The Megaraptor mystery.

 

A. Cranial reconstruction of Megaraptor namunhuaiquii. B. skull of Dilong paradoxus. Scale bars equal 2 cm. From Porfiri et al. 2014.

The Cretaceous beds of Patagonia posses the most comprehensive record of  non-avian theropods  from Southern Hemisphere. Megaraptora  is a clade represented by Megaraptor, Orkoraptor and Aerosteon, and characterized by the formidable development of their manual claws on digits I and II and the transversely compressed and ventrally sharp ungual of the first manual digit (Novas et al, 2013).

For years, Megaraptor has been alternatively interpreted as belonging to different theropod lineages: as basal coelurosaurians (Novas,1998), basal tetanurans (Calvo et al.,2004; Smith et al., 2008), and allosauroids closely related with carcharodontosaurids (Smith et al., 2007; Benson et al., 2010; Carrano et al., 2012).

The main reason for so many different interpretations is the incomplete nature of most available megaraptorid skeletons and the little information about their cranial anatomy. But the partially preserved skeleton of a juvenile specimen of Megaraptor namunhuaiquii allows to make for the first time a reconstruction of the skull and body of megaraptorids.

Right maxilla of Megaraptor namunhuaiquii in medial view. Scale bar equal 3 cm. From Porfiri et al. 2014.

The data gathered from the specimen indicates that Megaraptorids had an elongated skull, with a gracile snout bearing small teeth, a gracile S-shaped neck, and a very wide and deep thorax, with gastralia similar in size to dorsal ribs. The pectoral girdle supported elongate and robust forelimbs, with large and sharp unguals on digits I and II, and the hindlimbs were gracile and slender.

Based on that information, the researchers found that Megaraptor and related taxa  are nested within Coelurosauria and Tyrannosauroidea.  They  found 14 synapomorphies between megaraptorans and  tyrannosauroids like several foramina on the premaxillary body, extremely long and straight prenarial process of the premaxilla, incisiviform premaxillary teeth with a D-shaped cross-section, and supratemporal fossae separated by a sharp sagittal median crest on frontals.

The study also shows that tyrannosaurs followed two distinct trajectories in the northern and southern continents. While in megaraptorids the forelimbs became powerful and with large-clawed hands (Calvo et al., 2004), in tyrannosaurids the overall trend was towards forelimb reduction (Brusatte et al., 2010b). However, both evolutionary trends present a common pattern which is the reduction of the third manual digit (Porfiri et al. 2014)

 

References:

Porfiri, J. D., Novas, F. E., Calvo, J. O., Agnolín, F. L., Ezcurra, M. D. & Cerda, I. A. 2014. Juvenile specimen of Megaraptor (Dinosauria, Theropoda) sheds light about tyrannosauroid radiation. Cretaceous Research 51: 35-55.

Benson, R.B.J., Carrano, M.T., Brusatte, S.L., 2010. A new clade of archaic large-bodied predatory dinosaurs (Theropoda: Allosauroidea) that survived to the latest Mesozoic. Naturwissenschaften 97, 71-78.

Novas, F.E., 2009. The Age of Dinosaurs in South America. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, pp. 1-536

Novas, F.E., 1998. Megaraptor namunhuaiquii gen. et. sp. nov., a large-clawed, Late Cretaceous Theropod from Argentina. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 18, 4-9.