Re: Santana Theropods

["Mickey Mortimer" <Mickey_Mortimer11@msn.com>]

Randall Irmis wrote-

> Could someone give a breif overview of the theropods found in the Santana
> Formation?  It seems to me that several different specimens have been
reported
> with soft tissue preservation, no?

Spinosauridae

Angaturama Kellner and Campos 1996
= "Angaturama" anon. 1995
A. limai Kellner and Campos 1996
Holotype- (GP/2T-5) premaxillae, anterior maxilla, anterior nasal
Comments- Originally printed on a Brazilian postage stamp in 1995.  May be a
junior synonym of Irritator.
References- Kellner, A. W. K. and Campos, D. de A., 1996. "First Early
Cretaceous theropod dinosaur from Brazil with comments on Spinosauridae,"
Neues Jahrbuch fuer Geologie und Palaeontologie Abhandlungen 199(2):
151-166.

Irritator Martill, Cruikshank, Frey, Small and Clarke 1996
I. challengeri Martill, Cruikshank, Frey, Small and Clarke 1996
Holotype- (SMNS 58022) incomplete skull (~840 mm) lacking anterior
premaxilla, teeth, lower jaw lacking anterior dentary
Comments- Martill, at the 1999 SVPCA, discussed the remains after having
been fully prepared.  He discovered that the frontoparietal crest is a
maxillary fragment and that previous reconstructions are very inaccurate.
The redescription is due out in JVP.
References- Martill, D.M., Cruickshank, A.R.I., Frey, E., Small, P.G. and
Clarke, M.1996.  A new crested maniraptoran dinosaur from the Santana
Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Brazil.  Journal of the Geological Society
of London 153: 5-8.

Coelurosauria

Santanaraptor Kellner 1999
S. placidus Kellner 1999
holotype- (MN 4802-V) three caudal vertebrae, chevrons, ischia (91 mm),
femora, tibia, fibula, pes, integument, musculature
Comments- see http://www.cmnh.org/fun/dinosaur-archive/2000Sep/msg00159.html
References- Kellner, A. W. A.  1996.  Fossilized theropod soft-tissue.
Nature 379: 32.
Kellner, A.W.A. and D.A. Campos. 1998. Archosaur soft Tissue from the
Cretaceous of the Araripe Basin, Northeastern Brazil.  Boletim do Museu
Nacional, Geologia No. 42: 1-22.
Kellner, A.W.A. 1999. Short note on a new dinosaur (Theropoda,
Coelurosauria) from the Santana Formation (Romualdo Member, Albian),
Northeastern brazil. Boletim do Museu Nacional (Rio de Janeiro, Brasil),
N.S. No. 49: 8 p.

Compsognathidae

unnamed compsognathid
Material- (SMNK 2349 PAL) thirteenth dorsal vertebra, several incomplete
gastralia, sacral vertebrae 1-4, anterior ilium, pubes (144.8 mm), ischia,
incomplete femora (165 mm), proximal tibia, proximal fibula, intestinal
remains
Comments- Oddly asymmetrical pubes and ischia, but very similar to
Compsognathus.
References- Martill, David M., Eberhard Frey, Hans-Deuter Sues, and Arthur
R. I. Cruickshank, 2000. Skeletal remains of a small theropod dinosaur with
associated soft structures from the Lower Cretaceous Santana Formation of
northeastern Brazil. Can. J. Earth Sci., Volume 37: 891-900.

Maniraptora

unnamed maniraptoran (Frey and Martill 1995)
Material- (SMNS 58023) (juvenile) first sacral vertebra (63.2 mm), second
sacral vertebra (62.5 mm), third sacral vertebra (71.7 mm), fragment of
fourth sacral neural arch and spine, fragment of fifth sacral neural arch,
ilial fragment
Comments- Described as an oviraptorosaur, it resembles segnosaurs,
Chirostenotes or Avimimus most in my opinion.
References- Frey and Martill, 1995. A possible oviraptorosaurid theropod
from the Santana Formation (Lower Cretaceous, Albian?) of Brazil. Neues
Jahrbuch Fur Geologie und Palaeontologie, No. 7: 397 (July 1).

Mickey Mortimer