Lourinhasaurus
Encyclopedia
Lourinhasaurus was a sauropod dinosaur
genus
hailing from Late Jurassic
strata from two localities in Estremadura
, Portugal
. It was described by Dantas et al. in 1998. Its type species is L. alenquerensis, named for the locality of Alenquer.
The first find in 1957, a partial fossil skeleton found near Alenquer, was dubbed "Apatosaurus" alenquerensis by Lapparent and Zbyszewski. However, the find of another partial skeleton, including a tooth and 100 gastroliths, in co-eval strata near the town of Lourinhã
in 1983, allowed the identification of the fossils as a distinct form from Apatosaurus
, hence the generic name referring the new locality while the specific descriptor was carried over from the old designation.
Lourinhasaurus is an herbivorous dinosaur measuring an estimated 17 meters (56 feet) in length. It's characterized by the morphology of its first seven dorsal vertebrae with relatively high, bifurcated neural apophyses; also, the posterior cervical vertebrae have prominent ventral longitudinal keels on their centra. L. alenquerensis due to the lack of a skull is only classifiable as an eusauropod and it was found by Upchurch (2004) to be the sister taxon to Neosauropoda
. It's thought it may have resembled Camarasaurus
, albeit with proportionately longer forelimbs.
In the meantime a third fossil sauropod skeleton was discovered. It had passing similarities to Lourinhasaurus, thus being referred to the genus at first, but later was recognized as different enough to warrant a description under the genus Dinheirosaurus
. For some time there was the possibility that these genera were synonymous, but further phylogenetic analysis dispelled such a notion.
Lourinhasaurus should not be confused with Lourinhanosaurus
, a theropod dinosaur also found near Lourinhã.
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
hailing from Late Jurassic
Late Jurassic
The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time from 161.2 ± 4.0 to 145.5 ± 4.0 million years ago , which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata. In European lithostratigraphy, the name "Malm" indicates rocks of Late Jurassic age...
strata from two localities in Estremadura
Estremadura
Estremadura may refer to:* Estremadura Province * Estremadura Province * Lisboa VR, a Portuguese wine region called Estremadura until 2009...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. It was described by Dantas et al. in 1998. Its type species is L. alenquerensis, named for the locality of Alenquer.
The first find in 1957, a partial fossil skeleton found near Alenquer, was dubbed "Apatosaurus" alenquerensis by Lapparent and Zbyszewski. However, the find of another partial skeleton, including a tooth and 100 gastroliths, in co-eval strata near the town of Lourinhã
Lourinhã
Lourinhã is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 147.2 km² and a total population of 24,601 inhabitants. The seat of the municipality is the village of Lourinhã, with a population of 8,800 inhabitants....
in 1983, allowed the identification of the fossils as a distinct form from Apatosaurus
Apatosaurus
Apatosaurus , also known by the popular but scientifically deprecated synonym Brontosaurus, is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived from about 154 to 150 million years ago, during the Jurassic Period . It was one of the largest land animals that ever existed, with an average length of and a...
, hence the generic name referring the new locality while the specific descriptor was carried over from the old designation.
Lourinhasaurus is an herbivorous dinosaur measuring an estimated 17 meters (56 feet) in length. It's characterized by the morphology of its first seven dorsal vertebrae with relatively high, bifurcated neural apophyses; also, the posterior cervical vertebrae have prominent ventral longitudinal keels on their centra. L. alenquerensis due to the lack of a skull is only classifiable as an eusauropod and it was found by Upchurch (2004) to be the sister taxon to Neosauropoda
Neosauropoda
Neosauropoda is a division-level clade of sauropods within Dinosauria, and consists of the group leading to Diplodocoidea and Macronaria. Haplocanthosaurus was a typical basal neosauropod from around 150 million years ago, in the Late Jurassic...
. It's thought it may have resembled Camarasaurus
Camarasaurus
Camarasaurus meaning 'chambered lizard', referring to the hollow chambers in its vertebrae was a genus of quadrupedal, herbivorous dinosaurs. It was the most common of the giant sauropods to be found in North America...
, albeit with proportionately longer forelimbs.
In the meantime a third fossil sauropod skeleton was discovered. It had passing similarities to Lourinhasaurus, thus being referred to the genus at first, but later was recognized as different enough to warrant a description under the genus Dinheirosaurus
Dinheirosaurus
Dinheirosaurus is a genus of diplodocid sauropod dinosaur. It has been found in the upper section of the Late Jurassic strata of the Camadas de Alcobaça Formation located in central-western Portugal at Porto Dinheiro, Lourinhã...
. For some time there was the possibility that these genera were synonymous, but further phylogenetic analysis dispelled such a notion.
Lourinhasaurus should not be confused with Lourinhanosaurus
Lourinhanosaurus
Lourinhanosaurus was a carnivorous theropod dinosaur genus that lived during the Late Jurassic Period . Its first remains were found at Peralta, near Lourinhã, Portugal in 1982, but were not described until 1998, by Portuguese paleontologist Octávio Mateus.Its type species is L...
, a theropod dinosaur also found near Lourinhã.