Turiasaurus

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Turiasaurus
Temporal range: Kimmeridgian-Tithonian
~155–146  Ma
Turiasaurus in zientzia astea.jpg
Mounted replica skeleton
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Sauropodomorpha
Clade: Sauropoda
Clade: Turiasauria
Genus: Turiasaurus
Royo Torres et al. 2006
Species:
T. riodevensis
Binomial name
Turiasaurus riodevensis
Royo Torres et al. 2006

Turiasaurus (meaning "Turia lizard") is a genus of sauropod dinosaurs. It is known from a single fossil specimen representing the species Turiasaurus riodevensis, found in the Kimmeridgian Villar del Arzobispo Formation of Teruel, Spain.

Contents

Description

Size compared with a human Turiasaurus scale.png
Size compared with a human

Turiasaurus is believed to be the largest dinosaur ever found in Europe, and is among the largest dinosaurs known. It was originally estimated at over 30 metres (98 ft), possibly around 36–39 metres (118–128 ft) in length and with a weight of 40–48 t (44–53 short tons). [1] More recent estimates suggest a length of 21–30 metres (69–98 ft) in length, but a comparable weight of 30–50 t (33–55 short tons). [2] [3] The length of its skull is 70 centimetres, which is not too large. According to the paleontologist Luis Alcalá, this is because a larger head might have caused Turiasaurus to break its neck. [4]

Phylogenetic analysis shows that Turiasaurus lies outside of the Neosauropoda division and belongs to a new clade, Turiasauria, together with Losillasaurus and Galvesaurus . [1]

History

Life restoration Turiasaurus1.jpg
Life restoration
Alternate reconstruction Turia wiki.jpg
Alternate reconstruction

Fragmentary remains of this animal, including an articulated left forelimb (holotype), skull fragments, teeth, vertebrae and ribs, have been found in terrestrial deposits of the Villar del Arzobispo Formation of Riodeva (Teruel Province, Spain). A forelimb from Portugal [5] is now seen as Zby atlanticus . [6] The type species, Turiasaurus riodevensis, was formally described by Royo-Torres, Cobos & Alcala, in 2006. [1] In the early 2010s, excavations were made east of Madrid that uncovered the most complete fossil of such creatures in the whole world. [7]

Related Research Articles

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Dacentrurus, originally known as Omosaurus, is a genus of stegosaurian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic and perhaps Early Cretaceous of Europe.

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

Aragosaurus was a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous period of Galve, province of Teruel, in the autonomous territory of Aragón, Spain. It was deposited in the Villar del Arzobispo Formation.

<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.

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

Dinheirosaurus is a genus of diplodocid sauropod dinosaur that is known from fossils uncovered in modern-day Portugal. It may represent a species of Supersaurus. The only species is Dinheirosaurus lourinhanensis, first described by José Bonaparte and Octávio Mateus in 1999 for vertebrae and some other material from the Lourinhã Formation. Although the precise age of the formation is not known, it can be dated around the early Tithonian of the Late Jurassic.

<i>Lusotitan</i> Sauropod dinosaur genus from the late Jurassic Period

Lusotitan is a genus of herbivorous brachiosaurid sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Period of Portugal.

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

Losillasaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic and possibly Early Cretaceous (Kimmeridgian-?Berriasian) in the southeast of Spain. The type species of the turiasaurian Losillasaurus giganteus was discovered in the Villar del Arzobispo Formation in Valencia and formally described by Casanovas, Santafé and Sanz in 2001. The holotype material is from a subadult and includes part of a skull; complete cervical, dorsal, sacral, and caudal vertebrae as well as several fragments; skeletal elements from the limbs including a humerus, ulna, radius, and metacarpal; sternal plates; and from the pelvis: the ilium, ischium, and pubis. The genus is characterized by the dimension and shape of the neural spine of the proximal caudal vertebrae. The humerus is 143 centimetres (56 in) long, which despite being from a subadult specimen is within 20% of the size of Paralititan. The size estimation proposed by Francisco Gascó in his master thesis is 15–18 m (49–59 ft) and 12-15 tons.

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

Turiasauria is an unranked clade of basal sauropod dinosaurs known from Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous deposits in Europe, North America, and Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Museu da Lourinhã</span>

Museu da Lourinhã, also known as the Lourinhã Museum, is a museum in the town of Lourinhã, west Portugal. It was founded in 1984 by GEAL - Grupo de Etnologia e Arqueologia da Lourinhã. The president of the Direction Board is Lubélia Gonçalves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lourinhã Formation</span> Late Jurassic geological formation in Portugal

The Lourinhã Formation is a fossil rich geological formation in western Portugal, named for the municipality of Lourinhã. The formation is mostly Late Jurassic in age (Kimmeridgian/Tithonian), with the top of the formation extending into the earliest Cretaceous (Berriasian). It is notable for containing a fauna especially similar to that of the Morrison Formation in the United States and a lesser extent to the Tendaguru Formation in Tanzania. There are also similarities to the nearby Villar del Arzobispo Formation and Alcobaça Formation. The stratigraphy of the formation and the basin in general is complex and controversial, with the constituent member beds belonging to the formation varying between different authors.

