Aragosaurus

Aragosaurus
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, Barremian
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Saurischia
Suborder: Sauropodomorpha
Clade: Camarasauromorpha
Branch: Laurasiformes
Genus: Aragosaurus
Sanz et al., 1987
Species:  A. ischiaticus
Binomial name
Aragosaurus ischiaticus
Sanz et al., 1987

Aragosaurus (meaning "Aragon lizard") was a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous period of Galve, province of Teruel, in the autonomous territory of Aragón, Spain.[1][2]

Aragosaurus was a large, quadrupedal plant-eating (herbivorous) dinosaur, which lived about 130-120 million years ago, in the Hauterivian-Barremian. It was about 60 ft (18 m) in length and about 28000 kg in weight.

Like other sauropods, it had a long neck, a long powerful tail, a small head and a bulky body. It was broadly similar to Camarasaurus. It is represented by a partial fossil, which was found in Spain and was named by Sanz, Buscalioni, Casanovi and Santafe in 1987. The type species is A. ischiaticus. Like Camarasaurus, Aragosaurus probably had a short, compact skull and a moderately long neck. The teeth were large and wide, and would have been useful for slicing through the leaves and branches of tall conifer trees. The forelimbs were only a little shorter than the hind limbs, and the tail was long and muscular.

References

  1. Sanz, J.L., Buscalioni, A.D., Casanovas, M.L. y Santafé, J. V. 1987: Dinosaurios del Cretácico Inferior de Galve (Teruel, España). Estudios geológicos, volumen extraordinario Galve-Tremp: 45-64.
  2. Canudo, J.I., Gasca, J.M., Moreno, M., Aurell, M. 2011. New information about the stratigraphic position and age of the sauropod Aragosaurus ischiaticus from the Early Cretaceous of the Iberian Peninsula. Geological Magazine 149(2): 252-263, marzo de 2012 DOI: 10.1017/S0016756811000732
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