Clasmodosaurus

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Clasmodosaurus
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 97–90  Ma
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Sauropodomorpha
Clade: Sauropoda
Clade: Macronaria
Clade: Titanosauria
Genus: Clasmodosaurus
Ameghino, 1898
Species:
C. spatula
Binomial name
Clasmodosaurus spatula
Ameghino, 1898

Clasmodosaurus (meaning "fragmentary tooth reptile") is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Bajo Barreal Formation. [1] It lived during the Late Cretaceous in what is now Argentina. It is known only from three fossilized teeth, and is therefore a tooth taxon. It is a nomen dubium . [2] [3]

The type species, Clasmodosaurus spatula, was described by Argentine paleontologist Florentino Ameghino in 1898. For a long time, these teeth were thought to belong to a theropod. The teeth of Clasmodosaurus spatula were polygonal in cross section rather than round, an unusual trait also found in the titanosaur Bonitasaura salgadoi . [4]

History

Clasmodosaurus was named by Florentino Ameghino in 1898, but remained largely unknown for decades after its discovery. [5] It was originally considered a sauropod, but Friedrich von Huene suggested that it could be a coelurosaur or synonymous with Loncosaurus , which he considered to be a carnosaur. [6] Like Loncosaurus, its taxonomy remained unclear with it regarded as a theropod on the rare occasions it was mentioned. [6] However, Jaime Powell suggested that it was a dubious genus of sauropod in 1986, an identification which has been accepted since. Like diplodocoids and titanosaurs, it had narrow tooth crowns, and it is typically regarded as a titanosaur like most Late Cretaceous sauropods. [6]

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The Bajo Barreal Formation is a geological formation in the Golfo San Jorge Basin of Chubut and Santa Cruz, Argentina whose strata date back to the Middle Cenomanian to Late Turonian. The formation was first described by Teruggi & Rossetto in 1963. The sandstones, claystones, mudstones, conglomerates and tuff were deposited in a fluvial environment. The upper part of formation is laterally equivalent to the Yacimiento El Trébol and Meseta Espinosa Formation and the lower part to the Laguna Palacios, Cañadón Seco and Comodoro Rivadavia Formations. The Bajo Barreal Formation is a reservoir rock in the Golfo San Jorge Basin.

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

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References

  1. "63.2 Provincia de Chubut, Argentina; 2. Bajo Barreal Formation," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 602.
  2. Upchurch, P.; Barrett, P. M.; Dodson, P. (2004). "Sauropoda". In Weishampel, D. B.; Dodson, P.; Osmólska, H. (eds.). The Dinosauria (2nd ed.). Univ of California Press. pp. 259–322. ISBN   978-0520254084.
  3. Clasmodosaurus
  4. Gallina, P. A.; Apesteguía, S. (2011). "Cranial anatomy and phylogenetic position of the titanosaurian sauropod Bonitasaura salgadoi". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 56 (1): 45–60. doi: 10.4202/app.2010.0011 . hdl: 11336/192915 .
  5. von Huene F. 1929. Los Saurisquios y ornithisquios del Cretaceo Argentino. Anales del Museo de la Plata.
  6. 1 2 3 Powell JE. 2003. Revision of South American titanosaurid dinosaurs: palaeobiological, palaeobiogeographical and phylogenetic aspects. Records of the Queen Victoria Museum 111:1–173.