Predatory Dinosaurs of the World
Author
Paul, G. S.
text
1988
1988-12-31
Touchstone Books
New York
Predatory Dinosaurs of the World
323
349
book chapter
10.5281/zenodo.1095032
b97fd151-e825-47df-8472-cf628646d260
1095032
SUBFAMILY
AUBLYSODONTINAE
Nopsca, 1928
These small, lightly built tyrannosaurids differ from more advanced tyrannosaurs in that the front teeth are unserrated. Their snouts are also distinctive, having low nasals and a sharp triangular profile. And their lower jaws are slender. But they were big-game hunters nonetheless—all, except perhaps for a tiny theropod from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia whose snout Andrei Elzanowski is studying. It looks aublysodont to me, but it has conical piercing teeth for hunting insects and very small vertebrates. Another unanswered question is whether their very short forelimbs had only two fingers. Not quite enough is known about these theropods to do a skeletal restoration yet, but we can describe them as basically small, sharp-snouted tyrannosaurs with an upturned dentary tip.