Aragosaurus
| Aragosaurus Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, Hauterivian–Barremian | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Genus: | †Aragosaurus Sanz et al., 1987 |
| Species: | †A. ischiaticus |
| Binomial name | |
| Aragosaurus ischiaticus Sanz et al., 1987 | |
Aragosaurus (meaning "Aragon lizard") was a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous period of Galve, province of Teruel, in the autonomous territory of Aragón, Spain.[1][2]
Aragosaurus was a large, quadrupedal plant-eating (herbivorous) dinosaur, which lived about 133-125 million years ago, in the Hauterivian-Barremian. It was about 18 metres (59 ft) in length and about 28 tonnes in weight.
Like other sauropods, it had a long neck, a long powerful tail, a small head and a bulky body. It was broadly similar to Camarasaurus. It is represented by a partial fossil, which was found in Spain and was named by Sanz, Buscalioni, Casanovi and Santafe in 1987. The type species is A. ischiaticus. Like Camarasaurus, Aragosaurus probably had a short, compact skull and a moderately long neck. The teeth were large and wide, and would have been useful for slicing through the leaves and branches of tall conifer trees. The forelimbs were only a little shorter than the hind limbs, and the tail was long and muscular.
References
- ↑ Sanz, J.L., Buscalioni, A.D., Casanovas, M.L. y Santafé, J. V. 1987: Dinosaurios del Cretácico Inferior de Galve (Teruel, España). Estudios geológicos, volumen extraordinario Galve-Tremp: 45-64.
- ↑ Canudo, J.I., Gasca, J.M., Moreno, M., Aurell, M. 2011. New information about the stratigraphic position and age of the sauropod Aragosaurus ischiaticus from the Early Cretaceous of the Iberian Peninsula. Geological Magazine 149(2): 252-263, marzo de 2012 DOI: 10.1017/S0016756811000732