New theropod dinosaur from Italy

[DD1991]

The theropod informally called "Saltriosaurus" is finally published after so many years as a nomen nudum: The following link is available here:

 

Dal Sasso C, Maganuco S, Cau A. 2018. The oldest ceratosaurian (Dinosauria: Theropoda), from the Lower Jurassic of Italy, sheds light on the evolution of the three-fingered hand of birds. PeerJ 6:e5976 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5976

 

Although Scipionyx interested me as the first dinosaur found in Italy (it happens to be named after the Roman general Scipio Africanus, who defeated Hannibal at the Battle of Zama in 202 BCE in Tunisia, ending the Second Punic War), I first heard of the dinosaur now called "Saltriosaurus" while reading the book Scholastic Dinosaurs A To Z back in 2003, but what was informally dubbed "Saltriosaurus" is now called Saltriovenator, and after being initially considered a tetanuran, it is apparently an early ceratosaur.

[The Amateur Paleontologist]

Wow.... That took quite some time... The Saltriovenator material was found quite long ago, no? I'm rather pleased, though, that the specimen finally got published  

Thanks for sharing this!

-Christian

 

P.S. I'm really not surprised of the names appearing in the author list - they're really the specialists of Italian dinosaurs, aren't they  Especially Dal Sasso..

[Jaimin013]

On ‎19‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 9:46 PM, The Amateur Paleontologist said:

Wow.... That took quite some time... The Saltriovenator material was found quite long ago, no? I'm rather pleased, though, that the specimen finally got published  

Thanks for sharing this!

-Christian

 

P.S. I'm really not surprised of the names appearing in the author list - they're really the specialists of Italian dinosaurs, aren't they  Especially Dal Sasso..

I think the full name of the species is actually called Saltriovenator zanellai  According to the page below fossils from the dinosaur were found in a quarry in northern Italy near the Swiss border in 1996, but have taken more than 20 years to remove and analyse from the huge slabs of rock.

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/12/20/new-species-big-predator-dinosaur-found-marble-quarry-italy/ 

 

 

Photos by G. Bindellini, C. Dal Sasso and M. Zilioli; drawing by M. Auditore. - https://peerj.com/articles/5976/

 

It is always interesting to see the pictures of elements of the fossils discovered from the species and have a picture that points to where each part can be found on the skeleton of the dinosaur. I am a collector of dinosaur teeth and the tooth in the pic above - G is really cool!

 

Other pic below of the species: Fossils exhibited in Museo civico dei fossili di Besano