Losillasaurus
| Losillasaurus Temporal range: Late Jurassic, | |
|---|---|
 | |
| L. giganteus vertebra | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Clade: | †Turiasauria |
| Genus: | †Losillasaurus Casanovas et al., 2001 |
| Species: | †L. giganteus |
| Binomial name | |
| †Losillasaurus giganteus Casanovas et al., 2001 | |
Losillasaurus (meaning "Losilla lizard") is a genus of turiasaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic and possibly Early Cretaceous (Kimmeridgian-?Berriasian) of southeastern Spain. It is also known from the Lourinhã Formation of Portugal.[1] The type species, 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.[2][3]
Description
[edit]
Several specimens of L. giganteus were described in 2019 and 2020 - one such specimen (SHN 180) consists of a single anterior caudal vertebra, while another (the holotype) consists of a partial skull with teeth and partial postcranial skeleton.[4] According to Rafael Royo-Torres et al., the specimen helps scientists to understand tooth variation, allows the positioning of isolated heart-shaped teeth in the skull and demonstrates heterodonty in Turiasauria.[5] The humerus is 143 centimetres (56 in) long,[6] which despite being from a subadult specimen is within 20% of the size of Paralititan.[7] The size estimation proposed by Francisco Gascó in his master thesis is 15–18 m (49–59 ft) in length and 12–15 t (13–17 short tons) in body mass.[8] However as the type specimen is not fully grown, adult Losillasaurus likely grew bigger. A giant referred specimen has a femur length of 1.92 metres (6.3 ft),a tibia length of 1.25 metres (4.1 ft) and a humerus length of 1.8 metres (5.9 ft) suggesting an animal that was similar in size to Turiasaurus.[1]: Supplementary Material [9] This larger individual is estimated to have weighed 47 tonnes (46 long tons; 52 short tons).[10]
References
[edit]- 1 2 Royo-Torres, Rafael; Cobos, Alberto; Mocho, Pedro; Alcalá, Luis (2021-01-01). "Origin and evolution of turiasaur dinosaurs set by means of a new 'rosetta' specimen from Spain". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 191 (1): 201–227. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa091. ISSN 0024-4082.
- ↑ Casanovas, Maria Lourdes; Santafé, José Vicente; Sanz, José Luis (2001). "Losillasaurus giganteus, un nuevo saurópodo del tránsito Jurásico-Cretácico e la Cuenca de "Los Serranos" (Valencia, España)". Paleontologia i Evolució (in Spanish). 32–33: 99–122.
- ↑ Ruiz-Omeñaca, Jose Ignacio (2001). "Losillasaurus giganteus, a new Spanish sauropod". Dinosaur Mailing List.
- ↑ Campos-Soto S, Benito MI, Cobos A, Caus E, Quijada IE, Suarez-Gonzalez P, Mas R, Royo-Torres R, Alcalá L. 2019. Revisiting the age and palaeoenvironments of the Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous? Dinosaur-bearing sedimentary record of eastern Spain: implications for Iberian palaeogeography. Journal of Iberian Geology 45: 471–510.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Ruiz-Omeñaca, Jose Ignacio (2001)."Re: Losillasaurus giganteus, a new Spanish sauropod". Dinosaur Mailing List.
- ↑ Taylor, Mike (2001). "Re: Losillasaurus giganteus, a new Spanish sauropod". Dinosaur Mailing List
- ↑ Gascó, F (2009): Sistemática y anatomía funcional de Losillasaurus giganteus Casanovas, Santafé & Sanz, 2001 (Turiasauria, Sauropoda). Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.
- ↑ Salvador, Pablo Prósper Salvador Prósper; Lluna, Francesc Gasco (2024-12-16). "Aplicación de las nuevas metodologías de reconstrucción postural en dinosaurios saurópodos. La problemática de Losillasaurus giganteus". Zubía. Revista de ciencias (in Spanish) (42): 203–208. doi:10.66737/ier.zub.73. ISSN 3045-963X.
- ↑ Benson, Roger B. J.; Hunt, Gene; Carrano, Matthew T.; Campione, Nicolás (2018). Mannion, Philip (ed.). "Cope's rule and the adaptive landscape of dinosaur body size evolution". Palaeontology. 61 (1): 13–48. doi:10.1111/pala.12329. ISSN 0031-0239.
