Re-Examination of Dashanpusaurus Dongi (Sauropoda: Macronaria) Supports an Early Middle Jurassic Global Distribution of Neosauropod Dinosaurs
2022; RELX Group (Netherlands); Linguagem: Inglês
10.2139/ssrn.4232844
ISSN1556-5068
AutoresXin-Xin Ren, Shan Jiang, Xuri Wang, Guangzhao Peng, Yong Ye, Lei Jia, Hai‐Lu You,
Tópico(s)Evolution and Paleontology Studies
ResumoNeosauropods were the dominant sauropod clade with a global distribution at least as early as the Late Jurassic. However, its distribution and biogeography in the Middle Jurassic are unclear due to the paucity of phylogenetic evidence for neosauropod taxa of this age. In China, the only reported Middle Jurassic neosauropod, the diplodocoid Lingwulong , has challenged the traditional East Asia Isolation Hypothesis for dinosaur paleobiogeography. Here, based on phylogenetic analysis of Dashanpusaurus dongi from the early Middle Jurassic of southwest China, we demonstrate that this taxon represents the earliest diverging macronarian as well as the stratigraphically lowest neosauropod globally. Our biogeographic analysis together with other geological evidence further indicates that neosauropods achieved a global distribution at least in the early Middle Jurassic while Pangaea was still a coherent landmass.
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