New Discoveries & a review of Abelisauroids in Kem Kem

[Troodon]

A very interesting paper authored some notable paleontologists.   I was able to see a copy of the pre-proof paper.   It describes 2 new cervical vertebrae and also reviews published material that provided an interesting insite into the Abelisauroids of the Kem Kem.  Abelisauroids include both Abelisauridae and Noasauridae families.

 

To summarize some of the conclusions:

1)  One of the cervicals FSAC-KK-5016 established the presence of a small-bodied noasaurid taxon with similarities to Masiakasaurus of Madagascar.   Further discoveries of this noasaurid are necessary to determine if it resembles Masiakasaurus in other aspects of its anatomy,  such as a piscivory adapted dentition.  One small tooth (GZG.V.19999),  described by Richter et  al. (2013) as abelisaurid-like was noted as similar to the teeth of Masiakasaurus.  If Deltadromeus proves to be a noasaurid, which the paper suggest, then there are at least two noasaurid taxa present in the Kem Kem assemblage. 

2) The second cervical an axis vertebra FSAC-KK-5015 is referred to as a small basal Abelisauridae that is neither a Carnotaurinae nor Majungasaurinae.   

3)  In reference to Richters et al paper (2013) the authors concluded that multivariate analysis may not be suitable for distinguishing  dromaeosaurids or abelisaurids, but added that the small sample size (3  teeth  for  the  morphotype:  NMB-1671-R;  GZG.V.19997; GZG.V.19998) decreased the accuracy of the results.  It is possible that the teeth referred to Dromaeosauridae by Richter et  al. (2013) are also noasaurid in origin. 

4) A review of previously published material was also conducted and the following statement was made "The abelisaurid Rugops from the Eckhar Formation of Niger is here confirmed to also be present in the Kem Kem beds. "  very cool...

 

Paywalled

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667119303738

Abelisauroid cervical vertebrae from the Cretaceous Kem Kem beds of Southern Morocco and a review of Kem Kem abelisauroids

Robert S. H. Smyth, Nizar Ibrahima,  Alexander Kao, David M. Martill

 

 

 

 

FSAC-KK-5016 represents the smallest described dinosaur in the K K (green)

FSAC-KK-5015 represents a small bodied Abelisauridae (blue)

[LordTrilobite]

Rugops confirmed... Interesting.

 

 

And the presence of Noasaurids makes sense since we've have a bunch of verts (dorsal and caudal) here on the forum before that looked very similar to Masiakasaurus.


Also, though small, here are direct links to the preview images for the paper shown on the page.

[Runner64]

1 hour ago, Troodon said:

4) A review of previously published material was also conducted and the following statement was made "The abelisaurid Rugops from the Eckhar Formation of Niger is here confirmed to also be present in the Kem Kem beds. "  very cool...

Very cool.  Unfortunately I cannot see the paper because of paywall, but what exactly led them to this conclusion?

 

I am assuming that this does not necessarily lead to ID of teeth because of the statement that multiple Abelisauridae is present.

[grandpa]

@TroodonI just want to thank you for your many expert responses to things vertebrate and Mesozoic and for your posts of news in this field.  It's not an area in which  I have any expertise, but an area in which you spark my interest.  In short,  I enjoy your inputs and your news articles.  Thanks for your contributions.

Tom

[Ash]

I like abelis, thanks for posting this.

[Troodon]

12 hours ago, Runner64 said:

Very cool.  Unfortunately I cannot see the paper because of paywall, but what exactly led them to this conclusion?

 

I am assuming that this does not necessarily lead to ID of teeth because of the statement that multiple Abelisauridae is present.

They looked at previously published material and saw the similarities with Rugops, for example:  In 2005 Mahler described a  partial right maxilla (UCPC  10),  recognized as sharing  many similarities with Rugops from the approximately coeval Echkar Formation of Niger.  With limited differentiation of the material UCPC 10  is referable to Rugops sp. (Ibrahim  et  al.,  in  prep).

The question I have is will other paleontologists support this or question it like was done with Ibrahims Spinosaurus paper. Also is it the same species or a different one, its not clear.   Looks like Ibrahim at some point might be publishing something on UCPC 10.

For collectors of teeth we need to see a paper describing them in the Kem Kem, keep in mind all we have is what we see in the paper describing Rugops, a sketch of partially erupted teeth in a maxilla, see below.  I'm sure dealers will start selling something when they read the news and some have been selling them for years  

 

So as far as teeth are concerned I would pump the brakes and wait to see what happens.  

[Troodon]

12 hours ago, grandpa said:

@TroodonI just want to thank you for your many expert responses to things vertebrate and Mesozoic and for your posts of news in this field.  It's not an area in which  I have any expertise, but an area in which you spark my interest.  In short,  I enjoy your inputs and your news articles.  Thanks for your contributions.

Tom

Thank you

[Runner64]

3 hours ago, Troodon said:

They looked at previously published material and saw the similarities with Rugops, for example:  In 2005 Mahler described a  partial right maxilla (UCPC  10),  recognized as sharing  many similarities with Rugops from the approximately coeval Echkar Formation of Niger.  With limited differentiation of the material UCPC 10  is referable to Rugops sp. (Ibrahim  et  al.,  in  prep).

The question I have is will other paleontologists support this or question it like was done with Ibrahims Spinosaurus paper. Also is it the same species or a different one, its not clear.   Looks like Ibrahim at some point might be publishing something on UCPC 10.

For collectors of teeth we need to see a paper describing them in the Kem Kem, keep in mind all we have is what we see in the paper describing Rugops, a sketch of partially erupted teeth in a maxilla, see below.  I'm sure dealers will start selling something when they read the news and some have been selling them for years  

 

So as far as teeth are concerned I would pump the brakes and wait to see what happens.  

Well that’s very big news! Will be interesting to see if the paper is accepted by the community. Would make sense that Rugops is found there considering it’s in the Echkar Formation. 

Will be looking forward to see the paper on UCPC 10.

[fossilsonwheels]

This is excellent information. Thank you Frank. We are going to incorporate this into our programs now  

[Troodon]

UCPC 10 specimen