Artigo Revisado por pares

Early Cretaceous Dinosaurs from the Sahara

1994; American Association for the Advancement of Science; Volume: 266; Issue: 5183 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1126/science.266.5183.267

ISSN

1095-9203

Autores

Paul C. Sereno, Jeffrey A. Wilson, Hans C. E. Larsson, Didier B. Dutheil, Hans‐Dieter Sues,

Tópico(s)

Evolution and Paleontology Studies

Resumo

A major question in Mesozoic biogeography is how the land-based dinosaurian radiation responded to fragmentation of Pangaea. A rich fossil record has been uncovered on northern continents that spans the Cretaceous, when continental isolation reached its peak. In contrast, dinosaur remains on southern continents are scarce. The discovery of dinosaurian skeletons from Lower Cretaceous beds in the southern Sahara shows that several lineages of tetanuran theropods and broad-toothed sauropods had a cosmopolitan distribution across Pangaea before the onset of continental fragmentation. The distinct dinosaurian faunas of Africa, South America, and Asiamerica arose during the Cretaceous by differential survival of once widespread lineages on land masses that were becoming increasingly isolated from one another.

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