Simone Maganuco

Mylan (Switzerland)

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Cristiano Dal Sasso

Museo Civico di Zoologia

Giovanni Pasini

Istituto Tecnico Industriale Alessandro Volta

Matteo Fabbri

Johns Hopkins Medicine

Nizar Ibrahim

University of Portsmouth

Umberto Nicosia

Sapienza University of Rome

Marco Romano

University of the Witwatersrand

Andrea Cau

University of Bologna

Ausonio Ronchi

University of Pavia

Samir Zouhri

University of Hassan II Casablanca

Gabriele Bindellini

Sapienza University of Rome

Cooperative Institutions

Sapienza University of Rome

American Museum of Natural History

Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

Field Museum of Natural History

University of Bristol

National University of Río Negro

Centro Científico Tecnológico - San Juan

University of Detroit Mercy

University of Chicago

Museo Civico di Zoologia

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A new large predatory archosaur from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) of Madagascar

Atti della Società italiana di scienze naturali e del Museo civico di storia naturale di Milano (2006)

Simone Maganuco Cristiano Dal Sasso Giovanni Pasini

Here we report on the finding of new vertebrate remains from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) of the Mahajanga basin, NW Madagascar, that represent one of the largest predatory archosaurs from Gondwana. The remains consist of a fragmentary right maxilla bearing three teeth and seven isolated teeth that clearly belong to a single taxon. Although the scarcity of the remains renders establishment of affinities difficult, the presence of a unique combination of features including a well developed medial shelf of the maxilla, rostral and lateral teeth respectively U-shaped and sub-oval in cross-section, and very large tooth denticles (1 per mm), allows us to erect a new taxon, Razanandrongobe sakalavae. Additionally, the structure of the teeth, the peculiar wear of their enamel, and the morphology of the maxilla strongly suggest that Razanandrongobe sakalavae often crushed the bones of its prey.

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Tetrapod tracks from the Middle Triassic of NW Sardinia (Nurra region, Italy)

Italian Journal of Geosciences (2020)

Paolo Citton Ausonio Ronchi Umberto Nicosia Simone Maganuco Angelo Cipriani

We report here on the first tetrapod tracks from the Triassic of the Nurra region (north-western Sardinia, Italy). The specimens were found on sandstone blocks used to build a fence limiting a seasonal camping, in the coastal area north of Capo Caccia promontory. Lithologic and petrographic features allowed an assignment of the track-bearing blocks to the middle-upper portion of the Anisian (Middle Triassic) Arenarie di Cala Viola (Buntsandstein). Footprints are attributed to the ichnotaxa Rhynchosauroides and Rotodactylus, two common ichnotaxa of late Early Triassic and Middle Triassic ichnofaunas of Europe and United States, commonly referred in the literature to neodiapsid and archosaur producers, respectively.

Tetrapod (structure)

Lithology

Early Triassic

10.3301/ijg.2020.07

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Razanandrongobe sakalavae,a gigantic mesoeucrocodylian from the Middle Jurassic of Madagascar, is the oldest known notosuchian

PeerJ (2017)

