Megalosauroidea

Lower jaw of Megalosaurus bucklandii, copyright Ghedoghedo.

Belongs within: Tetanurae.

The Megalosauroidea is a clade of large theropods known from the Middle Jurassic (Aalenian) to the mid-Cretaceous (Cenomanian) (Holtz et al. 2004). In some references this clade is referred to as the Spinosauroidea but the name Megalosauroidea has priority. Megalosaurus bucklandii from the Middle Jurassic of England was one of the first fossil dinosaurs recognised; many other predatory theropods have been subsequently referred to this genus but most (if not all) are currently agreed to be either misplaced or not diagnostic.

Synapomorphies (from Holtz et al. 2004, as Spinosauroidea): Premaxillary body rostral to external nares longer than portion of body ventral to nares, angle between rostral margin and alveolar margin less than 70°; maxila rostral ramus present, rostrocaudally as long or longer than dorsoventrally; lacrimal rostral ramus dorsoventrally pinched and narrow; deltopectoral crest greater than 45% of humerus length, well developed; humerus with well-developed olecranon fossa on caudal face of distal end.

<==Megalosauroidea [Spinosauroidea] NS15
    |  i. s.: Altispinax Huene 1923 N85, HMC04
    |           `--*A. dunkeri (Dames 1884) [=Megalosaurus dunkeri] HMC04
    |         Magnosaurus Huene 1932 OES10, HMC04
    |           `--M. nethercombensis (Huene 1926) [=Megalosaurus nethercombensis] HMC04
    |--+--Dubreuillosaurus NS15
    |  |--‘Poekilopleuron’ valesdunensis Allain 2002 HMC04
    |  `--Afrovenator Sereno, Wilson et al. 1994 NS15, HMC04
    |       `--A. abakensis Sereno, Wilson et al. 1994 HMC04
    `--+--+--+--Streptospondylus Meyer 1832 NS15, HMC04
       |  |  |    |--S. altdorfensis Meyer 1832 [incl. Laelaps gallicus Cope 1867] HMC04
       |  |  |    `--S. cuvieri Owen 1842 (n. d.) HMC04 [=Megalosaurus cuvieri P88]
       |  |  `--Eustreptospondylus Walker 1964 NS15, HMC04
       |  |       `--E. oxoniensis Walker 1964 [=Magnosaurus oxoniensis] HMC04
       |  `--Spinosauridae HMC04
       |       |--Baryonychinae HMC04
       |       |    |--Baryonyx Charig & Milner 1986 NS15, HMC04
       |       |    |    `--B. walkeri Charig & Milner 1986 HMC04
       |       |    |--Suchomimus Sereno, Beck et al. 1998 HMC04
       |       |    |    `--S. tenerensis Sereno, Beck et al. 1998 HMC04
       |       |    `--Cristatusaurus Taquet & Russell 1998 HMC04
       |       |         `--C. lapparenti Taquet & Russell 1998 HMC04
       |       `--Spinosaurinae HMC04
       |            |--Irritator Martill, Cruickshank et al. 1996 HMC04
       |            |    `--I. challengeri Martill, Cruickshank et al. 1996 HMC04
       |            |--Angaturama Kellner & Campos 1996 HMC04
       |            |    `--A. limai Kellner & Campos 1996 HMC04
       |            `--Spinosaurus Stromer 1915 HMC04
       |                 |--S. aegyptiacus Stromer 1915 HMC04
       |                 `--S. maroccanus Russell 1996 HMC04
       `--Megalosauridae [Megalosaurinae] B08
            |--Torvosaurus Galton & Jensen 1979 XC09, HMC04 [incl. Edmarka Bakker, Kralis et al. 1992 HMC04]
            |    `--T. tanneri Galton & Jensen 1979 (see below for synonymy) HMC04
            |--Poekilopleuron Eudes-Deslongchamps 1838 HMC04 (see below for synonymy)
            |    |--*P. bucklandii Eudes-Deslongchamps 1838 AC02 (see below for synonymy)
            |    `--P. schmidti Kiprijanov 1883 (n. d.) HMC04
            |--Duriavenator Benson 2008 B08
            |    `--*D. hesperis (Waldman 1974) [=Megalosaurus hesperis] B08
            `--Megalosaurus Buckland 1824 HMC04
                 |--*M. bucklandii Ritgen 1826 AC02, HMC04
                 |--M. chubutensis Corro 1974 (n. d.) HMC04
                 |--M. dabukaensis D07
                 |--M. hungaricus Nopcsa 1901 (n. d.) HMC04
                 |--M. inexpectatus Corro 1966 (n. d.) HMC04
                 |--M. ingens Janensch 1920 (n. d.) HMC04 [=Ceratosaurus ingens P88]
                 |--M. insignis Eudes-Deslongchamps 1870 (n. d.) HMC04
                 |--M. lonzeensis Dollo 1883 (n. d.) HMC04
                 |--M. lydekkeri Huene 1926 (n. d.) [=Magnosaurus lydekkeri] HMC04
                 |--M. meriani Greppin 1870 (n. d.) HMC04
                 |--M. pannoniensis Seeley 1881 (n. d.) HMC04
                 |--M. phillipsi D07
                 |--M. pombali Lapparent & Zbyszewski 1957 (n. d.) HMC04
                 |--M. terquemi Huene 1926 (n. d.) HMC04
                 `--M. tibetensis D07

