Loricosaurus

Loricosaurus
Temporal range: 71 Ma
↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Saurischia
Suborder: †Sauropodomorpha
Clade: †Titanosauria
Family: †Saltasauridae
Subfamily: †Saltasaurinae
Genus: †Loricosaurus
von Huene, 1929
Type species
† Loricosaurus noricus
von Huene, 1929

Loricosaurus (meaning "armour lizard") is a genus of sauropod represented by a single species. It is a titanosaurian that lived near the end of the Late Cretaceous period, approximately 71 million years ago in the late Campanian or early Maastrichtian. Found in the province of Neuquen, Argentina in the Colorado River or Allen Formation. Due to the presence of armour, at first it was thought that it was an ankylosaur, but today it is considered to be the armour of a titanosaur.

Armour

The armour of Loricosaurus has caused some controversy. When Huene first described it, he considered it to be from an ankylosaur. Later, it was discovered to not belong to ankylosaurs, but to belong to titanosaurs.[1] Now it is considered to possibly belong to Neuquensaurus or Saltasaurus.[2]

Species

In 1929 von Huene described Loricosaurus based on some armour osteoderms found in Argentina. When he named Loricosaurus he also named two species. One species, Loricosaurus noricus, (the type species) is still valid, but the other, Loricosaurus scutatus, is now considered a synonym of Neuquensaurus.[2] Loricosaurus noricus might also be a synonym of Neuquensaurus australis or Saltasaurus loricatus rendering Loricosaurus redundant.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Holtz, Thomas R Jr. (2011) Dinosaurs: The Most Complete,Up-to-date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers Of All Ages, Winter 2010 Appendix.
  2. 1 2 3 "Loricosaurus". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 20 May 2013.


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