study

Figure 1. Evolution of macroecological traits in Dinosauria. Large scale event in dinosaur evolution (a); the origin of dinosaurs (star), hyperthermals (volcano), the earliest fossil Avialae (bird), the earliest fossil angiosperm (flower), the Cretaceous/Palaeogene mass extinction (asteroid). Phylogeny of dinosaurs (b) redrawn from Sereno and adapted to the current consensus and upon which an ancestral state reconstruction of temperature niche (mean annual temperature) after Chiarenza et al. is plotted; Mesozoic palaeogeographies (c) for Triassic (T), Jurassic (J) and Cretaceous (K). Silhouette colours symbolize body mass for each of the taxa represented; information on dietary habits are plotted after Barrett and Zanno & Makovicky; numbers represent clades discussed through this study: 1, Ornithischia; 2, Thyreophora; 3, Ornithopoda; 4, Hadrosauroidea; 5, Marginocephalia; 6, Ceratopsia; 7, Saurischia; 8, Sauropodomorpha; 9, Sauropoda; 10, Theropoda; 11, Ceratosauria; 12, Tetanurae; 13, Coelurosauria; 14, Maniraptoriformes; 15, Maniraptora; 16, Deinonychosauria; 17, Avialae; 18, Ornithothoraces. Palaeogeographies modified from original plots via R package ‘mapast’ using plate models by Scotese.

Restoration of Lucianovenator bonoi based on images of known remains and related genera. Proto-feathers for insulation in coelophysids and other early theropods have been supported by this study:[1]

(A) Present day map of Australia with the town of Lightning Ridge indicated by the star. (B) Regional map of the Lightning Ridge region showing localities (where known) for specimens described in this text. Sealed (solid black lines) and unsealed roads (dashed lines) are indicated. The ephemeral Coocoran Lake is marked with a dotted blue line. (C) Correlative stratigraphy of the major Cretaceous depositional basins and geological units discussed in this study. The ornithopod icon and arrow indicate the approximate level of the Griman Creek Formation from which the current material pertains. Informal units are in quotation marks. Maps in (A) and (B) redrawn and modified from Bell et al. (2016) and Opal Fields—Lightning Ridge Region map produced by the NSW Department of Mineral Resources, respectively. Stratigraphy based on Toslini, McLoughlin & Drinnan (1999) and Cook, Bryan & Draper (2013). Ornithopod silhouette created by Caleb M. Brown and used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.

Pectoral girdles and forelimbs of dinosaurs in left lateral view, depicting resting scapular and forelimb orientations in different dinosaurian groups as recommended according to the results of this study. In each case, solid horizontal line is parallel to long axis of sacrum. A. theropods without semilunate carpals (Dilophosaurus wetherilli, UCMP 37302). B. theropods with semilunate carpals other than Caudipteryx (Velociraptor mongoliensis, after reference [60]). C. Caudipteryx (C. sp., after reference [8]). D. ceratopsids (Styracosaurus albertensis, NMC 344). E. basal sauropodomorphs (Plateosaurus engelhardti, AMNH 6810). F. non-hadrosaurian ornithopods (Thescelosaurus neglectus, reference [62]). G. hadrosaurids (Parasaurolophus walkeri, after reference [48]). Angle labels: B = scapular orientation relative to long axis of sacrum. E = elbow angle. S = shoulder angle. W = wrist angle. See Materials and Methods section for descriptions of angles.