Histriasaurus

Last updated

Histriasaurus
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 135–125  Ma
Histriasaurus vertebra.png
Vertebra from the holotype
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Sauropodomorpha
Clade: Sauropoda
Superfamily: Diplodocoidea
Family: Rebbachisauridae
Genus: Histriasaurus
Dalla Vecchia, 1998
Type species
Histriasaurus boscarollii
Dalla Vecchia, 1998

Histriasaurus (HIS-tree-ah-SAWR-us) (meaning "Istria lizard") was a genus of dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Hauterivian to Barremian stages, around 135-125 million years ago). Its fossils, holotype WN V-6, were found in a bonebed in lacustrine limestone exposed on the seafloor off the coast of the town of Bale on the Istrian peninsula in Croatia by Dario Boscarolli during the 1980s, and described in 1998 by Dalla Vecchia. It was a diplodocoid sauropod, related to, but more primitive than, Rebbachisaurus . Phylogenetic analyses published in 2007 and 2011 placed Histriasaurus as the most basal member of Rebbachisauridae. [1] [2]

The type species, H. boscarollii, was described by Dalla Vecchia in 1998. [3] The specific name honours the discoverer of the site, Darío Boscarolli. Although some authors consider Histriasaurus a dubious taxon, more recent papers support the original classification. [4]

Histriasaurus would have coexisted with an indeterminate camarasaurid, an indeterminate titanosauriform, an indeterminate somphospondylian, an indeterminate theropod, an indeterminate dinosaur of unknown classification [5] and the foraminiferan Campanellula capuensis . [6]

Related Research Articles

Jobaria is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in what is now Niger during the middle Jurassic Period, between 164 and 161 million years ago. Jobaria is currently the only known valid sauropod from the Tiouraren, where it was discovered in 1997.

<i>Amargasaurus</i> Dicraeosaurid sauropod dinosaur genus from the Early Cretaceous period

Amargasaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous epoch of what is now Argentina. The only known skeleton was discovered in 1984 and is virtually complete, including a fragmentary skull, making Amargasaurus one of the best-known sauropods of its epoch. Amargasaurus was first described in 1991 and contains a single known species, Amargasaurus cazaui. It was a large animal, but small for a sauropod, reaching 9 to 10 meters in length. Most distinctively, it sported two parallel rows of tall spines down its neck and back, taller than in any other known sauropod. In life, these spines most likely could have stuck out of the body as solitary structures that supported a keratinous sheath. An alternate hypothesis, now less favored, postulates that they could have formed a scaffold supporting a skin sail. They might have been used for display, combat, or defense.

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

Malawisaurus was a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur. It lived in what is now Malawi and possibly Brazil, during the Barremian-Cenomanian ages of the Early-Late Cretaceous. It is one of the few titanosaurs for which skull material has been found.

Rebbachisauridae Extinct family of dinosaurs

Rebbachisauridae is a family of sauropod dinosaurs known from fragmentary fossil remains from the Cretaceous of South America, Africa, North America, Europe and Central Asia.

Dicraeosauridae Extinct family of dinosaurs

Dicraeosauridae is a family of diplodocoid sauropods who are the sister group to Diplodocidae. Dicraeosaurids are a part of the Flagellicaudata, along with Diplodocidae. Dicraeosauridae includes genera such as Amargasaurus, Suuwassea, Dicraeosaurus, and Brachytrachelopan. Specimens of this family have been found in North America, Asia, Africa, and South America. Their temporal range is from the Early or Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous. Few dicraeosaurids survived into the Cretaceous, the youngest of which was Amargasaurus.

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

Austrosaurus was an extinct genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Allaru Formation, from the early Cretaceous of Central-Western Queensland in Australia.

Chiayusaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur known from teeth found in China and possibly also South Korea. Two species have been named for this obscure genus, though only the type, C. lacustris, is still seen as valid. It was originally named as Chiayüsaurus, but the ICZN does not permit special characters, so the name was corrected to Chiayusaurus. The obsolete name can still be seen in older sources, though. As a sauropod, Chiayusaurus would have been a large, quadrupedal herbivore.

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

Phuwiangosaurus is a genus of titanosaur dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Valanginian-Hauterivian) Sao Khua Formation of Thailand. The type species, P. sirindhornae, was described by Martin, Buffetaut, and Suteethorn in a 1993 press release and was formally named in 1994. The species was named to honor Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand, who was interested in the geology and palaeontology of Thailand, while the genus was named after the Phu Wiang area, where the fossil was discovered.

Cedar Mountain Formation

The Cedar Mountain Formation is the name given to a distinctive sedimentary geologic formation in eastern Utah. The formation was named for Cedar Mountain in northern Emery County, Utah, where William Lee Stokes first studied the exposures in 1944.

Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because humans have encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred or were published in the year 1998.

Galve is a municipality located in the province of Teruel, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2006 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 145 inhabitants. There is an important paleontological site.