Cristiano Dal Sasso Giovanni Pasini Guillaume Fleury Simone Maganuco

Razanandrongobe sakalavae Maganuco, Dal Sasso & Pasini, 2006 is a large predatory archosaur from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) of the Mahajanga Basin, NW Madagascar. It was diagnosed on the basis of teeth and a fragmentary maxilla, but its affinities were uncertain. Here we describe new cranial remains (above all, an almost complete right premaxilla and a caudally incomplete left dentary) that greatly improve our knowledge on this enigmatic species and reveal its anatomy to be crocodylomorph. The right premaxilla indicates that the rostrum was deep, wide, and not pointed; it bears five teeth that are sub-vertical and just slightly curved lingually; the mesial teeth are U-shaped in cross-section and have serrated carinae on the lingual side; the aperturae nasi osseae (external bony nares) are confluent and face rostrally; and there is no lateral groove at the premaxillomaxillary suture for reception of a hypertrophied lower caniniform tooth. The preserved portion of the left dentary has an edentulous tip and bears eight large mandibular teeth of which the mesial (1–3) are the largest, but none is a hypertrophied caniniform tooth; the mandibular (dentary) symphysis extends caudally to the level of the third tooth; the splenial is not preserved, but its sutural marks on the dentary indicate that it contributed to the mandibular symphysis for at least 20% of the symphyseal length in dorsal aspect. On the basis of this new data, some previously uncertain features of the holotype maxilla—such as the margin of the suborbital fenestra, the contact surfaces for the palatine, the ectopterygoid, and the jugal—are now apparent. Testing of the phylogenetic position of the species within Crocodylomorpha indicates that R. sakalavae is a mesoeucrocodylian. It also represents one of the earliest events of exacerbated increase in body size along the evolutionary history of the group. In addition, it is by far the oldest notosuchian. A cranial reconstruction of this gigantic predator is also attempted here. The very robust jaw bones of R. sakalavae , coupled with its peculiar dentition, strongly suggest a diet that included hard tissue such as bone and tendon.

Premaxilla

Mandibular symphysis

Canine tooth

Quadrate bone

10.7717/peerj.3481

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Citations (26)

First description of theropod remains from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) of Madagascar

Atti della Società italiana di scienze naturali e del Museo civico di storia naturale di Milano (2005)

Simone Maganuco Andrea Cau Giovanni Pasini

New theropod remains from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) of NW Madagascar are described that include 49 isolated teeth and a dorsal vertebra. Being referable to at least three taxa, they provide a first insight into the high morphological biodiversity in the Middle Jurassic theropods. They may represent the oldest Gondwanan material referable to the Abelisauridae and Coelurosauria found up to today; however, lacking more exhaustive data on theropod dentition, their affinities remain uncertain pending more complete material.

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Theropoda

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New material of Alierasaurus ronchii (Synapsida, Caseidae) from the Permian of Sardinia (Italy), and its phylogenetic affinities

Palaeontologia Electronica (2017)

Marco Romano Ausonio Ronchi Simone Maganuco Umberto Nicosia

New characters of the giant caseid Alierasaurus ronchii are described here based on material recovered from the type locality in the Permian deposits of Cala del Vino Formation (Sardinia NW) and additional preparation of the previously collected material.All new described osteological elements are characterized by the same state of preservation and, given the absence of double elements and the total compatibility in absolute size, the new material can be attributed without doubt to the holotypic individual of A. ronchii.Highly diagnostic material includes a caudal neural spine with a broad bifid distal termination.This represents a synapomorphy characterizing the more derived caseids, thus fully confirming the attribution of the Sardinian specimen to Caseidae.Also the other vertebral material and newly collected ribs show a typical caseid structure, fully consistent with the previously published material.Despite the highly partial nature of Alierasaurus, the taxon was included in a recent phylogenetic analysis of caseids to investigate its phylogenetic position within the monophyletic Caseasauria.Alierasaurus falls as the sister taxon of Cotylorhynchus, and is autapomorphic in the general construction of MT-IV and proximal phalanx IV-I.The absolute size of the newly recovered material confirms a gigantic body size for Alierasaurus, comparable, if not greater, to that of the huge North American species Cotylorhynchus hancocki (up to 6 m in length).Such gigantic adult body size, closely correlated to its herbivorous lifestyle, must have been selected during evolution of caseids, leading to substantial advantages in terms of fitness.

Affinities

Phylogenetic relationship

10.26879/684

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Citations (16)

Semiaquatic adaptations in a giant predatory dinosaur

Science (2014)

Nizar Ibrahim Paul C. Sereno Cristiano Dal Sasso Simone Maganuco Matteo Fabbri

We describe adaptations for a semiaquatic lifestyle in the dinosaur Spinosaurus aegyptiacus. These adaptations include retraction of the fleshy nostrils to a position near the mid-region of the skull and an elongate neck and trunk that shift the center of body mass anterior to the knee joint. Unlike terrestrial theropods, the pelvic girdle is downsized, the hindlimbs are short, and all of the limb bones are solid without an open medullary cavity, for buoyancy control in water. The short, robust femur with hypertrophied flexor attachment and the low, flat-bottomed pedal claws are consistent with aquatic foot-propelled locomotion. Surface striations and bone microstructure suggest that the dorsal "sail" may have been enveloped in skin that functioned primarily for display on land and in water.

