Malarguesaurus Explained

Malarguesaurus (meaning "Malargue lizard" after the Malargüe Department of Mendonza Province) is a genus of titanosauriform sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Mendoza Province, Argentina. Its fossils, consisting of tail vertebrae, chevrons, ribs, and limb bones, were found in the upper Turonian-lower Coniacian Portezuelo Formation of the Neuquén Group. The type species, described by González Riga et al. in 2008, is M. florenciae.

Description

Described as a robust sauropod, it was initially described as being closely related to Ligabuesaurus and Phuwiangosaurus, and Mannion et al. (2013) more precisely recovered it as a member of Somphospondyli.^{[1] [2]} The cladistic analysis of Patagotitan recovered Malarguesaurus as a close relative of the Asian Ruyangosaurus.^[3]

Like other sauropods, Malarguesaurus would have been a large quadrupedal herbivore.^[4] Malarguesaurus is the second sauropod dinosaur discovered in Mendoza Province; the first is Mendozasaurus neguyelap.^[5]

External links

• Malarguesaurus and other South American sauropods

Notes and References

1. González Riga . Bernardo J. . Previtera, Elena . Pirrone, Cecilia A. . 2008 . Malarguesaurus florenciae gen. et sp. nov., a new titanosauriform (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Mendoza, Argentina . Cretaceous Research . 30 . 1 . 135–148. 10.1016/j.cretres.2008.06.006.
2. P. D. Mannion, P. Upchurch, R. N. Barnes and O. Mateus. 2013. Osteology of the Late Jurassic Portuguese sauropod dinosaur Lusotitan atalaiensis (Macronaria) and the evolutionary history of basal titanosauriforms. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 168:98-206.
3. José L. Carballido; Diego Pol; Alejandro Otero; Ignacio A. Cerda; Leonardo Salgado ; Alberto C. Garrido ; Jahandar Ramezani ; Néstor R. Cúneo ; Javier M. Krause (2017). "A new giant titanosaur sheds light on body mass evolution among sauropod dinosaurs". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 284 (1860): 20171219. doi:10.1098/rspb.2017.1219.
4. Book: Upchurch, Paul . Barrett, Paul M. . Dodson, Peter. . Weishampel, David B. . Dodson, Peter . Osmólska, Halszka . The Dinosauria . 2nd . 2004. University of California Press . Be rkeley . 978-0-520-24209-8 . 259–322 . Sauropoda.
5. González Riga . Bernardo J. . 2003 . A new titanosaur (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Mendoza, Argentina. . Ameghiniana . 40 . 155–172.