| Liliensternus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Reconstructed skeleton cast | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Superfamily: | †Coelophysoidea |
| Genus: | †Liliensternus Welles, 1984 |
| Type species | |
| †Liliensternus liliensterni Huene, 1934 | |
| Synonyms | |
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Liliensternus is anextinctgenus of basalneotheropoddinosaur that lived approximately 210million years ago during the latter part of theTriassicPeriod in what is nowGermany.Liliensternus was abipedal, ground-dwellingcarnivore, that could grow up to 5.15 m (16.9 ft) long; however, this size estimate is based on specimens now believed to be subadults, and possible fragmentary remains indicate an adult length of 7 to 9 meters.[1] It is the best represented Triassic theropod from Europe and one of the largest known.[2]
Liliensternus was approximately 5.15 metres (16.9 feet) long, and may have weighed about 127 kilograms (280 pounds).[3] Other estimates suggest thatLiliensternus was at best 5.2 m (17.1 ft) long and weighed 200 kg (441 lb) at most.[4] The remains of two specimens ofLiliensternus together form asyntype series with inventory numberMB.R.2175, and consist of the partial and fragmentary skeletons of at least two individuals, containing elements of the skull, the lower jaws, the vertebrae and the appendicular skeleton. The tibia (409 mm) is shorter than the femur (440 mm) in bothDilophosaurus andLiliensternus, unlike those of coelophysid taxa, such asCoelophysis. Paul (1988) noted that based on its appearance,Liliensternus could be considered to be an intermediate betweenCoelophysis andDilophosaurus. Although the skull is not well known, many reconstructions haveLiliensternus with a crest similar to that observed inDilophosaurus. Itsilium (hip bone) is unusually short, as is the case withDilophosaurus.[3]
Rauhut et al. (1998) noted that the remains may represent a juvenile or subadult individual based on the presence of only two fused sacrals and the fact that the neurocentral sutures are still visible in thevertebrae.[5] In a 2024 conference abstract, Kirmse et al. supported this hypothesis. They reported fragmentary remains of several large theropods, either adultLiliensternus or a closely related genus, that suggest an adult length of 7 to 9 meters, makingLiliensternus possibly the largest theropod dinosaur known from the Triassic period.[1]
A diagnosis is a statement of the anatomical features of an organism (or group) that collectively distinguish it from all other organisms. Some, but not all, of the features in a diagnosis are also autapomorphies. An autapomorphy is a distinctive anatomical feature that is unique to a given organism or group. According to Rauhut (2000),Liliensternus can be distinguished based on the following features: the cervical vertebrae feature a broad rounded ridge that extends from the posterior end of the diapophyses to the posteroventral end of the vertebral centrum, one pair ofpleurocoels in the cervical vertebrae, a less developed infradiapophysealfossa, the absence of a horizontal ridge at the basis of the cervical neural spines, absence of a lateral bulge on theilium.[6]
The specimens ofLiliensternus, designated as thesyntype seriesHMN BM.R.2175, were recovered nearGroßer Gleichberg in theTrossingen Formation of the Middle Keuper Group in Thuringia,Germany, together with remains ofRuehleia. The syntypes were discovered by Count Hugo Rühle von Lilienstern in the winter of 1932/1933[8] in marlstone (lime-rich mudstone) deposited in theNorian stage of the LateTriassic period, approximately 228 to 208 million years ago.[9] A left metatarsal later assigned to this genus, also deposited in theNorian, was collected in 1834 in the sandstone of theTrossingen Formation inBayern, Germany. This metatarsal was originally described as a manual or pedal element by Meyer (1855) and a pubic fragment by Huene (1908) ofPlateosaurus, and the material was re-identified as a proximal metatarsal belonging toLiliensternus by Moser in 2003.[5][10] Sander (1992) referred additional material toLiliensternus, which was thought to have been collected in 1961 grey/green marlstone from the Löwenstein Formation in Aargau,Switzerland, which is considered to also be from theNorian stage of the Late Triassic period.[11] A tooth referred to thisLiliensternus, deposited in theNorian, and collected in 1913 in dark red mudstone from the Löwenstein Formation in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The only material assigned to this genus from later strata was discovered in 1913 in blue claystone from theRhaetian stage of the Late Triassic, in theTrossingen Formation from Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany, approximately 208 to 201 million years ago. TheLiliensternus specimens remained in Hugo Rühle von Lilienstern's castle until 1969 when they were transferred to the collection of theNatural History Museum of Berlin, their present location.
The genus and specific namesLiliensternus liliensterni are derived from the last name of count, amateur paleontologist, and medical doctor, Hugo Rühle von Lilienstern. This dinosaur was named in his honor for his furthering paleontology in Germany by founding a paleontological museum in his castle inBedheim, on 1 July1934.Liliensternus was described byFriedrich von Huene in1934.[12] Because it was originally named by von Huene as a member of the genusHalticosaurus, thetype species of the genusLiliensternus isHalticosaurus liliensterni; thecombinatio nova isLiliensternus liliensterni.
In 1993 Gilles Cuny andPeter Galton described a newspecies that they assigned to this genus,Liliensternus airelensis.[13] Other researchers began to notice differences betweenL. airelensis and thetype species,L. liliensterni,[14] and in 2007, Martin Ezcurra and Cuny assigned the material to its own genus,Lophostropheus.[15]
In 1934, Huene described two skeletons assigning them the nameHalticosaurus liliensterni,[12] but in 1984Samuel Paul Welles concluded that thetype species ofHalticosaurus,H. longotarsus, was anomen dubium. Most of what had been written in the literature aboutHalticosaurus in fact regardedH. liliensterni. Welles therefore erected a new genus:Liliensternus, the name again honoring Rühle von Lilienstern.[16]The new species name becameLiliensternus liliensterni. Rowe (1989) found thatLiliensternus is more derived thanDilophosaurus. A second species named in 1993 by Cuny and Galton for fragmentary remains found inFrance,Liliensternus airelensis, which had an extra pair of cervical pleurocoels, was in 2007 reassigned to a separate genus,Lophostropheus.[17] Originally assigned to theHalticosauridae,Liliensternus is today considered a basal member of theNeotheropoda.
The following evolutionary tree illustrates a synthesis of the relationships of the early theropod groups compiled by Hendrickxet al. in 2015, including the position ofLiliensternus in which all studies concur.[18]
Liliensternus was an active bipedal carnivore that could have preyed on the largerherbivores likePlateosaurus, which were present in its paleoenvironment. The material discovered in Switzerland, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany and the tooth from Baden-Württemberg, Germany, suggest thatLiliensternus inhabited ancient floodplains that were abundant with reptiles,therapsids, andPlateosaurus.[19] Paul (1988) noted thatLiliensternus used its slashing tooth arrays to disable prosauropods and its speed to catch swift ornithischians.[3]
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