Malarguesaurus
| Malarguesaurus Temporal range: Turonian-Coniacian ~91–88 Ma | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Sauropsida |
| Subclass: | Archosauria |
| Infraclass: | Dinosauria |
| Superorder: | Saurischia |
| Order: | Sauropodomorpha |
| Suborder: | Sauropoda |
| Infraorder: | Titanosauriformes |
| Superfamily: | Somphospondyli |
| Genus: | Malarguesaurus González Riga et al., 2008 |
| Species | |
| |
Malarguesaurus 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 late Turonian-early Coniacian-age (~89 million years old) Portezuelo Formation of the Neuquén Group. The type species, described by González Riga et al. in 2008, is M. florenciae.
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. The Dinosauria (2nd ed.). Be rkeley: University of California Press. pp. 259–322. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
- ↑ González Riga, Bernardo J. (2003). "A new titanosaur (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Mendoza, Argentina.". Amehginiana. 40: 155–172.