Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Memoir 8 Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology Volume 27, Supplement to Number 2: 1–20, June 2007 © 2007 by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology OVERVIEW OF THE HISTORY OF DISCOVERY, TAXONOMY, PHYLOGENY, AND BIOGEOGRAPHY OF MAJUNGASAURUS CRENATISSIMUS (THEROPODA: ABELISAURIDAE) FROM THE LATE CRETACEOUS OF MADAGASCAR DAVID W. KRAUSE*,1, SCOTT D. SAMPSON2, MATTHEW T. CARRANO3, and PATRICK M. O’CONNOR4 1Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794-8081;
[email protected] 2Utah Museum of Natural History and Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, 1390 Presidents Circle, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112;
[email protected] 3Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012, NHB E-105, MRC-121, Washington, DC 20013;
[email protected] 4Department of Biomedical Sciences, 228 Irvine Hall, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701;
[email protected] ABSTRACT—We review the historical sequence of discoveries of Majungasaurus crenatissimus, an abelisaurid theropod from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Maevarano Formation, Mahajanga Basin, northwestern Madagascar. For almost a century, beginning in 1895, periodic expeditions conducted by French, Japanese, and Malagasy teams yielded fragmentary and isolated remains of a medium-sized theropod dinosaur from the Maevarano Formation. These materials were first assigned to Megalosaurus crenatissimus but later to Dryptosaurus crenatissimus, then Majungasaurus crenatis- simus, and, most recently, Majungatholus atopus. The taxon was variously considered to pertain to Tyrannosauridae, “Megalosauridae,” and Abelisauridae. Recent excavations undertaken by the Mahajanga Basin Project (1993 to present) have resulted in abundant and spectacular remains of this theropod. The new material allows us to establish Majunga- saurus crenatissimus as the valid name for this theropod and to conclusively place it within Abelisauridae.