Coloradisaurus

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Coloradisaurus
Temporal range: Norian
~213  Ma
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Coloradisaurus skull reconstruction.png
Diagram showing known skull elements; shaded parts represent missing bones
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade:† Sauropodomorpha
Family:† Massospondylidae
Genus:† Coloradisaurus
Galton, 1990 [2] [3]
Type species
†Coloradisaurus brevis
(Bonaparte, 1978) [4]
Synonyms

Coloradisaurus (meaning "Los Colorados lizard") is a genus of massospondylid sauropodomorph dinosaur. It lived during the Late Triassic period (Norian stage) in what is now La Rioja Province, Argentina. It is known from two specimens collected from the Los Colorados Formation of the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin.

Contents

Taxonomy

Coloradisaurus brevis was originally named Coloradia brevis by José Bonaparte in 1978, [4] but that genus name was preoccupied by the pine moth Coloradia , [5] so it needed a replacement name. In 1983, David Lambert used the name Coloradisaurus for the genus, but did not indicate it was a replacement or diagnose it. [6] Lambert had gotten the name from Bonaparte in a personal communication and mistakenly thought that Bonaparte had already published it. [3] Peter Galton was the next to use the name Coloradisaurus in 1990, which he credited to Lambert, when he gave the taxon a diagnosis in his review of prosauropods in The Dinosauria . [2] [3] Authorship of Coloradisaurus has traditionally been attributed to Lambert, but in 2020, Greenfield et al. judged Lambert's use of the name to be a nomen nudum . They concluded that authorship should be attributed to Galton, who was the first to use the name Coloradisaurus in a way that met the requirements of the ICZN. [3]

Description

The holotype of Coloradisaurus (PVL 3967) is a mostly complete skull found associated with an undescribed partial skeleton. [4] While the right side of the skull is well-preserved with almost all bones intact, the left side is distorted and missing more bones. [7] The holotype individual has been estimated to have been 3 m (10 ft) long with a mass of 70 kg (150 lb). [8] A referred specimen (PVL 5904) is a partial skeleton including most of the dorsal vertebrae and parts of the pectoral and pelvic girdles and limbs. [9] Like Lufengosaurus , it have the angle between the pterygoid and quadratojugal rami nearly 90°. There is also a possibility that the postorbital bones of Coloradisaurus and Sarahsaurus are similar, but due to the deformation of the skull this is difficult to say. [10]

All material of Coloradisaurus was discovered in 1971 at the La Esquina locality in the upper section of the Los Colorados Formation near Pagancillo, La Rioja Province, Argentina. [4] [7] [9] The top of the Los Colorados Formation has been dated to 213 Ma, [1] which would place Coloradisaurus in the Norian stage of the Late Triassic.

Phylogeny

Coloradisaurus was classified as a plateosaurid in the original description by Bonaparte, [4] but this pre-dated the use of phylogenetic analyses in paleontology. He later became opposed to cladistics [11] and continued to consider Coloradisaurus a plateosaurid without testing its phylogenetic position. [12] The analyses of Galton (1990), Galton & Upchurch (2004), and Upchurch et al. (2007) found it to be a plateosaurid, supporting Bonaparte's placement. [2] [13] [14] However, the analyses of Benton et al. (2000) and Yates (2003) recovered it in a polytomy with other basal sauropodomorphs or as a massospondylid, respectively. [15] [16] Subsequent analyses such as Yates et al. (2010), Apaldetti et al. (2013; 2014), Wang et al. (2017), and Müller (2020) have reached the consensus that Coloradisaurus is a massospondylid most closely related to Lufengosaurus and Glacialisaurus . [7] [9] [17] [18] [10] [19] These three taxa share four synapomorphies found in the metatarsals and femur. [9]

Below is a simplified cladogram after Galton & Upchurch (2004), reflecting its early placement as a plateosaurid. [13]

  Sauropodomorpha  

Below is a simplified cladogram after Müller (2020), showing its current position as a massospondylid. [19]

Plateosauria

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sauropodomorpha</span> Extinct clade of dinosaurs

Sauropodomorpha is an extinct clade of long-necked, herbivorous, saurischian dinosaurs that includes the sauropods and their ancestral relatives. Sauropods generally grew to very large sizes, had long necks and tails, were quadrupedal, and became the largest animals to ever walk the Earth. The prosauropods, which preceded the sauropods, were smaller and were often able to walk on two legs. The sauropodomorphs were the dominant terrestrial herbivores throughout much of the Mesozoic Era, from their origins in the Late Triassic until their decline and extinction at the end of the Cretaceous.

