Lapparentosaurus

Last updated

Lapparentosaurus
Temporal range: Bathonian
~168–165  Ma
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Lapparentosaurus femur.png
Partial left femur
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Sauropodomorpha
Clade: Sauropoda
Clade: Gravisauria
Clade: Eusauropoda
Genus: Lapparentosaurus
Bonaparte, 1986
Species:
L. madagascariensis
Binomial name
Lapparentosaurus madagascariensis
(Lydekker, 1895)
Synonyms

Lapparentosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic. Its fossils were found in Madagascar (Isalo III Formation). [1] The type species is L. madagascariensis.

Contents

Discovery and naming

In 1895 Richard Lydekker named a new species of Bothriospondylus , B. madagascariensis based on fossils found before 1894 by Joseph Thomas Last in the Majunga Basin in layers of the Bathonian, the Isalo III Formation. [1] Because there was no real connection with this English form, in 1986 José Fernando Bonaparte named a separate genus. [2] The type species, the only known, is Lapparentosaurus madagascariensis. The generic name honours Albert-Félix de Lapparent. The holotype assigned by Bonaparte, MAA 91-92, consists of two neural arches. Much more abundant material has been referred, from at least three but perhaps as much as ten individuals from different growth stages. This includes vertebrae and limb elements but no skulls. The species is still lacking a good description and diagnosis. It should not be confused with ?Bothriospondylus madagascariensis, a distinct taxon now named Vouivria, or another distinct primitive sauropod from the Isalo III Formation once also referred to as "Bothriospondylus" madagascarensis, [3] described as the new genus Narindasaurus in 2020. [4]

Age determination studies performed using growth ring counts suggest that this sauropod took 31–45 years to reach sexual maturity [5] and was relatively fast-growing given the presence of a large amount of fibrolamellar bone. [6]

Classification

The phylogenetic position of Lapparentosaurus was long poorly understood. It exhibits an unusual combination of characters of both basal and derived sauropods. [7] It has been classified as a brachiosaurid or an indeterminate titanosauriform. [7] However, recent phylogenetic analyses have shown it to be a basal eusauropod, not closely related to brachiosaurids at all. [8] After many decades, Emilie Läng in 2008 recovered a traditional Cetiosauridae including Lapparentosaurus. [9] An in-depth revision in 2019 of the genus by Raveloson, Clark & Rasoamiaramana recovered a similar position with Lapparentosaurus being part of a paraphyletic Cetiosauridae, also including a multitude of similar Middle Jurassic cetiosaurids such as Chebsaurus , Ferganasaurus , and Cetiosaurus . [10] This position is supported by the presence of two autapomorphies common on both Lapparentosaurus and Cetiosaurus: a pyramid-shaped neural spine from the anterior dorsal vertebrae with tapering in shape or not flaring distally and loss of the spinodiapophyseal lamina on the dorsal vertebrae. [10]

All possible remains of Lapparentosaurus:

Related Research Articles

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

Titanosaurs were a diverse group of sauropod dinosaurs, including genera from all seven continents. The titanosaurs were the last surviving group of long-necked sauropods, with taxa still thriving at the time of the extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous. This group includes some of the largest land animals known to have ever existed, such as Patagotitan, estimated at 37 m (121 ft) long with a weight of 69 tonnes, and the comparably-sized Argentinosaurus and Puertasaurus from the same region.

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

Titanosaurus is a dubious genus of sauropod dinosaurs, first described by Richard Lydekker in 1877. It is known from the Maastrichtian Lameta Formation of India.

<i>Pelorosaurus</i> Genus of dinosaur

Pelorosaurus is a genus of titanosauriform sauropod dinosaur. Remains referred to Pelorosaurus date from the Early Cretaceous period, about 140-125 million years ago, and have been found in England and Portugal. Thomas Holtz estimated its length at 24 meters.

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

Cetiosaurus meaning 'whale lizard', from the Greek keteios/κήτειος meaning 'sea monster' and sauros/σαυρος meaning 'lizard', is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Period, living about 168 million years ago in what is now Britain.

