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Mendozasaurus
''Mendozasaurus'' is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur. It was a member of Titanosauria, which were massive sauropods that were common on the southern landmasses during the Cretaceous. It is represented by several partial skeletons from a single locality within the Coniacian (lower Upper Cretaceous) Sierra Barrosa Formation in the south of Mendoza Province, northern Neuquén Basin, Argentina. The type species, ''Mendozasaurus neguyelap'', was described by Argentine paleontologist Bernardo Javier González Riga in 2003. ''Mendozasaurus'' is the first dinosaur named from Mendoza Province, Argentina, for which it was named. Description This species belonged to the discovered clade Lognkosauria, a transitional group of titanosaurs which included the gigantic '' Futalognkosaurus'' and ''Puertasaurus''. Like both of these animals, ''Mendozasaurus'' had a long neck with very wide cervical neural spines. Holtz estimated its length at . In 2010 Gregory S. Paul estimated ''Men ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mendozasaurus Scale
''Mendozasaurus'' is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur. It was a member of Titanosauria, which were massive sauropods that were common on the southern landmasses during the Cretaceous. It is represented by several partial skeletons from a single locality within the Coniacian (lower Upper Cretaceous) Sierra Barrosa Formation in the south of Mendoza Province, northern Neuquén Basin, Argentina. The type species, ''Mendozasaurus neguyelap'', was described by Argentine paleontologist Bernardo Javier González Riga in 2003. ''Mendozasaurus'' is the first dinosaur named from Mendoza Province, Argentina, for which it was named. Description This species belonged to the discovered clade Lognkosauria, a transitional group of titanosaurs which included the gigantic ''Futalognkosaurus'' and ''Puertasaurus''. Like both of these animals, ''Mendozasaurus'' had a long neck with very wide cervical neural spines. Holtz estimated its length at . In 2010 Gregory S. Paul estimated ''Mendo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Titanosaurian
Titanosaurs (or titanosaurians; members of the group Titanosauria) were a diverse group of sauropod dinosaurs, including genera from all seven continents. The titanosaurs were the last surviving group of long-necked sauropods, with taxa still thriving at the time of the extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous. This group includes some of the largest land animals known to have ever existed, such as ''Patagotitan''—estimated at long with a weight of —and the comparably-sized '' Argentinosaurus'' and ''Puertasaurus'' from the same region. The group's name alludes to the mythological Titans of ancient Greek mythology, via the type genus (now considered a ''nomen dubium)'' ''Titanosaurus''. Together with the brachiosaurids and relatives, titanosaurs make up the larger sauropod clade Titanosauriformes. Titanosaurs have long been a poorly-known group, and the relationships between titanosaur species are still not well-understood. Description Titanosauria have the largest ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Titanosauria
Titanosaurs (or titanosaurians; members of the group Titanosauria) were a diverse group of sauropod dinosaurs, including genera from all seven continents. The titanosaurs were the last surviving group of long-necked sauropods, with taxa still thriving at the time of the extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous. This group includes some of the largest land animals known to have ever existed, such as ''Patagotitan''—estimated at long with a weight of —and the comparably-sized ''Argentinosaurus'' and ''Puertasaurus'' from the same region. The group's name alludes to the mythological Titans of ancient Greek mythology, via the type genus (now considered a ''nomen dubium)'' ''Titanosaurus''. Together with the brachiosaurids and relatives, titanosaurs make up the larger sauropod clade Titanosauriformes. Titanosaurs have long been a poorly-known group, and the relationships between titanosaur species are still not well-understood. Description Titanosauria have the largest ran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Argentinosaurus
