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") was a genus of dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Hauterivian to Barremian stages, around 135-125 million years ago).

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]

Related Research Articles

<i>Aegyptosaurus</i> Titanosaurid sauropod dinosaur genus from late Cretaceous Period

Aegyptosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in what is now Africa, around 95 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous Period.

<i>Aepisaurus</i> Extinct species of reptile

Aepisaurus was a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Albian-age Lower Cretaceous Grès vert of Département du Vaucluse, France, around 100.5 million years ago. It is an obscure genus from an unknown family, represented by a single humerus, now partly lost. Despite its lack of popularity, or perhaps because of it, it has been misspelled several ways in the scientific literature, with multiple dates given to the year of description as well.

Agustinia is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of South America. The genus contains a single species, A. ligabuei, known from a single specimen that was recovered from the Lohan Cura Formation of Neuquén Province in Argentina. It lived about 116–108 million years ago, in the Aptian–Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous Period.

<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 13 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 could have stuck out of the body as solitary structures that supported a keratinous sheath. An alternate hypothesis, now more 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 is an extinct genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur. It is known from the Dinosaur Beds of northern Malawi, which probably date to the Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous. The type species is M. dixeyi and the specific name honours Frederick Augustus Dixey.

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

Ampelosaurus is a titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now France. Its type species is A. atacis, named by Le Loeuff in 1995. Its remains were found in a level dating from 71.5 million years ago representing the early Maastrichtian.

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.

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

Amargatitanis is a genus of dicraeosaurid sauropod dinosaur from the Barremian-age La Amarga Formation of Neuquén, Argentina. It is known from a single, incomplete postcranial skeleton consisting of a partial hindlimb, ischium, and two vertebrae. These remains were unearthed by Argentine paleontologist José Bonaparte in 1983 during an expedition by the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales and later described as a new genus and species, Amargatitanis macni by Sebastián Apesteguía. The genus name comes from the words Amarga, where the fossils were collected, and titanis meaning "titan". Its species name is in reference to the MACN, where the remains are stored.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urbión Group</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camarillas Formation</span> Geological formation in Aragon, Spain

The Camarillas Formation is a geological formation in the Teruel Province of Aragón, Spain whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous. The sandstones, mudstones and conglomerates of the formation, that due to syn-sedimentary faulting varies greatly in thickness from 300 to 800 metres, were deposited in fluvial, deltaic and lacustrine environments.

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.

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.

Demandasaurus is a genus of rebbachisaurid sauropod dinosaur from early Cretaceous deposits of Spain. Demandasaurus is known from an incomplete but associated skeleton that includes cranial and postcranial remains. It was collected from the Castrillo de la Reina Formation in Burgos Province of Spain. It was first named by Fidel Torcida Fernández-Baldor, José Ignacio Canudo, Pedro Huerta, Diego Montero, Xabier Pereda Suberbiola and Leonardo Salgado in 2011 and the type species is Demandasaurus darwini.

<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. It is only known from juvenile specimens. 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. Although universally recognized as a lambeosaurine, its precise position within them is debated. Some authors consider it as a close relative of the genus Aralosaurus from Central Asia with which it would form the tribe Aralosaurini, while others include it in a more derived clade, the Arenysaurini in which all lambeosaurines from Europe and North Africa are placed. 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.

Tengrisaurus is a genus of lithostrotian sauropod, from the Early Cretaceous (Valanginian-Hauterivian) Murtoi Formation, Russia. It was described in 2017 by Averianov & Skutschas. The type species is T. starkovi. New remains were described in 2021 by Averianov, Sizov & Skutschas.

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