<i>Saturnalia tupiniquim</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

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<i>Plateosaurus</i> Sauropodomorph dinosaur

Plateosaurus is a genus of plateosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Late Triassic period, around 214 to 204 million years ago, in what is now Central and Northern Europe. Plateosaurus is a basal (early) sauropodomorph dinosaur, a so-called "prosauropod". The type species is Plateosaurus trossingensis; before 2019, that honor was given to Plateosaurus engelhardti, but it was ruled as undiagnostic by the ICZN. Currently, there are three valid species; in addition to P. trossingensis, P. longiceps and P. gracilis are also known. However, others have been assigned in the past, and there is no broad consensus on the species taxonomy of plateosaurid dinosaurs. Similarly, there are a plethora of synonyms at the genus level.

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

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<i>Melanorosaurus</i> Sauropodomorph dinosaur genus from the Late Triassic period

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

Riojasaurus was a herbivorous sauropodomorph dinosaur named after La Rioja Province in Argentina where it was found in the Los Colorados Formation in the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin by José Bonaparte. It lived during the Late Triassic and grew to about 6.6 metres (22 ft) long. Riojasaurus is the only known riojasaurid to live in South America.

<i>Massospondylus</i> Sauropodomorph dinosaur genus from Early Jurassic South Africa and Botswana

Massospondylus was a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Early Jurassic. It was described by Sir Richard Owen in 1854 from remains discovered in South Africa, and is thus one of the first dinosaurs to have been named. Fossils have since been found at other locations in South Africa, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe. Material from Arizona's Kayenta Formation, India, and Argentina has been assigned to the genus at various times, but the Arizonan and Argentinian material are now assigned to other genera.

<i>Lessemsaurus</i> Sauropodomorph dinosaur genus from Late Triassic Argentina

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Peter Malcolm Galton is a British vertebrate paleontologist who has to date written or co-written about 190 papers in scientific journals or chapters in paleontology textbooks, especially on ornithischian and prosauropod dinosaurs.

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

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Colorados Formation</span>

The Los Colorados Formation is a sedimentary rock formation of the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin, found in the provinces of San Juan and La Rioja in Argentina. The formation dates back to the Norian age of the Late Triassic.

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

Massospondylidae is a family of early massopod dinosaurs that existed in Asia, Africa, North America, South America and Antarctica during the Late Triassic to the Early Jurassic periods. Several dinosaurs have been classified as massospondylids over the years. The largest cladistic analysis of early sauropodomorphs, which was presented by Apaldetti and colleagues in November 2011, found Adeopapposaurus, Coloradisaurus, Glacialisaurus, Massospondylus, Leyesaurus and Lufengosaurus to be massospondylids. This result supports many previous analyses that tested fewer taxa. However, this analysis found the two recently described North American massopods, Sarahsaurus and Seitaad, and the South African Ignavusaurus to nest outside Massospondylidae, as opposed to some provisional proposals. Earlier in 2011, Pradhania, a sauropodomorph from India, was tested for the first time in a large cladistic analysis and was found to be a relatively basal massospondylid. Mussaurus and Xixiposaurus may also be included within Massospondylidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anchisauria</span> Extinct clade of dinosaurs

Anchisauria is an extinct clade of sauropodomorph dinosaurs that lived from the Late Triassic to the Late Cretaceous. The name Anchisauria was first used Haekel and defined by Galton and Upchurch in the second edition of The Dinosauria. It is a node-based taxon containing the most recent common ancestor of Anchisaurus polyzelus and Melanorosaurus readi, and all its descendants. Galton and Upchurch assigned a family of dinosaurs to the Anchisauria: the Melanorosauridae. The more common prosauropods Plateosaurus and Massospondylus were placed in the sister clade Plateosauria.

