Leonerasaurus
| Leonerasaurus | ||||||||||
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Leonerasaurus |
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||
| Lower Jurassic (or possibly Upper Triassic ) | ||||||||||
| 199.3 to 174.1 million years | ||||||||||
| Locations | ||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Leonerasaurus | ||||||||||
| Pol et al., 2011 |
Leonerasaurus ("lizard from Leoneras formation") is a basal (original) genus of sauropodomorphic dinosaurs .
It belongs to the group of fossils commonly known as prosauropods ; this group is hardly used in science anymore. So far only a single specimen of this genus is known, which comes from the Chubut Province in central Patagonia ( Argentina ).
This fossil, which was described as the species L. taquetrensis , probably comes from the Pliensbachian to Toarcian or upper Sinemurian to Toarcian, i.e. the Lower Jurassic . However, the find formation can also be older and belong to the Upper Triassic .
Leonerasaurus is a typical early sauropodomorphic dinosaur in general, with a small head on a long neck, spatula-shaped teeth, significantly shorter forelegs than hind legs, and a powerful tail. The total length of the only find, a not quite fully grown specimen, was probably around 2.5 m. However, four vertebrae are fused in the sacrum (sacrum), a feature that is so far only known from "real" sauropods. As new descriptions of the past years already suggest, this indicates a strongly convergent evolution of the early Sauropodomorpha (ie body characteristics develop independently but similarly in different species due to similar conditions).
description
From leonerasaurus only one, incomplete specimen is not yet known. Part of a jawbone, teeth, cervical and trunk vertebrae, a sacrum, parts of the shoulder and pelvic girdles, and some bones of the limbs were found.
etymology
The authors state: Leoneras , as a reference to the lithostratigraphic unit, the Las Leoneras Formation , in which the genus was found; saurus , "lizard" ([lizard]) (Latinized Greek). The species name taquetrensis refers to the Sierras de Taquetrén, where the Las Leoneras formation spreads out in central Patagonia.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Diego Pol, Alberto Garrido, Ignacio A. Cerda: A New Sauropodomorph Dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of Patagonia and the Origin and Evolution of the Sauropod-type Sacrum. In: PLoS ONE . Vol. 6, No. 1, 2011, e14572, doi : 10.1371 / journal.pone.0014572 .