CARNIVOROUS DINOSAURS (SAURISCHIA, THEROPODA) FROM THE MAASTRICHTIAN OF THE VOLGA-DON INTERFLUVE, RUSSIA

Abstract

Isolated bones (braincase fragment, tooth, and (?) the first metacarpal) of carnivorous dinosaurs from the Maastrichtian in the vicinity of the Bereslavka water reservoir (Volgograd Region) are described. The tooth may belong to a member of Dromaeosauridae, the other bones originate from a more primitive theropod of Ceratosauria-Megalosauridae evolutionary grade. The emergence of primitive tetrapods in the Maastrichtian of the Lower Volga Region and Romania could have occurred due to a general climatic cooling.