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Vespersaurus
''Vespersaurus'' (meaning "western lizard") is a genus of noasaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Rio Paraná Formation in the Paraná Basin, Brazil. The type and only species is ''V. paranaensis'', which would have lived in the giant prehistoric Botucatu Desert. Etymology The generic name is derived from the Latin "vesper," meaning "evening/west," in reference to the town Cruzeiro do Oeste ("Western Cross") near which the fossils were found, and the Greek "sauros," meaning "lizard." The specific name refers to the Paraná state. Discovery and naming After the discovery of numerous skeletons of the pterosaurs ''Caiuajara'' and ''Keresdrakon'' at the Cemitério dos Pterossauros site near Cruzeiro do Oeste, the remains of small theropods were uncovered between 2011 and 2015. One of these was named and described in 2019 as ''Vespersaurus''. The holotype, MPCO.V 0065d, was recovered from the Late Cretaceous period, found on dark red sandstones in the Rio Paranà ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vespersaurus Paranaensis
''Vespersaurus'' (meaning "western lizard") is a genus of noasauridae, noasaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Rio Paraná Formation in the Paraná Basin, Brazil. The type species, type and only species is ''V. paranaensis'', which would have lived in the giant prehistoric Botucatu Formation, Botucatu Desert. Etymology The generic name is derived from the Latin "vesper," meaning "evening/west," in reference to the town Cruzeiro do Oeste ("Western Cross") near which the fossils were found, and the Greek "sauros," meaning "lizard." The specific name refers to the Paraná (state), Paraná state. Discovery and naming After the discovery of numerous skeletons of the pterosaurs ''Caiuajara'' and ''Keresdrakon'' at the Cemitério dos Pterossauros site near Cruzeiro do Oeste, the remains of small theropods were uncovered between 2011 and 2015. One of these was named and described in 2019 as ''Vespersaurus''. The holotype, MPCO.V 0065d, was recovered from the Late Cretac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vespersaurus Paranaensis Size Chart
''Vespersaurus'' (meaning "western lizard") is a genus of noasaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Rio Paraná Formation in the Paraná Basin, Brazil. The type and only species is ''V. paranaensis'', which would have lived in the giant prehistoric Botucatu Desert. Etymology The generic name is derived from the Latin "vesper," meaning "evening/west," in reference to the town Cruzeiro do Oeste ("Western Cross") near which the fossils were found, and the Greek "sauros," meaning "lizard." The specific name refers to the Paraná state. Discovery and naming After the discovery of numerous skeletons of the pterosaurs ''Caiuajara'' and ''Keresdrakon'' at the Cemitério dos Pterossauros site near Cruzeiro do Oeste, the remains of small theropods were uncovered between 2011 and 2015. One of these was named and described in 2019 as ''Vespersaurus''. The holotype, MPCO.V 0065d, was recovered from the Late Cretaceous period, found on dark red sandstones in the Rio Paranà ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Botucatu Formation
The Botucatu Formation is an Aptian geologic formation of the Paraná and Pelotas Basins in southern Brazil and northern Uruguay. The formation is composed of quartzitic sandstones, deposited in an eolian environment.Petrolli & Pimentel, 2014, p.1 Fossil theropod tracks have been reported from the formation.Weishampel, et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution." Pp. 517-607. Description The sandstone is fine-textured and well sorted, containing no pebbles; its colour is occasionally white, yellowish, and reddish, but more commonly it is pinkish. Nearly always it is silicified and therefore compact and hard. The formation was deposited in an arid desert environment, characterized by sabkhas and wadis.Leonardi, 1994, p.50 Fossil content Among the following fossils were reported from the Botucatu Formation: [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noasauridae
Noasauridae is an extinct family of theropod dinosaurs belonging to the group Ceratosauria. They were closely related to the short-armed abelisaurids, although most noasaurids had much more traditional body types generally similar to other theropods. Their heads, on the other hand, had unusual adaptations depending on the subfamily. 'Traditional' noasaurids, sometimes grouped in the subfamily Noasaurinae, had sharp teeth which splayed outwards from a downturned lower jaw. The most complete and well-known example of these kinds of noasaurids was ''Masiakasaurus knopfleri'' from Madagascar. Another group, Elaphrosaurinae, has also been placed within Noasauridae by some studies. Elaphrosaurines developed toothless jaws and herbivorous diets, at least as adults. The most complete and well known elaphrosaurine was ''Limusaurus inextricabilis''. At least some noasaurids had pneumatised cervical vertebrae.Arthur Souza Brum, Elaine Batista Machado, Diogenes de Almeida Campos & Alexa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is the subject of active research. They became the dominant terrestrial vertebrates after the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event 201.3 mya; their dominance continued throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The fossil record shows that birds are feathered dinosaurs, having evolved from earlier theropods during the Late Jurassic epoch, and are the only dinosaur lineage known to have survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event approximately 66 mya. Dinosaurs can therefore be divided into avian dinosaurs—birds—and the extinct non-avian dinosaurs, which are all dinosaurs other than birds. Dinosaurs are varied from taxonomic, morphological and ecological standpoints. Birds, at over 10,700 living species, are among ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keresdrakon