''Argentinosaurus'' is a genus of giant sauropod dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period in what is now Argentina. Although it is only known from fragmentary remains, ''Argentinosaurus'' is one of the largest known land animals of all time, perhaps the largest, reaching in length and in body mass. It was a member of Titanosauria, the dominant group of sauropods during the Cretaceous. The first ''Argentinosaurus'' bone was discovered in 1987 by a farmer on his farm near the city of Plaza Huincul. A scientific excavation of the site led by the Argentine palaeontologist José Bonaparte was conducted in 1989, yielding several back vertebrae and parts of a sacrum—fused vertebrae between the back and tail vertebrae. Additional specimens include a complete femur (thigh bone) and the shaft of another. ''Argentinosaurus'' was named by Bonaparte and the Argentine palaeontologist Rodolfo Coria in 1993; the genus contains a single species, ''A. huinculensis''. The generi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lognkosauria
Lognkosauria is a clade of giant long-necked sauropod dinosaurs within the clade Titanosauria. It includes some of the largest and heaviest dinosaurs known. Description Lognkosaurians can be distinguished from other titanosaurs by the wide and unusually thick cervical rib loops on their neck vertebrae, their extremely robust neck neural spines, the relatively narrow neural canal, and their huge vaulted neural arches. They also had very wide dorsal vertebrae with wing-like side processes, and extremely wide rib cages. Their dorsal side processes are also fairly in-line with the level of the neural canal, instead of being attached further up the neural arch as in lithostrotians. Skull material from ''Malawisaurus'', the sister taxon to Lognkosauria, indicates that lognkosaurians at least began with the big-nosed, rounded head shape of earlier titanosaurs and more basal macronarians. Classification Lognkosauria was defined as the clade encompassing the most recent common ancestor o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Puertasaurus
''Puertasaurus'' is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in South America during the Late Cretaceous Period. It is known from a single specimen recovered from sedimentary rocks of the Cerro Fortaleza Formation in southwestern Patagonia, Argentina, which probably is Campanian or Maastrichtian in age. The only species is ''Puertasaurus reuili''. Described by the paleontologist Fernando Novas and colleagues in 2005, it was named in honor of Pablo Puerta and Santiago Reuil, who discovered and prepared the specimen. It consists of four well-preserved vertebrae, including one cervical, one dorsal, and two caudal vertebrae. ''Puertasaurus'' is a member of Titanosauria, the dominant group of sauropods during the Cretaceous. ''Puertasaurus'' was a very large animal. Its size is difficult to estimate due to the scarcity of its remains, but current estimates place it around long and in mass. The largest of the four preserved bones is the dorsal vertebra, which at wide is the broa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Futalognkosaurus
''Futalognkosaurus'' ( ; meaning "giant chief lizard") is a genus of titanosaurian dinosaur. The herbivorous ''Futalognkosaurus'' lived approximately 87 million years ago in the Portezuelo Formation, in what is now Argentina, of the Coniacian stage of the late Cretaceous Period. The fish and fossilized leaf debris on the site, together with other dinosaur remains, suggest a warm tropical climate in Patagonia during this period. Discovery Fossils of ''Futalognkosaurus'' were found in the Neuquén province of Argentina in 2000, and were scientifically described in 2007, alongside sauropods, ''Megaraptor'', ''Unenlagia'', iguanodonts, peirosaurids, and pterosaurs. The holotype was found near the margins of a river. The holotype was hypothesised to have been washed into the river after its death. Due to its giant size the carcass likely acted as a barrier, altering thr colurse of the river around it, lasting long enough for fish and bivalves to live in ir, and eventually creating an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Notocolossus
''Notocolossus'' is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from late Cretaceous strata of Mendoza Province, Argentina. Discovery and naming A fossil of a large sauropod was discovered by the Argentine paleontologist Dr. Bernardo Javier González Riga in Mendoza province In 2016, the type species ''Notocolossus gonzalezparejasi'' was named and described by Bernardo Javier González Riga, Matthew Carl Lamanna, Leonardo Daniel Ortiz David, Jorge Orlando Calvo and Juan P. Coria. The generic name combines the Greek words νότος, ''notos'', "south wind", and κολοσσός, ''kolossos'', "giant statue", in reference to the provenance from the Southern Hemisphere and the gigantic size of the animal. The specific name honours Jorge González Parejas, for having studied the dinosaur fossils of Mendoza province for two decades. The holotype, UNCUYO-LD 301, was found in a layer of the Plottier Formation dating from the Coniacian-Santonian, about eighty-six million y ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sierra Barrosa Formation
