Zapalasaurus
| Zapalasaurus | ||||||||||
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||
| Lower Cretaceous (Upper Barremium to Lower Aptian ) | ||||||||||
| 129.4 to 123 million years | ||||||||||
| Locations | ||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Zapalasaurus | ||||||||||
| Salgado et al., 2006 | ||||||||||
| Art | ||||||||||
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Zapalasaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Argentina . It is counted to the Diplodocoidea and within this group possibly belongs to the Rebbachisauridae . So far only a single, very fragmentary skeleton is known from the Lower Cretaceous (Upper Barremium to Lower Aptian ) in the Argentine province of Neuquén . The only species is Zapalasaurus bonapartei .
features
As with all sauropods, it is a large, four-legged herbivore with a long neck and tail. The only known skeleton consists mainly of a series of 17 caudal vertebrae, which belong to the anterior and middle sections of the tail, the pelvis (iliac, ischium and pubic bone), a fragment of the femur and the shin. Unique features ( autapomorphies ) are found primarily on the caudal vertebrae: their length increased towards the end of the tail, with the twentieth caudal vertebra being about twice as long as the first. The spinous processes were elongated proximodistally (along the midline of the body) with the anterior (proximal) portion of each spinous process higher than the posterior (distal).
Systematics
Leonardo Salgado and colleagues (2006) classify Zapalasaurus as the most basal (most original) representative of the Diplodocoidea, which was more derived (more advanced) than Haplocanthosaurus , but less strongly derived than the Rebbachisauridae. Some recent studies consider this genus to be a representative of the Rebbachisauridae .
Research history, naming and find
Most of the find was recovered in 1995 and 1996 by a paleontological expedition led by José Bonaparte . Other parts were recovered in 2004. In 2006, Zapalasaurus was scientifically described for the first time by researchers led by Leonardo Salgado , Ismar de Souza Carvalho and Alberto Garrido . The name Zapalasaurus refers to the city of Zapala , near which the fossils were discovered; the second part of the species name, bonapartei , honors José Bonaparte, for the discovery of the fossil and for his extensive work on Mesozoic vertebrates.
The skeleton ( holotype , copy number Pv-6127-MOZ) was discovered about 80 km south of the city of Zapala in the Argentine province of Neuquén . It comes from the top subformation of the La Amarga formation , the Piedra Parada member , and is the first fossil described from this subformation. The deposit area of these sedimentary rocks is interpreted as the alluvial flood plain of a river.
supporting documents
- ↑ a b c d e Leonardo Salgado , Ismar de Souza Carvalho, Alberto C. Garrido: Zapalasaurus bonapartei, un nuevo dinosaurio saurópodo de La Formación La Amarga (Cretácico Inferior), noroeste de Patagonia, Provincia de Neuquén, Argentina. In: Geobios. Vol. 39, No. 5, 2006, ISSN 0016-6995 , pp. 695-707, doi : 10.1016 / j.geobios.2005.06.001 .
- ↑ Fernando E. Novas : The age of dinosaurs in South America. Indiana University Press, Bloomington IN 2009, ISBN 978-0-253-35289-7 , pp. 169-171.
- ^ Philip D. Mannion: A rebbachisaurid sauropod from the Lower Cretaceous of the Isle of Wight, England. In: Cretaceous Research. Vol. 30, No. 3, 2009, ISSN 0195-6671 , pp. 521-526, here p. 522, doi : 10.1016 / j.cretres.2008.09.005 .
- ↑ José L. Carballido, Alberto C. Garrido, José I. Canudo, Leonardo Salgado: Redescription of Rayososaurus agrioensis Bonaparte (Sauropoda, Diplodocoidea), a rebbachisaurid from the early Late Cretaceous of Neuquén. In: Geobios. Vol. 43, No. 5, 2010, pp. 493-502, here p. 498, doi : 10.1016 / j.geobios.2010.01.004 .