''Keresdrakon'' is an extinct genus of tapejaromorph pterosaur from the Goio-Erê Formation of Brazil, which dates back to the Late Cretaceous period (Turonian-Campanian stages), 94 to 71 million years ago. ''Keresdrakon'' contains a single species, ''Keresdrakon vilsoni''. Discovery In 1971, Alexandre Dobruski and his son João Gustavo Dobruski, discovered a fossil site near Cruzeiro do Oeste in Paraná. Only in 2011, paleontologists Paulo César Manzig and Luiz C. Weinschütz visited the location. A bone bed proved to be present with hundreds of specimens of a pterosaur that in 2014 was named ''Caiuajara''. Among them were some bones belonging to a second pterosaur species. These remains, both of ''Caiuajara'' and the new taxon, were prepared by volunteer Vilson Greinert. In 2019, the type species ''Keresdrakon vilsoni'' was named and described by Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner, Luiz Carlos Weinschütz, Borja Holgado, Renan Alfredo Machado Bantim and Juliana Manso Sayão. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Timeline Of Ceratosaur Research
This timeline of ceratosaur research is a chronological listing of events in the history of paleontology focused on the ceratosaurs, a group of relatively primitive, often horned, predatory theropod dinosaurs that became the apex predators of the southern hemisphere during the Late Cretaceous. The nature and taxonomic composition of the Ceratosauria has been controversial since the group was first distinguished in the late 19th century. In 1884 Othniel Charles Marsh described the new genus and species ''Ceratosaurus nasicornis'' from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation of the western United States. He felt that it belonged in a new family that he called the Ceratosauridae. He created the new taxon Ceratosauria to include both the Ceratosauridae and the ostrich-like ornithomimids. The idea of the Ceratosauria was soon contested, however. Later that same decade both Lydekker and Marsh's hated rival Edward Drinker Cope argued that the taxon was invalid. The idea of the Cer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monodactyl
In biology, dactyly is the arrangement of wikt:digit, digits (fingers and toes) on the hands, feet, or sometimes wings of a tetrapod animal. It comes from the Greek (language), Greek word δακτυλος (''dáktylos'') = "finger". Sometimes the ending "-dactylia" is used. The derived adjectives end with "-dactyl" or "-dactylous". As a normal feature Pentadactyly Pentadactyly (from Greek language, Greek "five") is the condition of having five digits on each limb. It is traditionally believed that all living tetrapods are descended from an ancestor with a pentadactyl limb, although many species have now lost or transformed some or all of their digits by the process of evolution. However, this viewpoint was challenged by Stephen Jay Gould in his 1991 essay "Eight (Or Fewer) Little Piggies", where he pointed out polydactyly in early tetrapods and described the specializations of digit reduction. Despite the individual variations listed below, the relationship is to the original ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Masiakasaurus Knopfleri
''Masiakasaurus'' is a genus of small predatory noasaurid theropod dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. In Malagasy, ''masiaka'' means "vicious"; thus, the genus name means "vicious lizard". The type species, ''Masiakasaurus knopfleri'', was named after the musician Mark Knopfler, whose music inspired the expedition crew. It was named in 2001 by Scott D. Sampson, Matthew Carrano, and Catherine A. Forster. Unlike most theropods, the front teeth of ''M. knopfleri'' projected forward instead of straight down. This unique dentition suggests that they had a specialized diet, perhaps including fish and other small prey. Other bones of the skeleton indicate that ''Masiakasaurus'' were bipedal, with much shorter forelimbs than hindlimbs. ''M. knopfleri'' was a small theropod, reaching long and weighing . ''Masiakasaurus'' lived around 70 million years ago, along with animals such as ''Majungasaurus'', ''Rapetosaurus'', and ''Rahonavis''. ''Masiakasaurus'' was a member ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holotype
A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several examples, but explicitly designated as the holotype. Under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), a holotype is one of several kinds of name-bearing types. In the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) and ICZN, the definitions of types are similar in intent but not identical in terminology or underlying concept. For example, the holotype for the butterfly '' Plebejus idas longinus'' is a preserved specimen of that subspecies, held by the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. In botany, an isotype is a duplicate of the holotype, where holotype and isotypes are often pieces from the same individual plant or samples from the same gathering. A holotype is not necessarily "typ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noasaurus Leali
''Noasaurus'' ("Northwestern Argentina lizard") is a genus of ceratosaurian theropod dinosaur genus from the late Campanian-Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) of Argentina. The type and only species is ''N. leali''. Discovery and naming In the mid-seventies, a fragmentary small theropod skeleton was discovered by Jaime Eduardo Powell and José Fernando Bonaparte at the Estancia El Brete-site. In 1977, the discovery was reported in the scientific literature. The type species, ''Noasaurus leali'', was named and described by Bonaparte and Powell in 1980. The generic name begins with a usual abbreviation of ''noroeste Argentina'', "northwest Argentina". The specific name honours the owner of the site, Fidel Leal.J. F. Bonaparte and J. E. Powell. 1980. "A continental assemblage of tetrapods from the Upper Cretaceous beds of El Brete, northwestern Argentina (Sauropoda-Coelurosauria-Carnosauria-Aves)". ''Mémoires de la Société Géologique de France, Nouvelle Série'' 139: 19-28 Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the Latin word for the white limestone known as chalk. The chalk of northern France and the white cliffs of south-eastern England date from the Cretaceous Period. Climate During the Late Cretaceous, the climate was warmer than present, although throughout the period a cooling trend is evident. The tropics became restricted to equatorial regions and northern latitudes experienced markedly more seasonal climatic conditions. Geography Due to plate tectonics, the Americas were gradually moving westward, causing the Atlantic Ocean to expand. The Western Interior Seaway divided North America into eastern and western halves; Appalachia and Laramidia. India maintained a northward course towards Asia. In the Southern Hemisphere, Australia and Ant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
