The first dinosaur discovered in the Antarctic continent was the ankylosaur Antarctopelta oliveroi in the 1980s.Nevertheless,since then several hypotheses of phylogenetical relationships have been proposed because the...The first dinosaur discovered in the Antarctic continent was the ankylosaur Antarctopelta oliveroi in the 1980s.Nevertheless,since then several hypotheses of phylogenetical relationships have been proposed because these have been depended on how the skeletal remains have been interpreted.The main obstacle for clarifying its phylogenetic position is that many portions of the skeleton remain unknown,in addition to the presence of unknown characters in typical ankylosaurs.Considered an ankylosaurid,nodosaurid,or even a chimaera,a recent proposal based on mostly complete material of a new ankylosaur from Chilean Patagonia provided support for a novel phylogenetic hypothesis:Antarctopelta and other southern ankylosaurs are an early branching clade,the Parankylosauria,whose origin probably dates to the Late Jurassic.In the light of this new view,a redescription of the available skeletal remains is provided together with a new reconstruction of the first Antarctic dinosaur known to the science community.展开更多
基金supported by Núcleo Milenio EVOTEM from ANIDGobierno de Chile
文摘The first dinosaur discovered in the Antarctic continent was the ankylosaur Antarctopelta oliveroi in the 1980s.Nevertheless,since then several hypotheses of phylogenetical relationships have been proposed because these have been depended on how the skeletal remains have been interpreted.The main obstacle for clarifying its phylogenetic position is that many portions of the skeleton remain unknown,in addition to the presence of unknown characters in typical ankylosaurs.Considered an ankylosaurid,nodosaurid,or even a chimaera,a recent proposal based on mostly complete material of a new ankylosaur from Chilean Patagonia provided support for a novel phylogenetic hypothesis:Antarctopelta and other southern ankylosaurs are an early branching clade,the Parankylosauria,whose origin probably dates to the Late Jurassic.In the light of this new view,a redescription of the available skeletal remains is provided together with a new reconstruction of the first Antarctic dinosaur known to the science community.