Poekilopleuron Eudes-Deslongchamps 1838 HMC04 [=Poecilopleuron (l. c.) AC02, Poecilopleurum (l. c.) AC02, Poicilopleuron (l. c.) AC02, Poikilopleuron (l. c.) AC02]

Poekilopleuron bucklandii Eudes-Deslongchamps 1838 AC02 [=Poecilopleuron bucklandi (l. c.) AC02, Poecilopleurum bucklandi (l. c.) AC02, Poekilopleuron bucklandi (l. c.) AC02, Poicilopleuron bucklandi (l. c.) AC02, Poikilopleuron bucklandi (l. c.) AC02, Megalosaurus poikilopleuron Huene 1926 AC02, Poekilopleuron poikilopleuron P88]

Torvosaurus tanneri Galton & Jensen 1979 [=Megalosaurus tanneri; incl. Edmarka rex Bakker, Kralis et al. 1992] HMC04

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[AC02] Allain, R., & D. J. Chure. 2002. Poekilopleuron bucklandii, the theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) of Normandy. Palaeontology 45 (6): 1107–1121.

[B08] Benson, R. B. J. 2008. A redescription of 'Megalosaurus' hesperis (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Inferior Oolite (Bajocian, Middle Jurassic) of Dorset, United Kingdom. Zootaxa 1931: 57–67.

[D07] Dixon, D. 2007. The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Creatures. Hermes House: London.

[HMC04] Holtz, T. R., Jr, R. E. Molnar & P. J. Currie. 2004. Basal Tetanurae. In: Weishampel, D. B., P. Dodson & H. Osmólska (eds) The Dinosauria 2^nd ed. pp. 71–110. University of California Press: Berkeley.

[NS15] Novas, F. E., L. Salgado, M. Suárez, F. L. Agnolin, M. D. Ezcurra, N. R. Chimento, R. de la Cruz, M. P. Isasi, A. O. Vargas & D. Rubilar-Rogers. 2015. An enigmatic plant-eating theropod from the Late Jurassic period of Chile. Nature 522: 331–334.

[N85] Norman, D. 1985 (reprinted 2000). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs. Salamander Books: London.

[OES10] Ortega, F., F. Escaso & J. L. Sanz. 2010. A bizarre, humped Carcharodontosauria (Theropoda) from the Lower Cretaceous of Spain. Nature 467: 203–206.

[P88] Paul, G. S. 1988. Predatory Dinosaurs of the World: A Complete Illustrated Guide. Simon & Schuster: New York.

[XC09] Xu, X., J. M. Clark, J. Mo, J. Choiniere, C. A. Forster, G. M. Erickson, D. W. E. Hone, C. Sullivan, D. A. Eberth, S. Nesbitt, Q. Zhao, R. Hernandez, C.-K. Jia, F.-L. Han & Y. Guo. 2009. A Jurassic ceratosaur from China helps clarify avian digital homologies. Nature 459: 940–944.

Last updated: 11 July 2018.