<i>Cetiosauriscus</i> Genus of reptiles (fossil)

Cetiosauriscus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived between 166 and 164 million years ago during the Callovian in what is now England. A herbivore, Cetiosauriscus had – by sauropod standards – a moderately long tail, and longer forelimbs, making them as long as its hindlimbs. It has been estimated as about 15 m (49 ft) long and between 4 and 10 t in weight.

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

Bothriospondylus is a dubious genus of neosauropod sauropod dinosaur. It lived during the Late Jurassic in England, and the type and only species is B. suffossus.

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

Cardiodon was a herbivorous genus of sauropod dinosaur, based on a tooth from the late Bathonian-age Middle Jurassic Forest Marble Formation of Wiltshire, England. Historically, it is very obscure and usually referred to Cetiosaurus, but recent analyses suggest that it is a distinct genus, and possibly related to Turiasaurus. Cardiodon was the first sauropod genus named.

Zigongosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic-Late Jurassic-age Shaximiao Formation of Zigong, Sichuan, China. Because of incomplete knowledge of Jurassic Chinese sauropods, it has been hard to interpret, with some sources assigning it to Omeisaurus, some to Mamenchisaurus, and some to its own genus.

Volkheimeria is an extinct genus of sauropod dinosaurs that lived in what is now Argentina during the Early Jurassic, 178–179 million years ago. Its type and only species is Volkheimeria chubutensis.

Eucamerotus was a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Barremian-age Lower Cretaceous Wessex Formation (Wealden) of the Isle of Wight, England.

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

Ornithopsis is a genus of sauropod dinosaur, from the Early Cretaceous of England and possibly Germany. The type species, which is the only species seen as valid today, is O. hulkei, which is only known from fragmentary remains.

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

Patagosaurus is an extinct genus of eusauropod dinosaur from the Middle-Late Toarcian of Patagonia, Argentina. It was first found in deposits of the Cañadón Asfalto Formation, which date to around 179 to 177 million years ago. Although originally twelve specimens were assigned to the taxon, at least one of them may belong to a different genus. Patagosaurus probably lived alongside genera as Piatnitzkysaurus, Condorraptor and Volkheimeria.

Lourinhasaurus is an extinct genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur genus dating from Late Jurassic strata of Estremadura, Portugal.

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

Cetiosauridae is a family of sauropod dinosaurs which was first proposed by Richard Lydekker in 1888. While traditionally a wastebasket taxon containing various unrelated species, some recent studies have found that it may represent a natural clade. Alongside Cetiosaurus from the Middle Jurassic of Britain, other taxa recently assigned to the family include Lapparentosaurus from the Middle Jurassic of Madagascar, and Patagosaurus from the late Early-Middle Jurassic of Patagonia, which share autapomorphies with Cetiosaurus that are not shared by other eusauropods. Additionally, at least one study has suggested that the mamenchisaurids may represent a sub-group of the cetiosaurids, which would be termed Mamenchisaurinae.

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

Neosauropoda is a clade within Dinosauria, coined in 1986 by Argentine paleontologist José Bonaparte and currently described as Saltasaurus loricatus, Diplodocus longus, and all animals directly descended from their most recent common ancestor. The group is composed of two subgroups: Diplodocoidea and Macronaria. Arising in the early Jurassic and persisting until the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, Neosauropoda contains the majority of sauropod genera, including genera such as Apatosaurus, Brachiosaurus, and Diplodocus. It also includes giants such as Argentinosaurus, Patagotitan and Sauroposeidon, and its members remain the largest land animals ever to have lived.

The Isalo III Formation is a geological formation in Madagascar, off the eastern coast of Africa. It dates back to the Middle Jurassic. The use of the term "Isalo III" is somewhat controversial as the two prior units Isalo I and II are Triassic cross-bedded sandstone units that form a continuous depositional sequence, while the "Isalo III" sandstones are not part of the same depositional sequence, and were deposited considerably later. and are perhaps better treated as part of several separate formations. It is traditionally divided into two subunits the lower, Bajocian aged Isalo IIIa unit also known as the Beronono Formation and the upper, Bathonian aged Isalo IIIb unit also known as the Sakaraha Formation or Sakahara Formation. The Sakaraha Formation consists of sandstones, marls and carbonates and represents a coastal plain environment, and is laterally equivalent to the predominantly carbonate Bemaraha Formation, which represents a coastal barrier lagoon complex. The formation is found in the northwest and in the southeast of the country and has provided a variety of fossils.