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.

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

Tastavinsaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur belonging to the Titanosauriformes. It is based on a partial skeleton from the Early Cretaceous Xert Formation of Spain. The type species is Tastavinsaurus sanzi, named in honor of the Rio Tastavins in Spain and Spanish paleontologist José Luis Sanz. Tastavinsaurus sanzi is known from two specimens, one from the Xert Formation and one from the Forcall Formation. Tastavinsaurus was originally described as a somphospondylan, but it may be a brachiosaurid. The clade Laurasiformes was coined for Tastavinsaurus and its close relatives, which may include Cedarosaurus, Soriatitan, and Venenosaurus.

<i>Miragaia longicollum</i> Extinct species of dinosaur

Miragaia is a long-necked stegosaurid dinosaur. Its fossils have been found in Upper Jurassic rocks in Portugal and possibly also Wyoming, United States. Miragaia has the longest neck known for any stegosaurian, which included at least seventeen vertebrae. Some researchers consider this taxon to be a junior synonym of Dacentrurus.

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

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

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villar del Arzobispo Formation</span>

The Villar del Arzobispo Formation is a Late Jurassic to possibly Early Cretaceous geologic formation in eastern Spain. It is equivalent in age to the Lourinhã Formation of Portugal. It was originally thought to date from the Late Tithonian-Middle Berriasian, but more recent work suggests a Kimmeridigan-Late Tithonian, possibly dating to the Early Berriasian in some areas. The Villar del Arzobispo Formation's age in the area of Riodeva in Spain has been dated based on stratigraphic correlations as middle-upper Tithonian, approximately 145-141 million years old. In the area of Galve, the formation potentially dates into the earliest Cretaceous.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rafael Royo-Torres</span> Spanish paleontologist

Dr. Rafael Royo-Torres is a Spanish Paleontologist. He works in Fundación Conjunto Paleontológico de Teruel-Dinópolis, in Teruel, Spain. He is one of the discoverers of Turiasaurus riodevensis, together with Luis Alcalá and Alberto Cobos.

<i>Kaatedocus</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

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<i>Zby</i> Genus of sauropod dinosaur

Zby is an extinct genus of turiasaurian sauropod dinosaur known from the Late Jurassic of the Lourinhã Formation, central west Portugal. It contains a single species, Zby atlanticus. It is named after Georges Zbyszewski, who studied the geology and paleontology of Portugal.

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

Mierasaurus is an extinct genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Utah, United States. The taxon was first described and named in 2017 by Rafael Royo-Torres and colleagues, from a mostly complete skeleton including a disarticulated partial skull and mandible, teeth, multiple vertebrae from along the length of the body, both scapulae, radius and ulna bones, a left manus, a complete pelvis, both femora and the entire left hindlimb. Additionally, they referred a lower jaw and femur from juvenile individuals, which were found nearby, to the genus. Collectively, Mierasaurus is among the most completely known North American sauropods. The genus name honours Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco, the first European scientist to enter what is now Utah. The type species for Mierasaurus is Mierasaurus bobyoungi, named after Robert Glen Young, a paleontologist who researched the Early Cretaceous of Utah.

<i>Oblitosaurus</i> Genus of ankylopollexian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic period

Oblitosaurus is a genus of ankylopollexian ornithopod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Villar del Arzobispo Formation of Spain. The type species is Oblitosaurus bunnueli.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Royo-Torres, R., Cobos, A., and Alcalá, L. (2006). "A Giant European Dinosaur and a New Sauropod Clade." Science314: 1925-1927.
  2. Paul, G.S., 2010, The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs, Princeton University Press.
  3. Molina-Pérez, Rubén; Larramendi, Asier (2020-09-29). Dinosaur Facts and Figures: The Sauropods and Other Sauropodomorphs. Princeton University Press. ISBN   978-0-691-19069-3.
  4. "El Turiasaurus". El Mundo. 2012.
  5. Mateus, O. (2009). The sauropod Turiasaurus riodevensis in the Late Jurassic of Portugal. Journal of vertebrate Paleontology, 29.
  6. Octávio Mateus, Philip D. Mannion & Paul Upchurch (2014) Zby atlanticus, a new turiasaurian sauropod (Dinosauria, Eusauropoda) from the Late Jurassic of Portugal, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 34:3, 618-634, DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2013.822875
  7. "Největší dinosaurus moc nemyslel, zato pořádně jedl". excavations. seznam. Retrieved 21 April 2012.