining a plesiomorphic limb morphology and posture. This taxon was an important component of Rhaetian insular ecosystems of southwestern Britain.

© Published with license by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. © 2020 Antonio Ballell, Emily J. Rayfield, and Michael J. Benton. Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Antonio Ballell, Emily J. Rayfield, and Michael J. Benton "Osteological Redescription of the Late Triassic Sauropodomorph Dinosaur Thecodontosaurus antiquus Based on New Material from Tytherington, Southwestern England," Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 40(2), (15 October 2020). https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2020.1770774
Received: 21 November 2019; Accepted: 30 March 2020; Published: 15 October 2020
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