A NEW CRESTED MANIRAPTORAN DINOSAUR FROM THE SANTANA FORMATION (LOWERCRETACEOUS) OF BRAZIL

The skull of a new, and highly unusual crested dinosaur with an elonga te rostrum is the first dinosaur to be named from the Santana Formatio n of NE Brazil. Irritator challengeri gen. et sp. nov was most likely a maniraptoran dinosaur, but its affinities to other maniraptorans rem ain to be established. Unique features for Irritator include the patte rn of tooth replacement, a highly reduced supratemporal fenestra, extr eme lateral compression of the rostrum and a saggital crest comprised of the frontal and parietal bones. Irritator was most probably a pisci vore. A land link between South America and the dinosaurian faunal pro vince of North America and Asia is indicated, probably via Africa.