Joan Wiffen's theropod: Difference between revisions
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== Paleoecology == |
== Paleoecology == |
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In the time of Joan Wiffen's theropod, the continent [[Zealandia (continent)|Tasmantis]] had split off from [[Gondwana]], meaning that this theropod dinosaur must have been unique to NZ, which scientists believe was much closer to the South Pole. It was mostly jungle. The New Zealand theropod existed with [[Joan Wiffen |
In the time of Joan Wiffen's theropod, the continent [[Zealandia (continent)|Tasmantis]] had split off from [[Gondwana]], meaning that this theropod dinosaur must have been unique to NZ, which scientists believe was much closer to the South Pole. It was mostly jungle. The New Zealand theropod existed with [[Joan Wiffen's sauropod]] and an unidentified type of [[pterosaur]]. Apart from this, not much is known. |
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== See also == |
== See also == |
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Revision as of 16:50, 9 March 2018
Joan Wiffen's theropod is an unidentified theropod dinosaur that was found by Joan Wiffen in Cretaceous rocks of New Zealand in the Mangahouanga Stream. Only a tail vertebra was found, and this was thought to be from a type of allosaur, because the tail vertebra resembled it most. The only scientific name it has been dubbed by is "Micrallos wiffeni"
Description
Based on the vertebra, Joan Wiffen's theropod was thought to be approximately four to five meters in length (maximum length of 15 feet) long, and like most theropods it would have been bipedal and carnivorous. Because of the few fossils, it is hard to determine what species of dinosaur is, although Wiffen determined that it probably came from a megalosaurid, at the time a poorly defined group of unspecialized large carnivorous dinosaurs. It could not be given an official binomial name until more about its classification is known. Due to the fact that megalosaurids became extinct at the end of the Jurassic it is considered unlikely that this species belongs to the clade.
Paleoecology
In the time of Joan Wiffen's theropod, the continent Tasmantis had split off from Gondwana, meaning that this theropod dinosaur must have been unique to NZ, which scientists believe was much closer to the South Pole. It was mostly jungle. The New Zealand theropod existed with Joan Wiffen's sauropod and an unidentified type of pterosaur. Apart from this, not much is known.