Aratasaurus

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Aratasaurus
Temporal range: early Albian
~111–108  Ma
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Aratasaurus museunacionali holotype.jpg
Holotype leg bones
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Clade: Coelurosauria
Genus: Aratasaurus
Sayão et al., 2020
Type species
Aratasaurus museunacionali
Sayão et al., 2020

Aratasaurus (meaning "lizard born of fire") is a monotypic genus of basal coelurosaurian theropod which includes a single species, Aratasaurus museunacionali, known from fossils found in deposits of the Romualdo Formation in Brazil. [1] Aratasaurus lived during the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous (111-108 Ma; possibly as early as 115 Ma). [2]

Discovery and naming

Holotype leg bones before preparation Aratasaurus.jpg
Holotype leg bones before preparation

The holotype, MPSC R 2089, was discovered in a plaster mine in 2008, and the holotype fossil was taken to the Plácido Cidade Nuvens Museum of Paleontology to be prepared and described. Between 2008 and 2016, microscopic analyses of the tissues of the holotype were made using small samples of the bones. Also in 2016, the holotype was taken to the National Museum of Brazil; on September 2, 2018, the museum was heavily damaged in a fire, but the area where the holotype was stored remained intact. In 2020, the holotype was described as the new genus Aratasaurus. [1] Only the right hind limb was collected, although more of the skeleton was probably present but not collected. [2] [1]

The generic name came from the Tupi words "ara" and "atá," meaning "born" and "fire," and the Greek "sauros," meaning lizard; together meaning "lizard born of fire." The specific name references the National Museum of Brazil, a science institution, which was devastated by a fire in 2018. [1]

Description

Life restoration Aratasaurus museunacionali.jpg
Life restoration

The holotype fossil material consists of an incomplete right limb, including a partial femur, tibia, and pes. The bones are similar to Zuolong , a similar dinosaur from the late Jurassic of China. [1] [3] Based on osteohistological studies, the specimen of Aratasaurus is a juvenile/young adult, about four years old at the time of death. [1] It has been estimated to be around 3 metres (9.8 ft) long and weigh around 34 kilograms (75 lb) [1]

Classification

Aratasaurus was placed in the Coelurosauria in a basal position, as the sister taxon of Zuolong . [1]

Coelurosauria

Paleoecology

Other non-avian dinosaurs from the early Cretaceous Romualdo Formation include Irritator challengeri , Santanaraptor placidus, and Mirischia assymetrica. [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>Irritator</i> Spinosaurid theropod dinosaur genus from the Early Cretaceous Period

Irritator is a genus of spinosaurid dinosaur that lived in what is now Brazil during the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous Period, about 113 to 110 million years ago. It is known from a nearly complete skull found in the Romualdo Formation of the Araripe Basin. Fossil dealers had acquired this skull and sold it to the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart. In 1996, the specimen became the holotype of the type species Irritator challengeri. The genus name comes from the word "irritation", reflecting the feelings of paleontologists who found the skull had been heavily damaged and altered by the collectors. The species name is a homage to the fictional character Professor Challenger from Arthur Conan Doyle's novels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coelurosauria</span> Clade of dinosaurs

Coelurosauria is the clade containing all theropod dinosaurs more closely related to birds than to carnosaurs.

<i>Ceratosaurus</i> Genus of theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic period

Ceratosaurus was a carnivorous theropod dinosaur that lived in the Late Jurassic period. The genus was first described in 1884 by American paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh based on a nearly complete skeleton discovered in Garden Park, Colorado, in rocks belonging to the Morrison Formation. The type species is Ceratosaurus nasicornis.

<i>Torvosaurus</i> Megalosaurid theropod dinosaur genus from Late Jurassic Period

Torvosaurus is a genus of large megalosaurine theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 165 to 148 million years ago during the Callovian to Tithonian ages of the late Middle and Late Jurassic period in what is now Colorado, Portugal, Germany, and possibly England, Spain, Tanzania, and Uruguay. It contains two currently recognized species, Torvosaurus tanneri and Torvosaurus gurneyi, plus a third unnamed species from Germany.

Coelurus is a genus of coelurosaurian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic period. The name means "hollow tail", referring to its hollow tail vertebrae. Although its name is linked to one of the main divisions of theropods (Coelurosauria), it has historically been poorly understood, and sometimes confused with its better-known contemporary Ornitholestes. Like many dinosaurs studied in the early years of paleontology, it has had a confusing taxonomic history, with several species being named and later transferred to other genera or abandoned. Only one species is currently recognized as valid: the type species, C. fragilis, described by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1879. It is known from one partial skeleton found in the Morrison Formation of Wyoming, United States. It was a small bipedal carnivore with elongate legs.

<i>Mirischia</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Mirischia is a small genus of compsognathid theropod dinosaur from the Albian stage of Brazil.

<i>Stokesosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Stokesosaurus is a genus of small, carnivorous early tyrannosauroid theropod dinosaurs from the late Jurassic period of Utah, United States.

<i>Xinjiangovenator</i> Genus of coelurosaurian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous period

Xinjiangovenator is a genus of coelurosaurian dinosaurs, possibly part of the group Maniraptora, which lived during the Early Cretaceous period, sometime between the Valanginian and Albian stages. The remains of Xinjiangovenator were found in the Lianmuqin Formation of Wuerho, Xinjiang, China, and were first described by Dong Zhiming in 1973. The genus is based on a single specimen, an articulated partial right lower leg, containing the tibia, three pieces of the fibula, the calcaneum and the astragalus. This specimen, IVPP V4024-2, is the holotype of the genus.

