Histriasaurus

Last updated

Histriasaurus
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 135–125  Ma
Histriasaurus vertebra.png
Vertebra from the holotype
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
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") is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Hauterivian to Barremian stages, around 135-125 million years ago) of Croatia. It has been suggested to be a rebbachisaurid, and if so one of the oldest known members of the group.

Contents

Discovery and naming

The holotype, specimen WN V-6, was 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.

The type species, H. boscarollii, was described by Dalla Vecchia in 1998. [1] 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. [2]

Classification

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. [3] [4]

Paleoenvironment

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]

References

  1. ↑ 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.
  2. ↑ 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
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ 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 .
  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
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.