R. Butler

Publications190
h-index44
Citations5,737
Highly Influential Citations556
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The phylogeny of the ornithischian dinosaurs
TLDR
Surprisingly, Heterodontosauridae is placed as the most basal group of all well‐known ornithischians, phylogenetically distant from a stem‐defined Ornithopoda, creating a topology that is more congruent with the known Ornithischian stratigraphical record.
The 'fabrosaurid' ornithischian dinosaurs of the Upper Elliot Formation (Lower Jurassic) of South Africa and Lesotho
TLDR
Stormbergia dangershoeki is significantly larger than previously described Elliot Formation ornithischians, and can be recognized on the basis of a unique combination of characters, the most important of which is the possession of a distinctive tab-shaped obturator process on the ischium.
A primitive ornithischian dinosaur from the Late Triassic of South Africa, and the early evolution and diversification of Ornithischia
Although the group played an important role in the evolution of Late Mesozoic terrestrial ecosystems, the early evolutionary history of the ornithischian dinosaurs remains poorly understood. Here, we…
Pterosaur distribution in time and space: an atlas
Mesozoic marine tetrapod diversity: mass extinctions and temporal heterogeneity in geological megabiases affecting vertebrates
TLDR
Some evidence supports an extinction event near the Jurassic/Cretaceous boundary, but the proposed end-Cenomanian extinction is probably an artefact of poor sampling, and consideration of sampling biases allows re-evaluation of proposed mass extinction events.
The Lower Jurassic ornithischian dinosaur Heterodontosaurus tucki Crompton & Charig, 1962: cranial anatomy, functional morphology, taxonomy, and relationships
TLDR
Details of the cranial anatomy are revealed and show that the skull is unexpectedly specialized in such an early representative of the Ornithischia, including the closely packed, hypsodont crowns and ‘warping’ of the occlusal surfaces seen in the cheek dentition and jaw musculature.
The origin and early radiation of dinosaurs
Abstract Dinosaurs were remarkably successful during the Mesozoic and one subgroup, birds, remain an important component of modern ecosystems. Although the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs at the…
The Origin and Early Evolution of Sauria: Reassessing the Permian Saurian Fossil Record and the Timing of the Crocodile-Lizard Divergence
TLDR
A revision suggests a minimum fossil calibration date for the crocodile-lizard split of 254.7 Ma, and early archosauromorph growth strategies appear to be more diverse than previously suggested based on new data on the osteohistology of Aenigmastropheus.
The Sail-Backed Reptile Ctenosauriscus from the Latest Early Triassic of Germany and the Timing and Biogeography of the Early Archosaur Radiation
TLDR
Comprehensive numerical phylogenetic analyses demonstrate that both Ctenosauriscus and the Waldhaus taxon are members of a monophyletic grouping of poposauroid archosaurs, CtenOSauriscidae, characterised by greatly elongated neural spines in the posterior cervical to anterior caudal vertebrae.
Sea level, dinosaur diversity and sampling biases: investigating the ‘common cause’ hypothesis in the terrestrial realm
The fossil record is our primary window onto the diversification of ancient life, but there are widespread concerns that sampling biases may distort observed palaeodiversity counts. Such concerns…
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