New Monolophosaurus paper

[Jay <sappororaptor@yahoo.com>]

Zhao, X., R. B. J. Benson, S. L. Brusatte, and P. J. Currie. 2009. The 
postcranial skeleton of Monolophosaurus jiangi (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the 
Middle Jurassic of Xinjiang, China, and a review of Middle Jurassic Chinese 
theropods. Geological Magazine (Online Early View. 15 pp).

ABST "The Middle Jurassic was a critical time in the evolution of theropod 
dinosaurs, highlighted by the origination and radiation of the large-bodied and 
morphologically diverse Tetanurae. Middle Jurassic tetanurans are rare but have 
been described from Europe, South America and China. In particular, China has 
yielded a number of potential basal tetanurans, but these have received little 
detailed treatment in the literature. Here we redescribe the postcranial 
skeleton of one of the most complete Chinese Middle Jurassic theropods, 
Monolophosaurus. Several features confirmthe tetanuran affinities of 
Monolophosaurus, but the possession of âprimitiveâ traits such as a 
double-faceted pubic peduncle of the ilium and a hood-like supracetabular crest 
suggest a basal position within Tetanurae. This conflicts with most published 
cladistic analyses that place Monolophosaurus in a more derived position within 
Allosauroidea. We review theMiddle Jurassic record
 of Chinese theropods and compare Monolophosaurus to other Middle Jurassic 
theropods globally. These comparisons suggest that Monolophosaurus and 
Chuandongocoelurus formed an endemic theropod clade limited to the Middle 
Jurassic of Asia. Other Middle Jurassic Chinese theropods deserve further 
study."