The Sierra Barrosa Formation is a geologic formation of the Neuquén Basin in the northern Patagonian provinces of Mendoza and Neuquén. The formation dates to the Late Cretaceous, middle to late Coniacian, and belongs to the Río Neuquén Subgroup of the Neuquén Group. The formation overlies the Los Bastos Formation and is overlain by the Plottier Formation. As the underlying Los Bastos Formation, the Sierra Barrosa Formation comprises mudstones and sandstones deposited in a fluvial environment. Description The formation was named by Garrido in 2010 as sandy unit conformably and transitionally overlying the Los Bastos Formation, which in turns overlies the Portezuelo Formation within which both units were formerly included. The formation in the same manner underlies the Plottier Formation, all belonging to the Río Neuquén Subgroup of the Neuquén Group in the Neuquén Basin. The unit now known as Sierra Barrosa Formation was included in the original definition by Her ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lithostrotians
Lithostrotia is a clade of derived titanosaur sauropods that lived during the Early Cretaceous and Late Cretaceous. The group was defined by Upchurch ''et al.'' in 2004 as the most recent common ancestor of ''Malawisaurus'' and ''Saltasaurus'' and all the descendants of that ancestor. Lithostrotia is derived from the Ancient Greek , meaning "inlaid with stones", referring to the fact that many known lithostrotians are preserved with osteoderms. However, osteoderms are not a distinguishing feature of the group, as the two noted by Unchurch ''et al.'' include caudal vertebrae with strongly concave front faces (procoely), although the farthest vertebrae are not procoelous. History of research In 1895, Richard Lydekker named the family Titanosauridae to summarize sauropods with procoelous (concave on the front) caudal vertebrae. The name Titanosauridae has since been widely used, and was defined by Salgado and colleagues (1997), Gonzalaz-Riga (2003), and Salgado (2003) as a node-based ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bernardo Javier González Riga
Bernardo Javier González Riga is an Argentinean palaeontologist; he is internationally recognised for his research on sauropod dinosaur evolution, and was awarded in 2019. He discovered in the Late Cretaceous strata of the Mendoza Province (Argentina) the huge sauropod dinosaur ''Notocolossus'', one of the largest land animals ever found. He also described and co-described more than ten new dinosaur species. Scientific discoveries and their socio-cultural impact Bernardo Javier González Riga is a researcher of the National Scientific and Technical Research Council. Between 2014 and 2017 he was the Principal of the career of Degree in Geology in the Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales of the National University of Cuyo, where he also works as a professor. He also runs as Director oDinosaur Lab which he himself founded at this university. His career represents continuous searching, discoveries and protection of natural ecosystems, biodiversity and fossil remains as evidence ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patagotitan
''Patagotitan'' is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Cerro Barcino Formation in Chubut Province, Patagonia, Argentina. The genus contains a single species known from multiple individuals: ''Patagotitan mayorum'', first announced in 2014 and then validly named in 2017 by José Carballido, Diego Pol, and colleagues. Contemporary studies estimated the length of the type specimen, a young adult, at with a weight estimated at , later revised to . Discovery Remains of ''Patagotitan mayorum'', a part of a lower thighbone, were initially discovered in 2008 by a farm laborer, Aurelio Hernández, in the desert near La Flecha, Argentina, about west of Trelew. Excavation was done by palaeontologists from the Museum of Paleontology Egidio Feruglio. The lead scientists on the excavation were Jose Luis Carballido and Diego Pol, with partial funding from The Jurassic Foundation. Between January 2013 and February 2015, seven paleontological field expeditions were carri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
