The systematic of European Ceratosauria (Dinosauria: Theropoda)

• Grant number: 22/14375-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: April 01, 2023
• End date: March 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Paleozoology
• Principal Investigator: Max Cardoso Langer
• Grantee: Rafael Delcourt de Seixas Ferreira
• Supervisor: Oliver Rauhut
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Bavarian State Collection for Palaeontology and Geology (SNSB), Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 21/12231-3 - Evolution and palaeobiogeography of Ceratosauria, BP.PD

Abstract

Ceratosauria is a large and widespread group of theropod dinosaurs with a mainly South America record. However, European species suggest that this clade is older than expected and crossed marine barriers during the Cretaceous. Despite its importance to the knowledge of the group, ceratosaurs from Europe have received less attention than their Gondwanan counterparts. Several specimens need to be redescribed and their phylogenetic positions have to be reassessed. In this sense, to review the European ceratosaurs is key to better understand the natural history of Theropoda, the clade that originated living birds. This project will be executed in twelve internship months in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Oliver Rauhut. Prof. Rauhut has a strong record of research and publication on theropod dinosaurs, including ceratosaurs. The specimens to be assessed are housed in different European collections, in France, England, Portugal, Italy, and Spain, and will be visited soon after the examination of the theropods deposited at Prof. Rauhut's lab. The aim of this project is to redescribe and phylogenetically assess several putative ceratosaur species (Arcovenator escotae, Saltriovenator zanellai, Genusaurus sisteronis, Betasuchus bredai, Tarascosaurus salluvicus) and Ceratosaurus records, as well as unnamed specimens (e.g., La Bouchard and Pourciex Abelisauroidea). The implications of this research are not limited to the evolution of theropods, because the results will be useful to test a dinosaur origins hypothesis, in which Ornithoscelida is composed by Ornithischia + Averostra (within Theropoda). Anatomical data will be taken using a digital camera, providing pictures to be stored and generating 3D models from photogrammetry, and will be analysed in free phylogenetic systematics softwares. The resulting manuscripts will be submitted to high-impact journals and communicated in scientific meetings. (AU)