Unravelling ornithischian diversity: Laquintasaura venezuelae, Huayangosaurus taibaii, and a new Ornithopod

• Grant number: 24/08625-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: November 01, 2024
• End date: April 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Paleozoology
• Principal Investigator: Max Cardoso Langer
• Grantee: Ricardo José Sacamoto de Oliveira
• Supervisor: Susannah Catherine Rose Maidment
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Natural History Museum, London, England
• Associated to the scholarship: 23/14183-1 - New materials of Laquintasaura venezuelae and their importance for the initial radiation of Ornithischia, BP.MS

Abstract

The origin and evolution of ornithischian dinosaurs are topics that have undergone a series of substantial revisions, with several competing hypotheses concerning the relations within the clade, both at its base and towards groups such as Tyreophora and Ornithopoda. As a result, it is difficult to assess the robustness of the current phylogenetic hypotheses and the effect that the addition of new taxa and/or characters is likely to have on the overall relations of the group. In this context, the present research project includes the description of new materials of Laquintasaura venezuelae and of a new Ornithopod, along with the revision of the cranial anatomy of the stegosaurid Huayangosaurus taibaii. Incorporated into new phylogenetic data-sets, the data gathered from these studies are likely to help unravelling the relationships within Ornithischia.