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

Duriatitan is a genus of titanosauriform sauropod dinosaur that lived in the Late Jurassic in what is now England. The holotype specimen of Duriatitan, BMNH 44635, is a partial left upper arm bone which was found by R.I. Smith near Sandsfoot, Weymouth in the lower Kimmeridge Clay from Dorset. The type species, D. humerocristatus, was described in 1874 by John Hulke as a species of Cetiosaurus and was noted as being similar to that of Gigantosaurus. The specific name refers to the deltopectoral crest, crista, on the upper arm bone, humerus. The specimen was assigned to its own genus by Paul M. Barrett, Roger B.J. Benson and Paul Upchurch in 2010. The generic name is derived from the Latin name for Dorset, Duria, and Greek Titan. Thomas Holtz estimated its length at 25 meters (82 ft).

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

Vouivria is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur, belonging to the Brachiosauridae, that lived in the area of present France during the Late Jurassic. The type species is Vouivria damparisensis.

<i>Narindasaurus</i> Genus of sauropod dinosaur (fossil)

Narindasaurus is a genus of turiasaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Isalo III Formation of Madagascar. The type species, N. thevenini was formally described by Royo-Torres et al. in 2020. The holotype, which consists of one specimen, is currently stored at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle and has been since 1906 or 1907.

References

  1. 1 2 Lydekker, R. (1895). "On bones of a sauropodous dinosaur from Madagascar". Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London. 51 (1–4): 329–336. doi:10.1144/gsl.jgs.1895.051.01-04.25. S2CID   128431891.
  2. Bonaparte, J.F. (1986). "Les dinosaures (Carnosaures, Allosauridés, Sauropodes, Cétosauridés) du Jurassique Moyen de Cerro Cóndor (Chubut, Argentina)". Annales de Paléontologie (Vert.-Invert.). 72 (3): 325–386.
  3. Mannion, Philip D. (March 2010). "A revision of the sauropod dinosaur genus ' Bothriospondylus ' with a redescription of the type material of the Middle Jurassic form ' B. madagascariensis '". Palaeontology. 53 (2): 277–296. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-4983.2009.00919.x .
  4. Rafael Royo-Torres; Alberto Cobos; Pedro Mocho; Luis Alcalá (2020). "Origin and evolution of turiasaur dinosaurs set by means of a new 'rosetta' specimen from Spain". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 191: 201–227. doi: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa091 .
  5. de, Ricqlès (1983). "Cyclical growth in the long bones of a sauropod dinosaur". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 28: 225–232.
  6. Rimblot-Baly, F.; de Ricqlès, A.; Zylberberg, L. (1995). "Analyse paléohistologique d'une série de croissance partielle chez Lapparentosaurus madagascariensis (Jurassique Moyen): essai sur la dynamique de croissance d'un dinosaure sauropode". Annales de Paléontologie. 81: 49–86.
  7. 1 2 Upchurch, Paul; Barrett, Paul M.; Dodson, Peter (2004). "Sauropoda". In Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; Osmólska, Halszka (eds.). The Dinosauria (2nd ed.). University of California Press. ISBN   0520254082.
  8. Royo-Torres, Rafael; Upchurch, Paul; Kirkland, James I.; DeBlieux, Donald D.; Foster, John R.; Cobos, Alberto; Acalá, Luis (2017). "Descendants of the Jurassic turiasaurs from Iberia found refuge in the Early Cretaceous of western USA". Scientific Reports. 7 (1): 14311. Bibcode:2017NatSR...714311R. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-14677-2. PMC   5662694 . PMID   29085006.
  9. Läng, E. (2008). Les Cétiosaures (Dinosaura, sauropoda) et les sauropodes du Jurassique moyen: revision systématique, nouvelles découvertes et implications phylogénétiques (Doctoral dissertation, Paris, Muséum national d'histoire naturelle).
  10. 1 2 Raveloson, Miky Lova Tantely; Clark, Neil D. L.; Rasoamiaramana, Armand H. (2019). "New Information on the Madagascan Middle Jurassic Sauropod Lapparentosaurus madagascariensis". Geosciences. 9 (12): 498. Bibcode:2019Geosc...9..498R. doi: 10.3390/geosciences9120498 .