New data on the anatomy of Torvosaurus and other remains of megalosauroid, Dinosauria, Theropoda, from the Upper Jurassic of Portugal

Abstract

Abstract A set of cranial and postcranial specimens, including two partial maxillae, several isolated teeth, vertebrae and appendicular elements of theropod dinosaurs is described. These specimens were collected in different Upper Jurassic sites from the Lusitanian Basin (Portugal) and show several characters that allow its identification as belonging to megalosauroid tetanurans. Some of these elements have a combination of features exclusively shared with other megalosaurids known in the Portuguese record, in particular with the recently described species Torvosaurus gurneyi from synchronic sedimentary levels. The geographic and stratigraphic distribution of the specimens of megalosauroids currently known in the Portuguese record indicates that members of this clade were relatively abundant from the upper Kimmeridgian to the lowermost Tithonian of the Lusitanian Basin, especially in the Consolac¸a˜o Subbasin. The analysis of the different specimens described allows testing hypotheses about the distribution and variability of some characters among the Portuguese forms related to Torvosaurus.