New issue of Cretaceous Research

[bh480@scn.org]

From: Ben Creisler bh480@scn.org
New Cretaceous Research articles

The April 2002 (just available online) issue of Cretaceous 
Research contains a couple of articles related to 
dinosaurs:

Rauhut, Oliver W. M. 2002. Dinosaur teeth from the 
Barremian of Uña, Province of Cuenca, Spain. Cretaceous 
Research 23: 255-263. 
Abstract        
The dinosaur fauna from the Barremian locality of Uña, 
east-central Spain, is described on the basis of isolated 
teeth. Apart from an unidentified sauropod and a probably 
new basal euornithopod, the fauna is noteworthy for its 
high diversity of theropods. The latter clade is 
represented by teeth of velociraptorine and dromaeosaurine 
dromaeosaurids, as well as Richardoestesia-like and 
Paronychodon-like teeth, making the theropod tooth fauna 
from Europe strikingly similar to the Late Cretaceous 
faunas from North America. However, the reported presence 
of more basal theropods from other Early Cretaceous 
localities in Europe indicate that this was a transitional 
fauna between the typical Late Jurassic and the typical 
Late Cretaceous theropod faunas of the Northern 
Hemisphere. 

[Suggests that teeth very similar to Richardoestesia 
isosceles found in Spain and elsewhere and over a range of 
time periods (Upper Jurassic to Late Cretaceous) indicate 
that species should be considered a nomen dubium. 
Richardoestesia-like teeth may possibly be juvenile teeth 
of some better-known group of theropods.]


The genus Patricosaurus has been considered a dinosaur in 
various places:

Barrett, Paul M.& Susan E. Evans. 2002. A reassessment of 
the Early Cretaceous reptile `Patricosaurus merocratus' 
Seeley from the Cambridge Greensand, Cambridgeshire, UK. 
Cretaceous Research 23: 231-240.        
Abstract        
The Cambridge Greensand has yielded a diverse fauna of 
terrestrial and marine vertebrates, including various 
fish, birds, dinosaurs and marine reptiles. However, this 
important late Early Cretaceous biome has been severely 
neglected and the taxonomy and systematics of most of 
these animals are in need of urgent revision. The small 
reptile `Patricosaurus merocratus' was named on the basis 
of a partial femur and sacral vertebra and referred to the 
Squamata. Re-examination of the type material indicates 
that `Patricosaurus' represents a chimera composed of 
indeterminate lepidosaurian and archosaurian elements and 
that it should be regarded as a nomen dubium. 
Nevertheless, the syntype femur represents the only 
material of a terrestrial lepidosaur to be recovered from 
the Cambridge Greensand. Moreover, this element is 
currently the largest known terrestrial lepidosaur, living 
or extinct, to have been recovered from the British Isles.