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

Glacialisaurus is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur. It lived during the Pliensbachian stage of the Early Jurassic period around 186 to 182 million years ago in what is now the central region of the Transantarctic Mountains of Antarctica. It is known from two specimens; the holotype, a partial tarsus (ankle) and metatarsus, and a partial left femur. The fossils were collected by a team led by paleontologist William R. Hammer during a 1990–91 field expedition to the Hanson Formation of Antarctica. They were described in 2007, and made the basis of the new genus and species Glacialisaurus hammeri. The genus name translates as “icy” or "frozen lizard”, and the species name honors Hammer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massopoda</span> Extinct clade of dinosaurs

Massopoda is a clade of sauropodomorph dinosaurs which lived during the Late Triassic to Late Cretaceous epochs. It was named by paleontologist Adam M. Yates of the University of the Witwatersrand in 2007. Massopoda is a stem-based taxon, defined as all animals more closely related to Saltasaurus loricatus than to Plateosaurus engelhardti.

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

The Melanorosauridae were a family of sauropodomorph dinosaurs which lived during the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic. The name Melanorosauridae was first coined by Friedrich von Huene in 1929. Huene assigned several families of dinosaurs to the infraorder "Prosauropoda": the Anchisauridae, the Plateosauridae, the Thecodontosauridae, and the Melanorosauridae. Since then, these families have undergone numerous revisions. Galton and Upchurch (2004) considered Camelotia, Lessemsaurus, and Melanorosaurus members of the family Melanorosauridae. A more recent study by Yates (2007) indicates that the melanorosaurids were instead early sauropods.

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

Adeopapposaurus is a genus of plateosaurian dinosaur from the Early Jurassic Cañón del Colorado Formation of San Juan, Argentina. It was similar to Massospondylus. Four partial skeletons with two partial skulls are known.

