The Fate of the European Tyrannosauridae

[Joseph Fossil]

 

Something that has been baffling me for a while is the fate of the European genera of Tyrannosauridae after the Mid Cretaceous.

 

Multiple Tyrannosauridae genera including Proceratosaurus (Tyrannosauridae, England, Great Britain, Middle Jurassic (166 Million Years ago): ironically one of the earliest known Tyrannosauridae from the fossil record currently known), Eotyrannus (Tyrannosauridae, Wessex Formation, Isle of Wight, Early Cretaceous (136.4-125.45 Million Years ago)) and an unnamed Tyrannosauridae genera from Germany (Early Cretaceous (130.0-122.5 Million Years ago)) are known from Mesozoic deposits in Europe dating from the Middle Jurassic up to the Early Cretaceous.

 

 

Holtz, Thomas (December 1998). "A new phylogeny of the carnivorous dinosaurs". Gaia. 15: 5–61.

https://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/gaiaphyl.pdf

 

Hutt, Stephen & Naish, Darren & Martill, David & Barker, Michael & Newbery, Penny. (2001). A preliminary account of a new tyrannosauroid theropod from the Wessex Formation (Early Cretaceous) of southern England. Cretaceous Research. 22. 227-242. 10.1006/cres.2001.0252.

https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=242e6d5f962a143900f3c8d2ff5eb20d6fe7482b

 

 

K.-P. Lanser and U. Heinhofer. (2015). Evidence of theropod dinosaurs from a Lower Cretaceous karst filling in the northern Sauerland (Rhenish Massif, Germany). Palaeontologische Zeitschrift 89:79-94

https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Evidence-of-theropod-dinosaurs-from-a-Lower-karst-Lanser-Heimhofer/94860c34dedf8ac6d65759af9725ae76402eef59

 

 

But by the Late Cretaceous around 70-66 Million Years ago, they are absent from the fossil record in the region. Instead, the top predators of the region at the time seem to be Abelisaurs and large pterosaurs.

 

Isasmendi, Erik & Torices, Angelica & Canudo, José & Currie, Philip & Pereda Suberbiola, Xabier. (2022). Upper Cretaceous European theropod palaeobiodiversity, palaeobiogeography and the intra‐Maastrichtian faunal turnover: new contributions from the Iberian fossil site of Laño. Papers in Palaeontology. 8. 10.1002/spp2.1419.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/spp2.1419

 

 

I’m curious on what could have caused this faunal turnover (especially since that between the Ealy Cretaceous (at the time of the known records of Tyrannosauridae from Europe) and the Late Cretaceous, Europe was basically a series of islands) or if they were still present in Europe during the Late Cretaceous and specimens have yet to be found or properly categorized?

 

 

 

What do you guys think?

[Troodon]

Did not realize aby Tyrannosaurids were in Europe.  I think your comments and the genera mentioned should be focused on Tyrannosauroids.

[Joseph Fossil]

2 hours ago, Troodon said:

Did not realize aby Tyrannosaurids were in Europe.  I think your comments and the genera mentioned should be focused on Tyrannosauroids.

 

@Troodon Good point. What do you think happened to the Tyrannosauroids of Europe between the Early and Late Cretaceous? 

[Troodon]

No idea never paid much attention to European tyrannosauroids