The hand structure of Carnotaurus sastrei (Theropoda, Abelisauridae): implications for hand diversity and evolution in abelisaurids.

Carnotaurus sastrei is an abelisaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Argentina that has very reduced, but robust, forelimbs and derived hands with four digits, including a large, conical-shaped metacarpal IV lacking an articulation for a phalanx. The analysis presented in this work highlights...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Ruiz Pérez, Javier, Torices Hernández, Angélica, Serrano García, Humberto, López, Valle
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2011
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/42371
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/42371
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:568.19
Dinosauria
Theropoda
Abelisaurs
Carnotaurus
Paleontología
2416 Paleontología
Descripción
Sumario:Carnotaurus sastrei is an abelisaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Argentina that has very reduced, but robust, forelimbs and derived hands with four digits, including a large, conical-shaped metacarpal IV lacking an articulation for a phalanx. The analysis presented in this work highlights a series of additional autapomorphies of C. sastrei. For example, the proximal phalanges are longer than the metacarpals in digits II and III, and digit III includes only one phalanx besides the ungual. The hand of Carnotaurus shares several features with those of Aucasaurus and Majungasaurus, but the hands of the latter genera also display autapomorphies, indicating that the diversity in abelisaurid hand structure is similar to the diversity of cranial protuberances of these dinosaurs.