Morphological support for Ornithoscelida Huxley, 1870

• Grant number: 19/02167-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date until: August 01, 2019
• End date until: January 31, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Paleozoology
• Principal Investigator: Max Cardoso Langer
• Grantee: João Pedro Silva Kirmse
• Supervisor: Michael James Benton
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Bristol, England
• Associated to the scholarship: 18/19178-8 - Morphological support for Ornithoscelida Huxley, 1870, BP.MS

Abstract

Early dinosaur radiation has been a reason for controversy for years, with new discoveries constantly changing the general picture of the area. Recent studies reignited the debate on the anatomical features that characterise each of the main groups of dinosaurs and the relationships among them. The main objective of the present project is to review the supposedly diagnostic features of Ornithoscelida Huxley, 1870, a recently redefined group that unites ornithischian and theropod dinosaurs. Beyond their redefinition, a rescoring of the 21 proposed synapomorphies of the clade is planned, to better understand their distribution. Anatomical data will be extracted from bibliography, detailed photographs of the specimens, and (through visits to the collections) direct observation of the biggest possible number of specimens. In the end, it is expected that a robust collection of data about theses organisms' morphology will be created. With this, phylogenetic analyses will be performed to understand the effects of the new scorings, and possibly diminish the uncertainties on the evolutionary studies on this group of organisms.