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| Caletodraco cottardi Buffetaut, Tong, Girard, Hoyez & Párraga, 2024 |
Abstract
An articulated group of skeletal elements comprising a sacrum, both ilia and a first caudal vertebra, plus an isolated tooth found in immediate proximity to the bones, from the lower Cenomanian Chalk at Saint-Jouin-Bruneval (Seine-Maritime, Normandy, France) is described and attributed to a new genus and species of abelisaurid theropod, Caletodraco cottardi, on the basis of several characters of the sacrum and pelvis. The peculiar shape of the transverse process of the first caudal vertebra shows that Caletodraco cottardi differs from majungasaurine abelisaurids previously described from Europe, such as Arcovenator escotae, and belongs to the Furileusauria, a group of derived abelisaurids hitherto recognized only from South America. The presence of a furileusaurian abelisaurid in the Cenomanian of Normandy suggests that the biogeographical history of the Abelisauridae in Europe was more complex than hitherto admitted. Several previously described European abelisaurids, such as the Albian Genusaurus sisteronis, may in fact belong to the Furileusauria.
Keywords: Dinosauria; Theropoda; Abelisauridae; Cenomanian; Normandy
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| Holotype specimen of Caletodraco cottardi, MHNH 2024.1.1., in dorsal (A,A’), left lateral (B,B’) and ventral (C,C’) views, with explanatory drawings. Front is at left. Abbreviations: ai: anterior wing of ilium; bf: brevis fossa; cv: centrum of first caudal vertebra; d: depression; dmi: dorsal margin of ilium; li: left ilium; ns: fused neural spines of sacral vertebrae; pdp: posterodorsal process of ilium; s: sacrum; tpc: transverse process of first caudal vertebra; tps: transverse processes of sacral vertebrae. |
Dinosauria Owen, 1842
Theropoda Marsh, 1881
Ceratosauria Marsh, 1884
Abelisauridae Bonaparte and Novas, 1985
Brachyrostra Canale et al., 2009
Furileusauria Filippi et al., 2016
Caletodraco cottardi, n.g., n.sp.
Diagnosis: a large abelisaurid theropod showing furileusaurian characteristics, including a straight dorsal margin of the ilium and a distally expanded and crescent-shaped tip of the dorsally orientated transverse process of the first caudal vertebra, with a convex distal margin, differing from previously known furileusaurians by the following autapomorphy: distinctive shape of the transverse process, with a short anterior spine and a rounded and expanded fan-shaped semicircular posterodistal margin.
Locus typicus: cliffs along the English Channel at Saint-Jouin-Bruneval, Seine-Maritime, Normandy (NW France).
Derivatio nominis: genus name from the Caleti (or Caletes), a Celtic tribe that inhabited the Pays de Caux [Streiff. 1952]), the part of Normandy on the coast of which the fossil was found, and draco, Latin for dragon. The species is dedicated to Mr Nicolas Cottard, who discovered the specimen in the course of his systematic research on the stratigraphy and paleontology of the Chalk of Normandy and donated it to the Muséum d’histoire naturelle du Havre.
Conclusions:
The discovery of Caletodraco cottardi shows that dinosaur remains, although exceedingly rare, do occur in the Chalk of the Anglo-Paris basin and that a careful search for fossil vertebrates in these marine formations can yield surprising and important results. The new taxon leads to a reassessment of the fossil record of abelisaurids in Europe, showing that, contrary to what could previously be assumed, majungasaurines were not the only abelisaurid subgroup present in that geographical area, since Caletodraco cottardi apparently belongs to the Furileusauria, a highly derived clade of Abelisauridae. C. cottardi is one of the earliest known Furileusauria and its occurrence in Europe leads to reconsider the biogeographical history of this group of theropods, hitherto known from South America.
Eric Buffetaut , Haiyan Tong, Jérôme Girard, Bernard Hoyez and Javier Párraga. 2024. Caletodraco cottardi: A New Furileusaurian Abelisaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Cenomanian Chalk of Normandy (North-Western France). Foss. Stud. 2(3), 177-195; DOI: 10.3390/fossils2030009