Urbión Group

The Urbión Group is a geological group in Castile and León and La Rioja, Spain whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous (late Hauterivian to late Barremian. The formations of the group comprise a sequence of brown limestones in a matrix of black silt, sandstones, claystones and conglomerates deposited under terrestrial conditions, in alluvial fan and fluvial environments.

The Birdrong Sandstone is an Early Cretaceous geologic formation of the Barrow Group in Western Australia. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation, although none have yet been referred to a specific genus.

Tsagaantsav Formation Early Cretaceous geologic formation in Mongolia

The Tsagaantsav Formation, Tsagantsab Formation or Tsagan-Tsab Formation is an Early Cretaceous geologic formation in Mongolia. Indeterminate sauropod and psittacosaurid remains have been recovered from the formation. Remains of the pterosaur Noripterus, which were originally given their own genus, "Phobetor" have also been recovered from the formation.

La Pedrera de Rúbies Formation

The La Pedrera de Rúbies Formation is an Early Cretaceous (late Berriasian to early Barremian geologic formation in Catalonia, Spain. The formation crops out in the area of the Montsec in the Organyà Basin. At the La Pedrera de Meià locality, the formation consists of rhythmically laminated, lithographic limestones that formed in the distal areas of a large, shallow coastal lake. It is noted for the exceptional preservation of articulated small vertebrates and insects, similar to that of the Solnhofen Limestone.

The Calcare di Cellina (Italian for Cellina Limestone, is a Hauterivian to Aptian geologic formation in Friulia-Venezia Giulia, Italy. Fossil sauropod tracks have been reported from the formation.

The San Giovanni Rotondo Formation is an Early Cretaceous geologic formation in Italy. Fossil ornithopod tracks have been reported from the formation.

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

Canardia is an extinct genus of lambeosaurine dinosaur known from the Late Cretaceous Marnes d'Auzas Formation of Haute-Garonne department, in Occitanie region, southwestern France. The type species Canardia garonnensis was first described and named by Albert Prieto-Márquez, Fabio M. Dalla Vecchia, Rodrigo Gaete and Àngel Galobart in 2013. The name of the genus comes from “canard”, the French word for “duck”, an allusion to the fact that this animal belongs to the hadrosaurids which are also known as duck-billed dinosaurs. The specific epithet garonnensis refers to the Haute-Garonne department where this dinosaur has been found. Canardia was one of the last non-avian dinosaurs and lived between 67,5 and 66 my on the former Ibero-Armorican Island, which included much of France and Spain.

<i>Vallibonavenatrix</i> Genus of spinosaurid theropod dinosaur

Vallibonavenatrix is a genus of spinosaurid dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Barremian) Arcillas de Morella Formation of Castellón, Spain. The type and only species is Vallibonavenatrix cani, known from a partial skeleton.

The Castrillo de la Reina Formation is a geological formation in Spain. It is late Barremian to early Aptian in age. It interpreted as a fluvial deposit. It primarily consists of red clay, with ribbon shaped sandstone channel fills. The rebbachisaurid dinosaur Demandasaurus is known from the formation, alongside somphospondylan Europatitan as well as indeterminate small ornithopods, iguanodonts and spinosaurids, the earliest known stem-rhabdodontid (indeterminate) and the lizard Arcanosaurus.

References

  1. Paul C. Sereno; Jeffrey A. Wilson; Lawrence M. Witmer; John A. Whitlock; Abdoulaye Maga; Oumarou Ide; Timothy A. Rowe (2007). "Structural Extremes in a Cretaceous Dinosaur". PLOS ONE. 2 (11): e1230. Bibcode:2007PLoSO...2.1230S. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0001230 . PMC   2077925 . PMID   18030355.
  2. Fidel Torcida Fernández-Baldor; José Ignacio Canudo; Pedro Huerta; Diego Montero; Xabier Pereda Suberbiola; Leonardo Salgado (2011). "Demandasaurus darwini, a new rebbachisaurid sauropod from the Early Cretaceous of the Iberian Peninsula". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 56 (3): 535–552. doi: 10.4202/app.2010.0003 .
  3. Dalla Vecchia, F. M. (1998). Remains of Sauropoda (Reptilia, Saurischia) in the Lower Cretaceous (Upper Hauterivian/Lower Barremian) limestones of SW Istria (Croatia). Geologica Croatica51 (2): 105-134.
  4. Apesteguía, S. (2005). "Evolution in the hyposphene-hypantrum complex within Sauropoda". In K. Carpenter & V. Tidwell (eds.), Thunder-Lizards: The Sauropodomorph Dinosaurs. Indiana University Press, Bloomington 248-267
  5. F. M. Dalla Vecchia. (2001). An odd dinosaur bone from the Lower Cretaceous of Istria (Croatia). Natura Nascosta 22:34-35
  6. F. M. Dalla Vecchia. (1995). Jurassic and Cretaceous sauropod evidence in the Mesozoic carbonate platforms of the southern Alps and Dinarids. In M. G. Lockley, V. F. dos Santos, C. A. Meyer, & A. P. Hunt (eds.), Aspects of Sauropod Paleobiology. GAIA 10:65-73