10.5061/DRYAD.TJ428
Nesbitt, Sterling J.
Virginia Tech
Butler, Richard J.
University of Birmingham
Ezcurra, Martin D.
University of Birmingham
Barrett, Paul M.
Natural History Museum
Stocker, Michelle R.
Virginia Tech
Angielczyk, Kenneth D.
Field Museum of Natural History
Smith, Roger M. H.
University of the Witwatersrand
Sidor, Christian A.
Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture
Niedźwiedzki, Grzegorz
Uppsala University
Sennikov, Andrey G.
Institute of Paleontology A A Borisyak
Charig, Alan J.
Natural History Museum
Data from: The earliest bird-line archosaurs and the assembly of the
dinosaur body plan
Dryad
dataset
2018
Pterosauria
Teleocrater
Archosauria
Paleontology
Palaeontology
Triassic
Middle Triassic
Dinosauria
Reptilia
Archosaur
Paleobiology
National Science Foundation
https://ror.org/021nxhr62
US NSF EAR-1337291
2018-04-03T00:00:00Z
2018-04-03T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature22037
1432318 bytes
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
The relationship between dinosaurs and other reptiles is well established,
but the sequence of acquisition of dinosaurian features has been obscured
by the scarcity of fossils with transitional morphologies. The closest
extinct relatives of dinosaurs either have highly derived morphologies or
are known from poorly preserved or incomplete material. Here we describe
one of the stratigraphically lowest and phylogenetically earliest members
of the avian stem lineage (Avemetatarsalia), Teleocrater rhadinus gen. et
sp. nov., from the Middle Triassic epoch. The anatomy of T. rhadinus
provides key information that unites several enigmatic taxa from across
Pangaea into a previously unrecognized clade, Aphanosauria. This clade is
the sister taxon of Ornithodira (pterosaurs and birds) and shortens the
ghost lineage inferred at the base of Avemetatarsalia. We demonstrate that
several anatomical features long thought to characterize Dinosauria and
dinosauriforms evolved much earlier, soon after the bird–crocodylian
split, and that the earliest avemetatarsalians retained the
crocodylian-like ankle morphology and hindlimb proportions of stem
archosaurs and early pseudosuchians. Early avemetatarsalians were
substantially more species-rich, widely geographically distributed and
morphologically diverse than previously recognized. Moreover, several
early dinosauromorphs that were previously used as models to understand
dinosaur origins may represent specialized forms rather than the ancestral
avemetatarsalian morphology.
Teleocrater matrix Nesbitt 2011 dataset final with
ScleromochlusPhylogenetic dataset file in tnt format.Teleocrater matrix
Nesbitt 2011 dataset finalPhylogenetic dataset file in tnt
format.Teleocrater matrix Ezcurra 2016 dataset final with
ScleromochlusPhylogenetic dataset file in nexus format.Teleocrater matrix
Ezcurra 2016 dataset finalPhylogenetic dataset file in tnt
format.Teleocrater matrix Ezcurra 2016 dataset final with
ScleromochlusPhylogenetic dataset file in tnt format.Teleocrater matrix
Ezcurra 2016 dataset finalPhylogenetic dataset file in nexus
format.Hindlimb_data_ternaryplot_FINALHindlimb data from the ternary plot.
Can be opened in excel.Hindlimb_data_ternaryplot_Rscript_FINALR script
used to analyze the hindlimb
data.Disparity_analysis_input_data_FINALDisparity analysis results. Can be
opened in excel.Disparity_analysis_Rscript_FINALR script used tin the
disparity analysis.Metatarsal_estimate_inputdata_FINALData used to
estimate the metatarsal length of Teleocrater. Can be opened in
Excel.Metatarsal_estimate_Rscript_FINALR script used to estimate the
metatarsal length of Teleocrater.Teleocrater matrix Nesbitt 2011 dataset
finalPhylogenetic dataset file in nexus format.Teleocrater matrix Nesbitt
2011 dataset final with Scleromochlus
Ruhuhu Basin
Tanzania
Africa
Pangea