Rocasaurus
| Rocasaurus | ||||||||||
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Fossil bones of Rocasausus muniozi |
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||
| Upper Cretaceous (Upper Campanium to Lower Maastrichtian ) | ||||||||||
| 76.4 to 69.9 million years | ||||||||||
| Locations | ||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Rocasaurus | ||||||||||
| Salgado & Azpilicueta , 2000 | ||||||||||
| Art | ||||||||||
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Rocasaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the group of titanosaur . So far only a thigh bone, pelvic bone and vertebra have been described, which come from the Upper Cretaceous Argentina . Within the Titanosauria, Rocasaurus is mostlycounted amongthe Saltasaurinae - this group includes the most strongly derived (advanced) representatives of the Titanosauria. The only species is Rocasaurus muniozi .
features
In comparison with the presumably closely related genera Saltasaurus and Neuquensaurus, the physique was characterized by proportionally longer and slimmer leg bones. Unique features can be found, among other things, in the caudal vertebrae: The vertebral bodies were very low when viewed from the side; in addition, the caudal vertebrae were highly pervaded with air-filled chambers. Other special features can be found in the pelvic bone - so that was ischial (ischium) plate-like and longer than in Saltasaurus and neuquensaurus .
Find, research history and naming
The fossils come from the Salitral Moreno site , about 25 km south of the city of General Roca in the Argentine province of Rio Negro . The location opens up the lower subformation of the Allen Formation , which was deposited in the Upper Campanium and Lower Maastrichtian . The fossil-bearing rock strata are yellowish medium to coarse-grained sandstones that were deposited fluviatil .
The holotype specimen (specimen number MPCA-Pv 46) is a young animal that consists of fragments of the cervical, back, sacrum and caudal vertebrae, the pelvis - both ischia (ischia) and the pubic bone (pubis) - as well as the left thigh bone (femur). In addition, Rocasaurus were attributed to other fragmentary vertebral finds from the same site.
Rocasaurus was scientifically described in 2000 by the paleontologists Leonardo Salgado and Claudia Azpilicueta . The name Rocasaurus refers to the town of General Roca , which is located near the site; the ending -saurus is derived from the Greek and means "lizard". The second part of the species name, muniozi , honors Juan Carlos Muñoz for his permanent commitment to regional paleontological research.
supporting documents
literature
- Fernando E. Novas : The age of dinosaurs in South America. Indiana University Press, Bloomington IN 2009, ISBN 978-0-253-35289-7 .
- Leonardo Salgado , Claudia Azpilicueta: Un nuevo saltasaurino (Sauropoda, Titanosauridae) de la provincia de Río Negro (Formacíon Allen, Cretácico Superior), Patagonia, Argentina. In: Ameghiniana . Vol. 37, No. 3, 2000, pp. 259-264, online .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Novas 2009 , p. 158
- ↑ a b c d Salgado and Azpilicueta 2000
- ↑ Novas 2009 , pp. 233-234