Metriacanthosauridae

family of reptiles (fossil)

Metriacanthosaurids were a family of carnivorous theropod dinosaurs. They tended to be large predators, and some were 30 ft (10 m) long.

Metriacanthosauridae
Temporal range: Middle Jurassic-Early Cretaceous, 175.6–135 Ma
Sinraptor dongi, Royal Tyrrell Museum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Infraorder: Carnosauria
Superfamily: Allosauroidea
Family: Metriacanthosauridae
Paul, 1988
Type species
Megalosaurus parkeri
Huene, 1923
Subgroups
Synonyms
  • Sinraptoridae Currie & Zhao, 1993

Metriacanthosaurids are carnosaurs. At first they were classified in the Megalosauridae or Allosauridae, now they are put in their own family. A gigantic tooth, which may come from a giant metriacanthosaurid, was described recently (2008).[1]

Classification

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The Metriacanthosauridae is a monophyletic group. Cladistically it includes Metriacanthosaurus parkeri and species closer related to Metriacanthosaurus than to Allosaurus fragilis, Carcharodontosaurus saharicus, or to birds. These theropods are close to the ancestors of the allosaurs.

Metriacanthosauridae is often referred to as "Sinraptoridae", but Metriacanthosauridae is the correct name under ICZN rules, since Metriacanthosaurus was the first member of the family to be described and named.

The cladogram here follows a study by Benson and colleagues.[2]

Metriacanthosauridae


Metriacanthosaurus



Sinraptor



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Poekilopleuron



Lourinhanosaurus





References

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  1. Xu X. & Clark J.M. 2008. The presence of a gigantic theropod in the Jurassic Shishugou Formation, Junggar Basin, western China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica, 46: 158-160. [1] Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
  2. 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 (1) 71–78 Supporting Information[permanent dead link]

Other websites

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