Arboreal locomotion

Pelvic girdle

10.1126/science.1258750

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Citations (209)

Taking up the legacy of Waterhouse Hawkins and Owen: art and science for a new Italian project to bring back dinosaurs to life

Historical Biology (2015)

Marco Romano Simone Maganuco Stefania Nosotti Fabio Manucci

Since their initial formal recognition by Richard Owen in 1842, dinosaurs have always stood out in the collective imagination for their size and unusual appearance. Therefore, these marvellous animals are a source of curiosity and wonder for people of all ages, social and cultural backgrounds. Thanks to improved research techniques, palaeontologists have been able to work reconstructing the most plausible appearance of dinosaurs. Starting with petrified bones, they tried to make a dream come true – to bring the planet’s ancient inhabitants back to life. The new Italian exhibition Dinosaurs in the Flesh: Science and Art bring the Rulers of a Lost World Back to Life reveals the marriage of science and art that brings back to life animals that lived tens or hundreds of millions of years ago. Palaeontologists and artists collaborate on reconstructing the appearance of organisms from the distant past through study of the fossils, often with the aid of new technologies. The new project, which takes up the idea of Waterhouse Hawkins and Owen and their legacy to restore these ancient vertebrates based on solid scientific foundations, represents to date the only way to reanimate these fascinating lost animals.

Wonder

Curiosity

10.1080/08912963.2015.1089436

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A new theropod dinosaur, represented by a single unusual caudal vertebra, from the Kem Kem Beds (Cretaceous) of Morocco

Atti della Società italiana di scienze naturali e del Museo civico di storia naturale di Milano (2009)

Andrea Cau Simone Maganuco

We describe a near-complete distal caudal vertebra from an Upper Cretaceous theropod, discovered in the Kem Kem Beds (Cenomanian) of Tafi lalt, Morocco. The specimen exhibits an extre- mely unusual combination of features , and we herein erect a new species, Kemkemia auditorei gen. et sp. nov. The specimen differs from other theropod distal caudal vertebrae in the presence of a relatively infl ated neural canal, strongly reduced zygapophyses, a low but very robust neural spine bearing shal- low lateral fossae, a mediolaterally concave dorsal surface of the neural spine, and coalescence of the postzygapophyses in a position more proximal than the region where neural spines are absent. Although Kemkemia shares some derived features with neoceratosaurs, we provisionally refer it to Neotheropoda incertae sedis, pending the discovery of more complete material. Several distal caudal vertebrae from the Maastricthian of India are similar to Kemkemia, and may belong to a closely related taxon.

Incertae sedis

Vertebra

Cenomanian

Sauropoda

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New information on the skull of the enigmatic theropodSpinosaurus, with remarks on its size and affinities

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology (2005)

Cristiano Dal Sasso Simone Maganuco Éric Buffetaut Marco A. Méndez

ABSTRACT New specimens of the unusual theropod Spinosaurus cf. S. aegyptiacus from the Late Cretaceous (early Cenomanian) of Morocco reveal new information about the structure of the snout and the very large adult body size attained by the species. The external naris is retracted farther caudally on the snout than in other spinosaurids and is bordered exclusively by the maxilla and nasal. The fused nasals preserve a longitudinal, fluted crest. The size of the snout suggests that Spinosaurus may well have exceeded the maximum adult body size of other large Cretaceous theropods such as Tyrannosaurus and Giganotosaurus. The new material also supports the monophyly of the Spinosaurinae and the separation of Spinosaurus and Irritator.

Snout

Affinities

Cenomanian

10.1671/0272-4634(2005)025[0888:niotso]2.0.co;2

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Citations (116)

Redescription of a remarkably large Gryposaurus notabilis (Dinosauria: Hadrosauridae) from Alberta, Canada

Filippo Bertozzo Cristiano Dal Sasso Matteo Fabbri Fabio Manucci Simone Maganuco

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