Velociraptorine dromaeosaurid teeth from the Kimmeridgian (Late Jurassic) of Germany

Abstract

Six theropod teeth from a Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) bone bed in Langenberg Quarry of Oker (Goslar, Germany) are identified as a new dromaeosaurid taxon, here left in open nomenclature. Direct comparison reveals that the teeth are very similar to velociraptorine dromaeosaurid teeth from the Guimarota coal mine (Late Jurassic, Portugal) and to velociraptorine dromaeosaurid teeth from Uña (Barremian, Cuenca Province, Spain). Our data indicate that the teeth from the Kimmeridgian of Lower Saxony are of velociraptorine dromaeosaurid type, and therefore represent one of the oldest occurrences of the group Dromaeosauridae.