Lusotitan

Lusotitan
Temporal occurrence
	Upper Jurassic ( Tithonian )
	152.1 to 145 million years
Locations
	Portugal;
Systematics
	Lizard dinosaur (Saurischia)
	Sauropods (Sauropoda)
	Neosauropoda
	Macronaria
	Brachiosauridae
	Lusotitan
Scientific name
	Lusotitan
	Antunes & Mateus , 2003
Art
	Lusotitan atalaiensis (Lapparent & Zbyszewski, 1957) ;

Lusotitan is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Brachiosauridae family. It is known through fragmentary remains of various individuals that were found in west-central Portugal and are dated to the Upper Jurassic ( Tithonian ). The only species is Lusotitan atalaiensis . Originally this species was assigned to the genus Brachiosaurus (as Brachiosaurus atalaiensis ).

description

Like all sauropods, Lusotitan was a large, four-legged herbivore with a long neck and a relatively tiny head. Like other brachiosaurids, Lusotitan also exhibited greatly elongated forelegs compared to other sauropods. Other common features with other brachiosaurids include the low spinous processes, the pronounced deltopectoral ridge of the humerus, and the upward-pointing longitudinal axis of the iliac bone.

Lusotitan is characterized, among other things, by very large pleurocoels (lateral cavities) in the middle vertebrae and by a laterally curved shin. The pool was built relatively slim.

Finds and naming

Previous finds come from the vicinity of Leiria and Lisbon from the geological formations Unidade Bombarral , Unidade Amoreire-Porto Novo and from a previously unnamed rock unit. They were scientifically described for the first time by Lapparent and Zbyszewski in 1957 - under the name Brachiosaurus atalaiensis . A few years later Kingham (1962) assigned this species together with all other Brachiosaurus species to the genus Astrodon , as Astrodon atalaiensis ; however, these assignments met with little acceptance. Antunes and Mateus (2003) put the species in its own genus, which they called Lusotitan . Since Lapparent and Zbyszewski had not given a holotype specimen, Antunes and Mateus chose the most complete specimen as the lectotype : This specimen consists of 28 vertebrae (including a series of 18 caudal vertebrae), 12 chevron bones , a presumed shoulder blade, parts of the foreleg (including Humerus, ulna and radius), parts of the pelvis (intestine, ischium and pubic bone) and parts of the hind leg (shin, a fibula fragment and an ankle bone (astragalus)).

The name Lusotitan ( Latin Luso - "Inhabitants of Lusitania"; Greek titan ) refers on the one hand to the ancient region of Lusitania, which comprised parts of what is now Portugal and Spain, and on the other to the titans of Greek mythology .

Individual evidence

^ Gregory S. Paul : The Princeton Field Guide To Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ et al. 2010, ISBN 978-0-691-13720-9 , p. 201, online .
^ ^A ^b Albert F. de Lapparent, Georges Zbyszewski: Les dinosauriens du Portugal (= Memórias dos Serviços Geológicos de Portugal. NS Bd. 2, ISSN 0037-2730 ). Services Géologiques du Portugal, Lisbonne 1957.
^ ^A ^b ^c ^d Miguel Antunes, Octavio Mateus: Dinosaurs of Portugal. In: Comptes Rendus Palévol. Vol. 2, No. 1, 2003, ISSN 1631-0683 , pp. 77-95. doi : 10.1016 / S1631-0683 (03) 00003-4 .
^ Paul Upchurch , Paul M. Barrett , Peter Dodson : Sauropoda. In: David B. Weishampel , Peter Dodson, Halszka Osmólska (eds.): The Dinosauria . 2nd edition. University of California Press, Berkeley CA et al. 2004, ISBN 0-520-24209-2 , pp. 259-324.
^ RF Kingham: Studies of the sauropod dinosaur Astrodon Leidy. In: Washington Junior Academy of Science. Proceedings. Vol. 1, 1962, pp. 38-44.

[paul_10-1] Gregory S. Paul : The Princeton Field Guide To Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ et al. 2010, ISBN 978-0-691-13720-9 , p. 201, online .

[lapparent_57-2] A ^b Albert F. de Lapparent, Georges Zbyszewski: Les dinosauriens du Portugal (= Memórias dos Serviços Geológicos de Portugal. NS Bd. 2, ISSN 0037-2730 ). Services Géologiques du Portugal, Lisbonne 1957.

[antunes_03-3] A ^b ^c ^d Miguel Antunes, Octavio Mateus: Dinosaurs of Portugal. In: Comptes Rendus Palévol. Vol. 2, No. 1, 2003, ISSN 1631-0683 , pp. 77-95. doi : 10.1016 / S1631-0683 (03) 00003-4 .

[dinosauria-4] Paul Upchurch , Paul M. Barrett , Peter Dodson : Sauropoda. In: David B. Weishampel , Peter Dodson, Halszka Osmólska (eds.): The Dinosauria . 2nd edition. University of California Press, Berkeley CA et al. 2004, ISBN 0-520-24209-2 , pp. 259-324.

[kingham-5] RF Kingham: Studies of the sauropod dinosaur Astrodon Leidy. In: Washington Junior Academy of Science. Proceedings. Vol. 1, 1962, pp. 38-44.