Herrerasaurus

[Jeffrey Martz <martz@holly.ColoState.EDU>]

THIS IS A LONG ONE!!!!

Doug,
     Here it is at last.  The "ecology" and taxonomy will probably get 
altered, but the first block of info and the publications is about as 
complete as I could get.  I pity you having to type it in.

Dino list,
     This is the first entry for the Dino Pages, the web-site that I am 
assisting Doug McLemore in putting together.  It am putting it here for 
editorial reveiw.  If there is ANYTHING you consider innacurrate or could 
be stated better or more objectively, please say so.  These entries will 
provide people with a professional rather than popular interest in dinosaurs 
with technical info, especially a comprehensive list of publications relating 
to dinosaur genera (saving considerable trouble in discussing the genra in 
greater detail).  Most of the refernces come from DINOSAURIA, with the 
post-1990 ones having been sent to me (thanks again, everybody) and 
gleaned from Sereno and Nova's papers.  These are mostly technical 
publications, and there is a Discover article in there I'm not really sure 
belongs.  There is also and article by Olsen and Sues I don't know the 
name of.
******ALSO!!!
     Doug has set up a taxonomic guide for the Dino Pages based on the 
the one Lessom and Glut used in Dinosaur Encyclopedia.  Recognizing the 
unsettled nature of dinosaur taxonomy, we are toying around with the idea of 
having three or four popular alternate phylogenies to look at and use to 
find your way around genera.  If you want to be extremely accomidating, post  
complete dinosaur family trees (only down to the family level, I'm a 
reasonably man) that are popular and commonly accepted.  I'd really like 
to have G.Os too, if he doesn't mind (that wasn't meant like it 
sounded).  Its a pity no one ever set up a web site devoted entirely to 
dinosaur phylogeny.
     AND FINALLY: anyone care to explain internet policy on scanning 
other peoples artwork onto web sites?  I'd like to be polite and ask 
permission before submitting Doug a restoration or skeletal recontruction, 
particularly if the artist is likely to visit the web-site.   
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

GENUS _Herrerasaurus_ (Reig, 1963)
_Herrerasaurus_ _ischigualastensis_ (Reig, 1963)
Etymology: "Herrera's lizard" for Victorino Herrera, finder of the holotype
           "from ischigualasto" after the Ischigualasto formation  
Synonyms: ?_Ischisaurus_ _cattoi_ (Reig, 1963)
          ?_Frenguellisaurus_ _ischigualastensis_ (Novas, 1986)
          ?cf. _Staurikosaurus_ (Brinkman and Sues, 1987)
Holotype: PVL 2566
Referred material: MACN 18.060 (holotype: _I.cattoi_), MACN 18.688, MCZ 
7064, MLP 61-VIII-2-2 (I.cattoi), PVL 2054, PVL 2558a, PVSJ 53 (holotype: 
_F.ischigualastensis_), PVSJ 104, PVSJ 373, PVSJ 407, PVSJ 461
Formation & location: Lower Ischigualasto Formation
                      San Juan, Argentina
Age: Carnian (225 MYBP)

Taxonomy:
(Doug, this is from the Sereno & Novas papers and is disputed by some.  
Incorporate it or ditch it or set it aside for the time 
being as you see fit, depending on how you decide to handle taxonomy.)
THEROPODA (Marsh, 1881)
HERRERASAURIDAE (Bendetto, 1973)
     Sereno and Novas (1992) consider _Herrerasaurus_ to be not only a 
true saurischian, but a basal theropod as well.  Novas (1993) places all 
carniverous dinosaur material from the Ischigualasto formation into this 
genus.

Paleoecology:
     _Herrerasaurus_ _ischigualastensis_ was one of the earliest 
dinosaurs, and the largest bipedal carnivore that had yet to appear.  Its 
lower jaw had a hinge joint which may have facilitated a more gripping 
bite.  The hands seem well adapted for grasping prey.
     The early ornithischian _Pisanosaurus_ _mertii_, as well as 
rynchosaurs and other synapsids are also known from the Ischigualasto 
Formation and may have been primary prey items.  _H.ischigualastensis_ 
may have faced competition and possibly predation from the larger and 
more abundant rauisuchian thecodonts of the time.       
     Facies and plant fossils from the Ischigualasto Formation seem to 
indicate a seasonal climate upland forest of sphenopsids, ferns, and seed 
ferns.

PUBLICATIONS:
Bendetto, J.L. 1973. Herrerasauridae, neuva familia de saurisquios 
    Triasicos.  Ameghiniana 10: 89-102
Bonaparte, J.F. 1982. Faunal replacement in the Triassic of South 
    America.  J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 2: 362-371
Brinkman, D.B. and Sues, H.-D. 1987. A staurikosaurid dinosaur from the 
    Upper Triassic Ischigualasto Formation of Argentina and the relationships
    of the Staurikosauridae.  Paleontology 30: 493-503
Galton, P.M. 1985. The poposaurid thecodontian _Teratosaurus_ _suevicus_ 
    v. Meyer, plus referred specimens mostly based on prosauropod dinosaurs, 
    from the Middle Stubensandstein (Upper Triassic) of Nordwurttemberg.  
    Stuttgarter Beitr. Naturk. B 118: 1-29
Kluger, J. 1990. Tripping over history.  Discover 11(12): 40-41
Novas, F.E. 1989a. The tibia and tarsus in Herrerasauridae (Dinosauria, 
    insertae sedis) and the origin and evolution of the dinosaur tarsus.  J. 
    Paleontol. 63: 677-690
---- 1989b. Los dinosaurios carnivoros de la Argentina. Ph.D. 
    dissertation (unpublished), Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, 
    510 pp.
---- 1992. Phylogenetic relationships of the basal dinosaurs, the 
    Herrerasauridae.  Paleontology 35: 51-62
---- 1993. New information on the systematics and postcranial skeleton of 
    _Herrerasaurus_ _ischigualastensis_ (Theropoda: Herrerasauridae) from 
    the Ischigualasto Formation (Upper Triassic) of Argentina. J. 
    Vertebr. Paleontol. 13(4): 400-423
Olsen, P.E. and Sues, H.-D. 1986. pp. 321-351 in K. Padian (ed.), The 
    Beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Paul, G. 1988. Predatory Dinosaurs of the World. A Complete Illustrated 
    Guide. Simon and Schuster, New York, 464 pp.
Reig, O.A. 1963. La presencia de dinosaurios saurisquios en los "Estratos 
    de Ischigualasto" (Mesotriassico superior) de las Provincias de San 
    Juan y La Rioja (Republica Argentina).  Ameghiniana 3: 3-20
Sereno, P.C. 1993. The pectoral girdle and forelimb of the basal theropod 
    _Herrerasaurus_ _ischigualastensis_.  J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 13(4): 
    425-450
Sereno, P.C. and Novas, F.E. 1990. Dinosaur origins and the phylogenetic 
    position of pterosaurs.  J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 10: 42A 
---- 1992. The complete skull and skeleton of an early dinosaur.  Science 
    258: 1137-1140.
---- 1993. The skull and neck of the basal theropod _Herrerasaurus_ 
    _ischigualastensis_.  J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 13(4): 451-476
Sues, H.-D. 1990. Staurikosauridae and Herrerasauridae; pp. 143-147 in 
    D.B. Weishampel, P. Dodson, and H. Osmolska (eds.), The Dinosauria. 
    University of California Press, Berkely and Los Angeles 
Wellnhofer, P. 1993. News on the evolution of dinosaurs.  
    Naturwissenschaftliche Rundschau 46(12): 489 (in German)