References

  1. 1 2 Kent, D.V.; Malnis, P.S.; Colombi, C.E.; Alcober, O.A.; Martínez, R.N. (2014). "Age constraints on the dispersal of dinosaurs in the Late Triassic from magnetochronology of the Los Colorados Formation (Argentina)". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 111 (22): 7958–7963. Bibcode:2014PNAS..111.7958K. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1402369111 . PMC   4050597 . PMID   24843149.
  2. 1 2 3 Galton, P.M. (1990). "Basal Sauropodomorpha - Prosauropoda". In Weishampel, D.B.; Dodson, P.; Osmólska, H. (eds.). The Dinosauria . Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. pp. 320–344. ISBN   0-520-06726-6.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Greenfield, T.; Bivens, G.; Fonseca, A. (2020). "The correct authorship of Coloradisaurus (Dinosauria, Sauropodomorpha): Galton, 1990, not Lambert, 1983". Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature. 77 (1): 153–155. doi:10.21805/bzn.v77.a050. S2CID   229723564.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Bonaparte, J.F. (1978). "Coloradia brevis n. g. et n. sp. (Saurischia - Prosauropoda), dinosaurio Plateosauridae de la Formacion Los Colorados, Triasico Superior de La Rioja, Argentina" [Coloradia brevis n. g. et n. sp. (Saurischia - Prosauropoda), a plateosaurid dinosaur from the Upper Triassic Los Colorados Formation of La Rioja, Argentina]. Ameghiniana (in Spanish). 15 (3–4): 327–332. "English translation" (PDF). The Polyglot Paleontologist. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 9, 2021.
  5. 1 2 Blake, C.A. (1863). "Description of a supposed new genus and species of Saturniidae from the Rocky Mountains". Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Philadelphia. 2 (3): 279.
  6. 1 2 Lambert, D. (1983). A Field Guide to Dinosaurs . New York, NY: Avon Books. p.  102. ISBN   0-380-83519-3.
  7. 1 2 3 Apaldetti, C.; Martinez, R.N.; Pol, D.; Souter, T. (2014). "Redescription of the Skull of Coloradisaurus brevis (Dinosauria, Sauropodomorpha) from the Late Triassic Los Colorados Formation of the Ischigualasto-Villa Union Basin, northwestern Argentina". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 34 (5): 1113–1132. Bibcode:2014JVPal..34.1113A. doi:10.1080/02724634.2014.859147. hdl: 11336/36518 . S2CID   86158311.
  8. ↑ Paul, G.S. (2016). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (2nd ed.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. p.  189. ISBN   978-0-691-16766-4.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Apaldetti, C.; Pol, D.; Yates, A.M. (2013). "The postcranial anatomy of Coloradisaurus brevis (Dinosauria: Sauropodomorpha) from the Late Triassic of Argentina and its phylogenetic implications". Palaeontology. 56 (2): 277–301. Bibcode:2013Palgy..56..277A. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-4983.2012.01198.x . hdl: 11336/3499 .
  10. 1 2 K. E. J. Chapelle, P. M. Barrett, J. Botha, J. N. Choiniere (2019). "Ngwevu intloko: a new early sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic Elliot Formation of South Africa and comments on cranial ontogeny in Massospondylus carinatus". PeerJ. 7 (e7240): e7240. doi: 10.7717/peerj.7240 . hdl: 10141/622556 . PMC   6687053 . PMID   31403001.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ↑ Lessem, D. (1993). "Jose Bonaparte: Master of the Mesozoic" (PDF). Omni. 15 (7): 52–56. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-05-19.
  12. ↑ Bonaparte, J.F.; Pumares, J.A. (1995). "Notas sobre el primer craneo de Riojasaurus incertus (Dinosauria, Prosauropoda, Melanosauridae) del Triasico Superior de La Rioja, Argentina" [Notes on the first skull of Riojasaurus incertus (Dinosauria, Prosauropoda, Melanorosauridae) from the Late Triassic of La Rioja, Argentina]. Ameghiniana (in Spanish). 32 (4): 341–349. "English translation" (PDF). The Polyglot Paleontologist. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 10, 2021.
  13. 1 2 Galton, P.M.; Upchurch, P. (2004). "Prosauropoda". In Weishampel, D.B.; Dodson, P.; Osmólska, H. (eds.). The Dinosauria (2nd ed.). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. pp. 232–258. ISBN   0-520-24209-2.
  14. ↑ Upchurch, P.; Barrett, P.M.; Galton, P.M. (2007). "A phylogenetic analysis of basal sauropodomorph relationships: implications for the origin of sauropod dinosaurs" . Special Papers in Palaeontology. 77: 57–90.
  15. ↑ Benton, M.J.; Juul, L.; Storrs, G.W.; Galton, P.M. (2000). "Anatomy and systematics of the prosauropod dinosaur Thecodontosaurus antiquus from the upper Triassic of southwest England". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 20 (1): 77–108. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2000)020[0077:AASOTP]2.0.CO;2.
  16. ↑ Yates, A.M. (2003). "A new species of the primitive dinosaur Thecodontosaurus (Saurischia: Sauropodomorpha) and its implications for the systematics of early dinosaurs" (PDF). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 1 (1): 1–42. Bibcode:2003JSPal...1....1Y. doi:10.1017/S1477201903001007. S2CID   55906527. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 20, 2018.
  17. ↑ Yates, A.M.; Bonnan, M.F.; Neveling, J.; Chinsamy, A.; Blackbeard, M.G. (2010). "A new transitional sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of South Africa and the evolution of sauropod feeding and quadrupedalism". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 277 (1682): 787–794. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2009.1440 . PMC   2842739 . PMID   19906674.
  18. ↑ Wang, Y-M.; You, H-L.; Wang, T. (2017). "A new basal sauropodiform dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic of Yunnan Province, China". Scientific Reports. 7: 41881. Bibcode:2017NatSR...741881W. doi: 10.1038/srep41881 . PMC   5312170 . PMID   28205592.
  19. 1 2 Müller, R.T. (2020). "Craniomandibular osteology of Macrocollum itaquii (Dinosauria: Sauropodomorpha) from the Late Triassic of southern Brazil". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 18 (10): 805–841. Bibcode:2020JSPal..18..805M. doi:10.1080/14772019.2019.1683902. S2CID   209575985.


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