Copyright © 2018 C.S.C. Nicholl et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (for details please see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Barrett, PM

Mannion, PD

Nicholl, CSC

Acta Palaeontologica Polonica

Cecily Nicholl

Philip Mannion

Paul Barrett

Crossref

Sauropod dinosaur remains from a new Early Jurassic locality in the Central High Atlas of Morocco

Despite being globally widespread and abundant throughout much of the Mesozoic, the early record of sauropod dinosaur evolution is extremely poor. As such, any new remains can provide significant additions to our  understanding of this important radiation. Here, we describe two sauropod middle cervical vertebrae from a new Early Jurassic locality in the Haute Moulouya Basin, Central High Atlas of Morocco. The possession of opisthocoelous centra, a well-developed system of centrodiapophyseal laminae, and the higher elevation of the postzygapophyses relative to the prezygapophyses, all provide strong support for a placement within Sauropoda. Absence of pneumaticity indicates non-neosauropod affinities, and several other features, including a tubercle on the dorsal margin of the prezygapophyses and an anteriorly slanting neural spine, suggest close relationships with various basal eusauropods, such as the Middle Jurassic taxa Jobaria tiguidensis and Patagosaurus fariasi. Phylogenetic analyses also support a position close to the base of Eusauropoda. The vertebrae differ from the only other Early Jurassic African sauropod dinosaurs preserving overlapping remains (the Moroccan Tazoudasaurus naimi and South African Pulanesaura eocollum), as well as stratigraphically younger taxa, although we refrain from erecting a new taxon due to the limited nature of the material. These new specimens represent one of the earliest eusauropod taxa and are an important additional data point for elucidating the early evolution of the clade

Spiral - Imperial College Digital Repository

Despite being globally widespread and abundant throughout much of the Mesozoic, the early record of sauropod dinosaur evolution is extremely poor. As such, any new remains can provide significant additions to our understanding of this important radiation. Here, we describe two sauropod middle cervical vertebrae from a new Early Jurassic locality in the Haute Moulouya Basin, Central High Atlas of Morocco. The possession of opisthocoelous centra, a well-developed system of centrodiapophyseal laminae, and the higher elevation of the postzygapophyses relative to the prezygapophyses, all provide strong support for a placement within Sauropoda. Absence of pneumaticity indicates non-neosauropod affinities, and several other features, including a tubercle on the dorsal margin of the prezygapophyses and an anteriorly slanting neural spine, suggest close relationships with various basal eusauropods, such as the Middle Jurassic taxa Jobaria tiguidensis and Patagosaurus fariasi. Phylogenetic analyses also support a position close to the base of Eusauropoda. The vertebrae differ from the only other Early Jurassic African sauropod dinosaurs preserving overlapping remains (the Moroccan Tazoudasaurus naimi and South African Pulanesaura eocollum), as well as stratigraphically younger taxa, although we refrain from erecting a new taxon due to the limited nature of the material. These new specimens represent one of the earliest eusauropod taxa and are an important additional data point for elucidating the early evolution of the clade

Nicholl, C.S.C.

Mannion, P.D.

Barrett, P.M.

Biblioteka Nauki - repozytorium artykuÅÃ³w

Despite being globally widespread and abundant throughout much of the Mesozoic, the early record of

sauropod dinosaur evolution is extremely poor. As such, any new remains can provide significant additions to

our understanding of this important radiation. Here, we describe two sauropod middle cervical vertebrae from a

new Early Jurassic locality in the Haute Moulouya Basin, Central High Atlas of Morocco. The possession of

opisthocoelous centra, a well-developed system of centrodiapophyseal laminae, and the higher elevation of the

postzygapophyses relative to the prezygapophyses, all provide strong support for a placement within

Sauropoda. Absence of pneumaticity indicates non-neosauropod affinities, and several other features, including

a tubercle on the dorsal margin of the prezygapophyses and an anteriorly slanting neural spine, suggest close

relationships with various basal eusauropods, such as the Middle Jurassic taxa Jobaria tiguidensis and

Patagosaurus fariasi. Phylogenetic analyses also support a position close to the base of Eusauropoda. The

vertebrae differ from the only other Early Jurassic African sauropod dinosaurs preserving overlapping remains

(the Moroccan Tazoudasaurus naimi, and South African Pulanesaura eocollum), as well as stratigraphically

younger taxa, although we refrain from erecting a new taxon due to the limited nature of the material. These

new specimens represent one of the earliest eusauropod taxa and are an important additional data point for

elucidating the early evolution of the clade

Nicholl, C

Mannion, P

Barrett, P

UCL Discovery

Cecily S.C. Nicholl

Philip D. Mannion

Paul M. Barrett

Directory of Open Access Journals

Copyright © 2018 C.S.C. Nicholl et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (for details please see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.NHM Repositor

Natural History Museum Repository

Sauropod dinosaur remains from a new Early Jurassic locality in the Central High Atlas of Morocco

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Crossref

Spiral - Imperial College Digital Repository

Biblioteka Nauki - repozytorium artykuÅÃ³w

UCL Discovery

Directory of Open Access Journals

Natural History Museum Repository

Sauropod dinosaur remains from a new Early Jurassic locality in the Central High Atlas of Morocco

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Crossref

Spiral - Imperial College Digital Repository

Biblioteka Nauki - repozytorium artykuÅÃ³w

UCL Discovery

Directory of Open Access Journals

Natural History Museum Repository

Biblioteka Nauki - repozytorium artykuÅÃ³w