Theropod dinosaur diversity and palaeobiology in the Wealden Group (Early Cretaceous) of England: evidence from a previously undescribed tibia
A robust, partial right tibia of a theropod dinosaur (Natural History Museum London collections, BMNH R9385) is described for the first time. The specimen was collected at Hastings, Sussex (England) in the last century, and is among the oldest known of English Wealden Group theropods. It represents a tetanuran theropod that may have been about 3 m in total length, and is distinct from all currently known Wealden theropods for which tibiae have been described. The present specimen is significant palaeobiologically in exhibiting a series of theropod tooth marks on its caudal surface, indicating predation or scavenging by another theropod.
The historical taxonomy of the Lower Cretaceous theropods (Dinosauria) Calamospondylus and Aristosuchus from the Isle of Wight
The historical taxonomy of the small theropod dinosaurs from the Wealden Group (Lower Cretaceous) of England is confused and complex. Of the twelve species names, several are synonymous and the remainder are mostly nomina dubia . Among the latter are the probable bird Wyleyia valdensis , the probable oviraptorosaur Thecocoelurus daviesi and the enigmatic forms Ornithodesmus cluniculus and Calamosaurus foxii . It has traditionally been thought that Calamospondylus oweni , the first British small theropod (or supposed theropod), was renamed and redescribed as Poekilopleuron pusillus , a taxon later given its own genus, Aristosuchus . Fox's correspondence with Owen, and discrepancies in the descriptions of these specimens, show that C. oweni and A. pusillus were based on different specimens. A. pussillus in based on a sacrum and partial pubes from a compsognathid coelurosaur. The whereabouts of the type specimen for C. oweni is presently unknown.
Palaeocarpinus (Extinct Betulaceae) from Northwestern China: New Evidence for Paleocene Floristic Continuity between Asia, North America, and Europe
Spiny-bracted fruits of Palaeocarpinus Crane, a genus of Betulaceae previously known only from Europe and North America, have been discovered in the Paleocene of Altai, northwestern China. The fruits are found in association with abundant Corylus-like foliage and staminate catkins containing Corylus-like pollen. Because of problems distinguishing leaves of Corylus from those of extinct betulaceous genera, we place these leaves in the genus Corylites Gardner ex Seward & Holttum. The fruits, staminate catkins, pollen, and leaves from Altai were probably all produced by a single species. Palaeocarpinus orientalis is nearly identical in its morphology to Palaeocarpinus joffrensis from the Paleocene of North America except in the more rounded primary bracts of the associated staminate catkins. The species is less similar to Palaeocarpinus laciniata from the Paleocene of southern England.