Elaphrosaurus bambergi Janensch, 1920

Souza-Júnior, André Luis de, Candeiro, Carlos Roberto dos Anjos, Vidal, Luciano da Silva, Brusatte, Stephen Louis & Mortimer, Mickey, 2023, Abelisauroidea (Theropoda, Dinosauria) from Africa: a review of the fossil record, Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 63, pp. 1-13 : 6

Elaphrosaurus bambergi Janensch, 1920

– E. bambergi is from the Middle Dinosaur Member of the Tendaguru Formation (Kimmeridgian), that crops out north of Tendaguru Hill, Tanzania ( Fig. 3 ).

Elaphrosaurus was described based on a well-preserved postcranial skeleton. The holotype, MB R 4960, was described by Janensch (1920, 1925) and includes 16 presacral vertebrae, 6 sacral vertebrae, 18 caudal vertebrae, a middle caudal chevron, a left humerus,both ilia, the left pubis,both ischia,the left femur, a tibia, a fibula, an astragalus-calcaneum, the left metatarsals II and III, the proximal part of metatarsal IV, and three pedal phalanges. Rauhut & Carrano (2016) reviewed the material described by Janensch (1929) and pointed out that Janensch described a left and a right scapulocoracoid, a right metacarpal II, and a left metacarpal IV (HMN R dd 4960.35,4960.36) that were found in the same locality as the holotype and, therefore, most likely belonged to the same individual.Thus, Rauhut & Carrano (2016) suggested that this material should be included as part of the holotype of Elaphrosaurus , a suggestion made by Sereno (2004) and Carrano & Sampson (2008) as well.

Figures

Figure 3. Africa abelisauroid record distribution from Late Jurassic to Late Cretaceous,ages from Cohen et al.(2020).