Calamospondylus is a genus of theropod dinosaur. It lived during the Early Cretaceous and its fossils were found on the Isle of Wight in southern England. The type species is C. oweni.

<i>Caenagnathus</i> Genus of dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period

Caenagnathus is a genus of caenagnathid oviraptorosaurian dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period. It is known from partial remains including lower jaws, a tail vertebra, hand bones, and hind limbs, all found in the Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta, Canada. Caenagnathus measured about 2.5 m (8.2 ft) long and weighed about 96–100 kg (212–220 lb).

<i>Calamosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Calamosaurus was a genus of small theropod dinosaur from the Barremian-age Lower Cretaceous Wessex Formation of the Isle of Wight, England. It is based on two cervical vertebrae, collected by Reverend William Fox.

Tugulusaurus is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur that belongs to the Alvarezsauroidea. It is known from the Early Cretaceous Tugulu Group in the Urhe area of the People's Republic of China. It was one of the first members of Alvarezsauria ever discovered.

<i>Microvenator</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Microvenator is a genus of dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Cloverly Formation in what is now south central Montana. Microvenator was an oviraptorosaurian theropod. The holotype fossil is an incomplete skeleton, most likely a juvenile with a length of 1.3 m (4.3 ft), and consequently, the adult size remains uncertain. Microvenator celer is primitive and may be the "sister taxon to all other oviraptorosaurs."

<i>Patagonykus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Patagonykus is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Argentina. This alvarezsauroid was discovered in exposures of the Portezuelo Formation (Turonian-Coniacian) of the Rio Neuquén Subgroup in the Neuquén Basin, Neuquen Province of Patagonia, Argentina. The holotype consists of an incomplete but well-preserved skeleton, lacking a skull, but including many vertebrae, the coracoids, a partial forelimb, pelvic girdle, and hindlimbs. Patagonykus has been classed with the Alvarezsauridae, a family which includes such taxa as the Mongolian Mononykus and the Argentinian Alvarezsaurus. In 2010 Gregory S. Paul estimated its length at 1 meter and its weight at 3.5 kg.

<i>Tanycolagreus</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

Tanycolagreus is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod from the Late Jurassic of North America.

<i>Santanaraptor</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Santanaraptor is a genus of tyrannosauroid theropod dinosaur that lived in South America during the Early Cretaceous, about 112 million years ago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Compsognathidae</span> Extinct family of dinosaurs

Compsognathidae is a family of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs. Compsognathids were small carnivores, generally conservative in form, hailing from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. The bird-like features of these species, along with other dinosaurs such as Archaeopteryx inspired the idea for the connection between dinosaur reptiles and modern-day avian species. Compsognathid fossils preserve diverse integument — skin impressions are known from four genera commonly placed in the group, Compsognathus, Sinosauropteryx, Sinocalliopteryx, and Juravenator. While the latter three show evidence of a covering of some of the earliest primitive feathers over much of the body, Juravenator and Compsognathus also show evidence of scales on the tail or hind legs. "Ubirajara jubatus", informally described in 2020, had elaborate integumentary structures on its back and shoulders superficially similar to the display feathers of a standardwing bird-of-paradise, and unlike any other non-avian dinosaur currently described.

<i>Zuolong</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Zuolong is an extinct genus of tetanuran theropod from the Late Jurassic period of China. The type and only species is Z. salleei. The generic name of Zuolong is in honor of General Zu Zōngtáng with the Chinese word "long" which means dragon. The specific epithet "salleei" is in honor of Hilmar Sallee, who funded the expedition which led to the specimen's discovery.

<i>Aorun</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Aorun is a genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur first discovered in 2006, with its scientific description published in 2013. It is one of the oldest known coelurosaurian dinosaurs and is estimated to have lived ~161.6 million years ago during the Late Jurassic Period. It is the fifth extinct theropod discovered from Wucaiwan, China.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Juliana Manso Sayão; Antônio Álamo Feitosa Saraiva; Arthur Souza Brum; Renan Alfredo Machado Bantim; Rafael Cesar Lima Pedroso de Andrade; Xin Cheng; Flaviana Jorge de Lima; Helder de Paula Silva; Alexander W. A. Kellner (2020). "The first theropod dinosaur (Coelurosauria, Theropoda) from the base of the Romualdo Formation (Albian), Araripe Basin, Northeast Brazil". Scientific Reports. 10 (1): Article number 10892. Bibcode:2020NatSR..1010892S. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-67822-9 . PMC   7351750 . PMID   32651406.
  2. 1 2 Van Brunnersum, Melissa Sou-Jie (July 10, 2020). "Scientists discover 115-million-year-old fossil of new dinosaur species in Brazil". DW.
  3. Choiniere, Jonah N.; Clark, James M.; Forster, Catherine A.; Xu, Xing (2010-12-02). "A basal coelurosaur (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Late Jurassic (Oxfordian) of the Shishugou Formation in Wucaiwan, People's Republic of China". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 30 (6): 1773–1796. Bibcode:2010JVPal..30.1773C. doi:10.1080/02724634.2010.520779. ISSN   0272-4634. S2CID   86543963.