Thanos Temporal range: Santonian, | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | Saurischia |
Clade: | Theropoda |
Family: | † Abelisauridae |
Clade: | † Brachyrostra |
Genus: | † Thanos Delcourt and Iori, 2020 |
Species: | †T. simonattoi |
Binomial name | |
†Thanos simonattoi Delcourt and Iori, 2020 | |
Thanos (named for the Marvel Comics character) is a genus of carnivorous brachyrostran abelisaurid dinosaur that lived in Brazil during the Santonian stage of the late Cretaceous Period. It contains only a single species known as T. simonattoi. [1]
In 2014, it was reported in the scientific literature that Sérgio Luis Simonatto with a team of the Museu de Paleontologia "Prof. Antonio Celso de Arruda Campos" had found the front of a theropod axis near São José do Rio Preto. [2] Several years later Fabiano Vidoi Iori uncovered the rear part of the same vertebra. [1]
In 2018, the type species Thanos simonattoi was named and described by Rafael Delcourt and Fabiano Vidoi Iori in an advance online publication in the journal Historical Biology . The paper was later published in print in 2020, making it the official year of description. The generic name refers to the Marvel Comics character Thanos, invented by Jim Starlin; Thanos was the main antagonist of Avengers: Infinity War , a high-grossing film released in 2018. The character's name is itself derived from the Greek θάνατος, thanatos, "death". The specific name honours Simonatto. [1]
The holotype specimen, MPMA 08–0016/95, was found in the São José do Rio Preto Formation, part of the Bauru Group and dating from the Santonian. It consists of an almost complete axis fused with an axial intercentrum. It is missing several processes at the front, rear, and sides. The specimen is currently housed at the Museu de Paleontologia de Monte Alto, Brazil. [1]
The length of Thanos has been estimated at 5.5–6.5 metres (18.0–21.3 ft). [1]
Despite the incompleteness of the material, a number of diagnostic features are present; a well-developed keel becoming wider and deeper posteriorly on the ventral surface; two lateral small foramina separated by a relatively wide wall on each lateral surface of the centrum; and well-developed and deep prezygapophyseal spinodiapophyseal fossae. In view of these features, Thanos may have been more derived than other abelisaurids at the time. [1]
In their phylogenetic analysis, Delcourt and Iori (2020) recovered Thanos in a large polytomy with other brachyrostrans within the Abelisauridae. Their resulting cladogram is shown below: [1]
Abelisauridae |
| ||||||||||||
Thanos shared only two synapomorphies with the Brachyrostra. The front articular facet of the axis is more than twice as high as the rear articular facet. The rear facet is inclined to the front under an angle of less than 75°. [1]
Thanos shared its environment with an undescribed larger theropod believed to be a megaraptoran of which a vertebra, specimen MPMA 08–0003/94, has been found at Ibirá. This would imply that Thanos was not the apex predator of its habitat. [1] It also coexisted with a dwarf saltasaurine sauropod Ibirania and an indeterminate notosuchian. [3] [4] [5]
Rugops is a monospecific genus of basal abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from Niger that lived during the Late Cretaceous period in what is now the Echkar Formation. The type and only species, Rugops primus, is known only from a partial skull. It was named and described in 2004 by Paul Sereno, Jeffery Wilson and Jack Conrad. Rugops has an estimated length of 4.4–5.3 metres and weight of 410 kilograms. The top of its skull bears several pits which correlates with overlaying scale and the front of the snout would have had an armour-like dermis.
Abelisauroidea is a diverse superfamily of ceratosaurian dinosaurs, typically regarded as a Cretaceous group, though the earliest abelisaurid remains are known from the Middle Jurassic of Argentina and possibly Madagascar. Possible Abelisauridae remains were also discovered in Late Jurassic Tendaguru Beds in Tanzania.
Quilmesaurus is a genus of carnivorous abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from the Patagonian Upper Cretaceous of Argentina. It was a member of Abelisauridae, closely related to genera such as Carnotaurus. The only known remains of this genus are leg bones which share certain similarities to a variety of abelisaurids. However, these bones lack unique features, which may render Quilmesaurus a nomen vanum.
Pycnonemosaurus is a genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur that belonged to the family Abelisauridae. It was found in the Upper Cretaceous red conglomerate sandstones of the Cachoeira do Bom Jardim Formation, Mato Grosso, Brazil, and it lived during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous period.
Carnotaurinae is a subfamily of the theropod dinosaur family Abelisauridae. It includes the dinosaurs Aucasaurus, Carnotaurus. The group was first proposed by American paleontologist Paul Sereno in 1998, defined as a clade containing all abelisaurids more closely related to Carnotaurus than to Majungasaurus.
