Malarguesaurus
Malarguesaurus (meaning "Malargue lizard" after the Malargüe Department of Mendonza Province) is a genus of titanosauriform sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Mendoza Province, Argentina. Its fossils, consisting of tail vertebrae, chevrons, ribs, and limb bones, were found in the early to middle Coniacian-aged (~89 million years old) Los Bastos Formation of the Neuquén Group. The type species, described by González Riga et al. in 2008, is M. florenciae.
| Malarguesaurus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Clade: | †Eusauropoda |
| Clade: | †Neosauropoda |
| Clade: | †Macronaria |
| Clade: | †Titanosauria |
| Genus: | †Malarguesaurus González Riga et al. 2008 |
| Type species | |
| †Malarguesaurus florenciae González Riga et al. 2008 | |
Description
Described as a robust sauropod, it was initially described as being closely related to Ligabuesaurus and Phuwiangosaurus, and Mannion et al. (2013) more precisely recovered it as a member of Somphospondyli.[1][2] The cladistic analysis of Patagotitan recovered Malarguesaurus as a close relative of the Asian Ruyangosaurus.[3]
Like other sauropods, Malarguesaurus would have been a large quadrupedal herbivore.[4] Malarguesaurus is the second sauropod dinosaur discovered in Mendoza Province; the first is Mendozasaurus neguyelap.[5]
References
- González Riga, Bernardo J.; Previtera, Elena; Pirrone, Cecilia A. (2008). "Malarguesaurus florenciae gen. et sp. nov., a new titanosauriform (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Mendoza, Argentina". Cretaceous Research. 30 (1): 135–148. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2008.06.006.
- P. D. Mannion, P. Upchurch, R. N. Barnes and O. Mateus. 2013. Osteology of the Late Jurassic Portuguese sauropod dinosaur Lusotitan atalaiensis (Macronaria) and the evolutionary history of basal titanosauriforms. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 168:98-206.
- José L. Carballido; Diego Pol; Alejandro Otero; Ignacio A. Cerda; Leonardo Salgado ; Alberto C. Garrido ; Jahandar Ramezani ; Néstor R. Cúneo ; Javier M. Krause (2017). "A new giant titanosaur sheds light on body mass evolution among sauropod dinosaurs". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 284 (1860): 20171219. doi:10.1098/rspb.2017.1219.
- Upchurch, Paul; Barrett, Paul M.; Dodson, Peter. (2004). "Sauropoda". In Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; Osmólska, Halszka (eds.). The Dinosauria (2nd ed.). Be rkeley: University of California Press. pp. 259–322. ISBN 978-0-520-24209-8.
- González Riga, Bernardo J. (2003). "A new titanosaur (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Mendoza, Argentina". Ameghiniana. 40: 155–172.
External links
