Venenosaurus

Venenosaurus
Temporal occurrence
	Lower Cretaceous ( Aptium )
	126.3 to 112.9 million years
Locations
	Utah , USA ( Cedar Mountain Formation );
Systematics
	Lizard dinosaur (Saurischia)
	Sauropods (Sauropoda)
	Neosauropoda
	Macronaria
	Titanosauriformes
	Venenosaurus
Scientific name
	Venenosaurus
	Tidwell et al., 2001
Art
	Venenosaurus dicrocei;

Venenosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the group of titanosauriformes . Fragmentary remains, which originate from both adult individuals and young animals, were found in the Lower Cretaceous ( Aptium ) of the US state of Utah . The only species is Venenosaurus dicrocei .

features

Like all sauropods, Venenosaurus was a large, four-legged herbivore with a barrel-shaped body and a long neck and tail. It was a comparatively small sauropod. The skeleton shows various derived (advanced) features, as they are typical for representatives of the Titanosauria , as well as a number of basal (original) features, as they are typical for representatives of the Brachiosauridae . Venenosaurus can be distinguished from other sauropods by their caudal vertebrae: the vertebral bodies of the anterior caudal vertebrae show a convex front and a flat rear; in addition, the spinous processes of the middle caudal vertebrae are inclined forward.

Systematics

The relationship of this genus is controversial. Virginia Tidwell and colleagues (2001) note that various features suggest belonging to the Brachiosauridae , but other features suggest belonging to the Titanosauria. These researchers therefore classified Venenosaurus as a representative of the Titanosauriformes that cannot be further assigned. Upchurch and colleagues (2004) suspect, however, that it was a basal representative of the Titanosauria, based on the anatomy of the ulna and the ischium, which is short in relation to the pubic bone.

Researchers around Rafael Royo-Torres (2009, 2012) propose a new group within the Titanosauriformes, the Laurasiformes . This group is said to include Venenosaurus , Cedarosaurus, and Tastavinsaurus .

Finds, research history and naming

The first find ( holotype , specimen number DMNH 40932) comes from Grand County in eastern central Utah. The fossils were embedded in a medium to coarse-grained sandstone with green clay lenses , which belongs to the Poison-Strip-Sandstone-Member of the Lower Cedar Mountain Formation . These sediments were transported and deposited by a meandering river . The Fund consists of nine caudal vertebrae (Cervicalia), shoulder blade (scapula), radius and ulna (ulna and radius), five metacarpals (metacarpal), four phalanges (phalanges), pubic bone (pubis), ischial (ischium), three metatarsal bones (metacarpals ), Astragalus , chevron bones and ribs.

The find was scientifically described in 2001 by Virginia Tidwell , Kenneth Carpenter and Susanne Meyer as a new genus and species Venenosaurus dicrocei . The name Venenosaurus means something like "poisonous" ( Latin venenos - "poison", saurus - "lizard") and is named after the poison strip member, the rock unit from which the fossils come. The second part of the species name, dicrocei , honors Anthony DiCroce, the discoverer of the fossil.

In 2005 the remains of a young animal could be described. This find (copy number DMNH 40930) includes various metacarpal bones, an ulna, the head of a rib and various, poorly preserved vertebral fragments.

supporting documents

literature

Rafael Royo-Torres, Luis Alcalá, Alberto Cobos: A new specimen of the Cretaceous sauropod Tastavinsaurus sanzi from El Castellar (Teruel, Spain), and a phylogenetic analysis of the Laurasiformes. In: Cretaceous Research. Vol. 34, 2012, ISSN 0195-6671 , pp. 61-83, doi : 10.1016 / j.cretres.2011.10.005 .
Virginia Tidwell, Kenneth Carpenter , Susanne Meyer: New Titanosauriform (Sauropoda) from the Poison Strip Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation (Lower Cretaceous), Utah. In: Darren H. Tanke, Kenneth Carpenter (Eds.): Mesozoic vertebrate life. New research inspired by the paleontology of Philip J. Currie. Indiana University Press, Bloomington IN et al. 2001, ISBN 0-253-33907-3 , pp. 139-165.
Virginia Tidwell, D. Ray Wilhite: Title = Ontogenetic Variation and Isometric Growth in the Forelimb of the Early Cretaceous Sauropod Venenosaurus. In: Virginia Tidwell, Kenneth Carpenter (Eds.): Thunder-lizards. The Sauropodomorph dinosaurs. Indiana University Press, Bloomington IN et al. 2005, ISBN 0-253-34542-1 , pp. 187-196.
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.

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. 203, online .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Tidwell et al. 2001 , pp. 139-143
↑ Upchurch et al. 2004 , p. 311
↑ Royo-Torres et al. 2012 , pp. 73-77
^ Tidwell and Wilhite 2005 , pp. 187-196

[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. 203, online .

[tidwell_01_139-143-2] Tidwell et al. 2001 , pp. 139-143

[upchurch_04_311-3] Upchurch et al. 2004 , p. 311

[royo-torres_12-4] Royo-Torres et al. 2012 , pp. 73-77

[tidwell_05-5] Tidwell and Wilhite 2005 , pp. 187-196