page_title: Eoabelisaurus
section_title: Reduced forelimbs
hierarchical_section_title: Eoabelisaurus / Paleobiology / Reduced forelimbs
caption_attribution_description: English: Comparison between Carnotaurus, Dilophosaurus, and Eoabelisaurus forelimbs. Original comparison from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3385738/
context_page_description: Eoabelisaurus is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Cañadón Asfalto Formation of the Cañadón Asfalto Basin in Argentina, South America. The generic name combines a Greek ἠώς, "dawn", with the name Abelisaurus, in reference to the fact it represents an early relative of the latter. Only one species is currently recognized, E. mefi, from which the specific name honours the MEF, the Museo Paleontológico "Egidio Feruglio", where discoverer Diego Pol is active. It is characterized by reduced forelimb proportions that show primitive characteristics of the Abelisauridae family.
context_section_description: Before the discovery of Eoabelisaurus, abelisaurid anatomy was only known from a handful of Late Cretaceous taxa that were aberrant in their morphology, such as their unusual skull structure and reduction of their forelimbs. Eoabelisaurus shows what was previously an unknown stage in the evolution of abelisaurids, having only some of the cranial modifications and a unique combination of features in its forelimbs. The manus of Eoabelisaurus have a derived morphology, with short and robust metacarpals, non-terminal phalanges, and reduced manual unguals. The humerus is unreduced, and the ulna and radius are shortened but do not differ from more basal ceratosaurs. Therefore, the modification of the forelimbs in the evolution of abelisaurids seems to have occurred in a modular fashion, starting with the distal elements such as the fingers, and only later affecting the more proximal elements. It is with this evidence that Eoabelisaurus confirms a recently proposed evolutionary scenario of abelisaurid limbs based on the incomplete evidence of Cretaceous abelisauroids.
caption: Comparison between Carnotaurus, Dilophosaurus, and Eoabelisaurus forelimbs demonstrating gradual reduction starting at the distal elements
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