Proceratosaurus bradleyi ( Woodward, 1910 )

Rauhut, Oliver W. M., 2003, The interrelationships and evolution of basal theropod dinosaurs, Special papers in palaeontology 69, pp. 1-213 : 21

Proceratosaurus bradleyi ( Woodward, 1910)

Age . Bathonian.

Occurrence. Great Oolite at Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, England.

Diagnosis. Ascending process of premaxilla overhangs the alveolar border of this bone; external nares enlarged, subequal in length to internal antorbital fenestra, and with squared anterior end; horn-core or medial crest on the nasals, starting at approximately mid-length of the nares.

Remarks. This species is based on a partial skull from the Great Oolite of England, originally described as Megalosaurus bradleyi by Woodward (1910). Huene (1926 «) removed the species from the genus Megalosaurus and proposed the new genus Proceratosaurus . As indicated by the name, Huene believed this taxon to be a close relative of the Upper Jurassic genus Ceratosaurus , based on the presence of a dorsal projection on the anterior end of the nasals, the only part of the skull roof preserved. However, the position of this projection is unlike that of the horn core in Ceratosaurus , and, because of the incompleteness of the skull roof, it cannot be determined if it represents a nasal horn, or a median cranial crest.