Édasaur
@adasaur.bsky.social
M.Sc. student @ Southern CT State Uni. | Paleontologist | Birder | occasional YouTuber | #BlackAFinSTEAM | All opinions expressed are mine alone
Oh, and one more thing: if you need any nice photos of Allosaurus teeth, I've got plenty now!
January 9, 2026 at 8:54 PM
Oh, and one more thing: if you need any nice photos of Allosaurus teeth, I've got plenty now!
Give the paper a read for all the details; if you can't access it, it's also on ResearchGate.
(As the native English speaker on the team, I'll take onus for any typos that slipped through my proofreads.)
A video will be out about this soon too!
www.ameghiniana.org.ar/index.php/am...
(As the native English speaker on the team, I'll take onus for any typos that slipped through my proofreads.)
A video will be out about this soon too!
www.ameghiniana.org.ar/index.php/am...
ISOLATED ABELISAURID TEETH FROM GONDWANA AND DENTAL EVOLUTION IN ABELISAURIDAE
| Ameghiniana
www.ameghiniana.org.ar
January 9, 2026 at 8:54 PM
Give the paper a read for all the details; if you can't access it, it's also on ResearchGate.
(As the native English speaker on the team, I'll take onus for any typos that slipped through my proofreads.)
A video will be out about this soon too!
www.ameghiniana.org.ar/index.php/am...
(As the native English speaker on the team, I'll take onus for any typos that slipped through my proofreads.)
A video will be out about this soon too!
www.ameghiniana.org.ar/index.php/am...
That's all for now. In the meantime, many thanks to Christophe Hendrickx for following up on his offer nearly 10 years ago(!) to have me be involved in his work back in my early undergrad days at the Peabody Museum. It's a small gesture, but it meant a lot at that point in my life.
January 9, 2026 at 8:54 PM
That's all for now. In the meantime, many thanks to Christophe Hendrickx for following up on his offer nearly 10 years ago(!) to have me be involved in his work back in my early undergrad days at the Peabody Museum. It's a small gesture, but it meant a lot at that point in my life.
A side highlight from our study:
Even though Abelisauridae has been recognized for 40 years, they're actually among the oldest known dinosaurs in scientific literature. One tooth from Late Cretaceous India was first described back in 1861 & lots of "Megalosaurus" teeth are actually abelisaurids.
Even though Abelisauridae has been recognized for 40 years, they're actually among the oldest known dinosaurs in scientific literature. One tooth from Late Cretaceous India was first described back in 1861 & lots of "Megalosaurus" teeth are actually abelisaurids.
January 9, 2026 at 8:54 PM
A side highlight from our study:
Even though Abelisauridae has been recognized for 40 years, they're actually among the oldest known dinosaurs in scientific literature. One tooth from Late Cretaceous India was first described back in 1861 & lots of "Megalosaurus" teeth are actually abelisaurids.
Even though Abelisauridae has been recognized for 40 years, they're actually among the oldest known dinosaurs in scientific literature. One tooth from Late Cretaceous India was first described back in 1861 & lots of "Megalosaurus" teeth are actually abelisaurids.
The big conclusion:
This means that Abelisauridae – or at least the abelisaurid tooth morphology – evolved in the Early to Middle Jurassic and spread throughout Gondwana fairly early on in their history. It's not a slam dunk, but it certainly strengthens the case for their presence this far back.
This means that Abelisauridae – or at least the abelisaurid tooth morphology – evolved in the Early to Middle Jurassic and spread throughout Gondwana fairly early on in their history. It's not a slam dunk, but it certainly strengthens the case for their presence this far back.
January 9, 2026 at 8:54 PM
The big conclusion:
This means that Abelisauridae – or at least the abelisaurid tooth morphology – evolved in the Early to Middle Jurassic and spread throughout Gondwana fairly early on in their history. It's not a slam dunk, but it certainly strengthens the case for their presence this far back.
This means that Abelisauridae – or at least the abelisaurid tooth morphology – evolved in the Early to Middle Jurassic and spread throughout Gondwana fairly early on in their history. It's not a slam dunk, but it certainly strengthens the case for their presence this far back.
Isolated teeth aren't exactly great for ID'ing specific theropod taxa, but they can be fairly diagnostic from group to group. Abelisaurids have a specific combination of traits that make their teeth unique (which I won't list) and most of the teeth we measured have that distinct set of features.
January 9, 2026 at 8:54 PM
Isolated teeth aren't exactly great for ID'ing specific theropod taxa, but they can be fairly diagnostic from group to group. Abelisaurids have a specific combination of traits that make their teeth unique (which I won't list) and most of the teeth we measured have that distinct set of features.
We (my coauthors more specifically) used cladistic & machine learning analyses to ID a bunch of isolated theropod teeth from across Gondwana, including Middle Jurassic Madagascar and Late Jurassic Uruguay.
(I just added Allosaurus tooth features to the larger dataset.)
(I just added Allosaurus tooth features to the larger dataset.)
January 9, 2026 at 8:54 PM
We (my coauthors more specifically) used cladistic & machine learning analyses to ID a bunch of isolated theropod teeth from across Gondwana, including Middle Jurassic Madagascar and Late Jurassic Uruguay.
(I just added Allosaurus tooth features to the larger dataset.)
(I just added Allosaurus tooth features to the larger dataset.)
Some fragmentary abelisaur bits have found in various Jurassic rocks, mostly teeth. The best of these is the Argentine Eoabelisaurus, which looks like this, so as you can imagine there's some uncertainty about whether it truly represents Abelisauridae or is more basal.
That's where we come in.
That's where we come in.
January 9, 2026 at 8:54 PM
Some fragmentary abelisaur bits have found in various Jurassic rocks, mostly teeth. The best of these is the Argentine Eoabelisaurus, which looks like this, so as you can imagine there's some uncertainty about whether it truly represents Abelisauridae or is more basal.
That's where we come in.
That's where we come in.
Abelisaurids; you know 'em, you love 'em.
They're the short-armed, boxy-headed, knobbly-skinned horned theropods, and one of the main groups of large predators across Gondwana (and Europe). They're mostly known from the Cretaceous, particularly the Late Cretaceous.
However...
They're the short-armed, boxy-headed, knobbly-skinned horned theropods, and one of the main groups of large predators across Gondwana (and Europe). They're mostly known from the Cretaceous, particularly the Late Cretaceous.
However...
January 9, 2026 at 8:54 PM
Abelisaurids; you know 'em, you love 'em.
They're the short-armed, boxy-headed, knobbly-skinned horned theropods, and one of the main groups of large predators across Gondwana (and Europe). They're mostly known from the Cretaceous, particularly the Late Cretaceous.
However...
They're the short-armed, boxy-headed, knobbly-skinned horned theropods, and one of the main groups of large predators across Gondwana (and Europe). They're mostly known from the Cretaceous, particularly the Late Cretaceous.
However...