Re: Monolophosaurus

[Adam Yates <zooamy@zoo.latrobe.edu.au>]

On Sat, 3 Feb 1996 Popwelljg@aol.com wrote:

> I'm about to receive a model of Monolophosaurus from Saurian Studios. I
> haven't been able to find much info on it, except that it was related to
> Allosaurus, Eustreptospondylus, or Megalosaurus. Any thing else out there?
> 
Monolophosaurus is (or was?) clearly a tetanuran theropod, that is more 
closely related to birds than to Ceratosaurus. Sereno (in the paper 
describing Afrovenator) placed it with Allosaurus in the Allosauridae. 
However it seems to me to be far too primitive for that. For example the 
ischium has no obturator process and the obturator process on the pubis 
is still closed. I think Tom Holtz's opinion (expressed in a posting 
last year) is closer to the mark, that is Monolophosaurus is the closest 
outgroup to the Avetheropoda (Carnosauria plus Coelurosauria).

Adam Yates