Sphagesaurus is an extinct genus of sphagesaurid notosuchian crocodylomorph from the Late Cretaceous of southwest São Paulo, southern Brazil.
The Adamantina Formation is a geological formation in the Bauru Basin of western São Paulo state, in southeastern Brazil.
The Marília Formation is a geological formation in Minas Gerais state of southeastern Brazil. Its strata date back to the Maastrichtian, and are part of the Bauru Group.
Trematochampsidae is an extinct family of mesoeucrocodylian crocodyliforms. Fossils are present from Madagascar, Morocco, Niger, Argentina, and Brazil. Possible trematochampsids have been found from Spain and France, but classification past the family level is indeterminant. The trematochampsids first appeared during the Barremian stage of the Early Cretaceous and became extinct during the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous.
Candidodontidae is a family of notosuchian crocodyliforms. It was originally used in 2002 as a name for a clade that includes the genera Araripesuchus, Candidodon, and Malawisuchus. Later in 2004 the family was formally defined as a node-based taxon including Candidodon itapecuruense and Mariliasuchus amarali. A 2009 study redefined Candidodontidae as a stem-based taxon which included Candidodon, Malawisuchus, and possibly Mariliasuchus.
The Alcântara Formation is a geological formation in northeastern Brazil whose strata date back to the Cenomanian of the Late Cretaceous.
Caipirasuchus is an extinct genus of sphagesaurid notosuchians known from the Late Cretaceous of northern São Paulo State, southeastern Brazil. The type species, C. paulistanus, was named in 2011. A second species, C. montealtensis, was referred to Caipirasuchus in 2013 after having been named in 2008 as a species of Sphagesaurus. A third species, C. stenognathus, was described in 2014. A fourth species, C. mineirus, was described in 2018. A fifth species, C. attenboroughi, was named in 2021 in honour of David Attenborough.
Itasuchidae is a Gondwanan family of crocodyliforms that lived during the Cretaceous period. It was a clade of terrestrial crocodyliforms that evolved a rather dog-like form, and were terrestrial carnivores.
Barreirosuchus is an extinct genus of trematochampsid notosuchian known from the Late Cretaceous of São Paulo State, southeastern Brazil. It contains a single species, Barreirosuchus franciscoi. It is most closely resembles Caririsuchus camposi from the Araripe Basin and Itasuchus jesuinoi also from the Bauru Basin, and shares with them several synapomorphies.
This timeline of ceratosaur research is a chronological listing of events in the history of paleontology focused on the ceratosaurs, a group of relatively primitive, often horned, predatory theropod dinosaurs that became the apex predators of the southern hemisphere during the Late Cretaceous. The nature and taxonomic composition of the Ceratosauria has been controversial since the group was first distinguished in the late 19th century. In 1884 Othniel Charles Marsh described the new genus and species Ceratosaurus nasicornis from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation of the western United States. He felt that it belonged in a new family that he called the Ceratosauridae. He created the new taxon Ceratosauria to include both the Ceratosauridae and the ostrich-like ornithomimids. The idea of the Ceratosauria was soon contested, however. Later that same decade both Lydekker and Marsh's hated rival Edward Drinker Cope argued that the taxon was invalid.
Furileusauria is an extinct clade of derived abelisaurid dinosaurs only known from South American fossil remains. They represent some of the largest members of the Abelisauridae, with an average length of 7.1 ± 2.1 m (23.3 ± 6.9 ft). The clade is defined as the most inclusive clade containing Carnotaurus sastrei but not Ilokelesia aguadagrandensis, Skorpiovenator bustingorryi, or Majungasaurus crenatissimus.
Tralkasaurus is a genus of abelisaurid dinosaur from the Huincul Formation from Río Negro Province in Argentina. The type and only species is Tralkasaurus cuyi, named in 2020 by Mauricio Cerroni and colleagues based on an incomplete skeleton. A medium-sized abelisaurid, Tralkasaurus exhibits a conflicting blend of characteristics found among the early-diverging abelisauroids with others that characterize the highly specialized clade Brachyrostra, and thus its position within the clade is poorly-resolved.
Eptalofosuchus is a genus of Notosuchian from the Uberaba Formation in Brazil, and contains one species, E. viridi.
Amabilis uchoensis is a species of prehistoric pleurodiran turtle from the Late Cretaceous of South America. It is the only species in the genus Amabilis.
Ibirania is a genus of dwarf saltasaurine titanosaur dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous São José do Rio Preto Formation of Southeast Brazil. The type species is Ibirania parva. It is one of the smallest sauropods known to date, comparable in size to the titanosaur Magyarosaurus.