Herbstosaurus

Name: Herbstosaurus (Herbst lizard).
Phonetic: Herb-st-oh-sore-us.
Named By: Rodolfo Magín Casamiquela - 1974.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea, Dsungaripteroidea.
Species: H. pigmaeus (type).
Type: Unknown.
Size: Unlnown due to incomplete fossil matereial.
Known locations: Argentina - Vaca Muerta Formtion.
Time period: Tithonian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Sacrum, fragmentary pelvis and both femurs. When realised to be a pterosaur, other fragmentary remains found at the dig site and belonging to a then unidentified pterosaur were also attributed to the genus.

       It was once thought that Herbstosaurus represented one of the first pterosaurs of the more advanced Pterodactyloidea, however it is now realised that it recovered from a Vaca Muerta Formation which dated as being from the Tithonian. Herbstosaurus has continued to cause some disagreement between palaeontologists as to its exact position within the pterosauria.
       Herbstosaurus was described as a small theropod dinosaur until 1978 when the palaeontologist John Ostrom first put forward the idea that it was actually a pterosaur.

Further reading
- Herbstosaurus pigmaeus (Coeluria, Compsognathidae) n. gen. n. sp. del Jurásic medio del Neuquén (Patagonia septentrional). Uno de los más pequeños dinosaurios conocidos [Herbstosaurus pigmaeus (Coeluria, Compsognathidae) n. gen. n. sp. from the Middle Jurassic of Neuquén (northern Patagonia). One of the smallest known dinosaurs]. - Actas del Primer Congreso Argentino de Paleontologia y Bioestratigrafia, Tucumán 2:87-103. - R. M. Casamiquela - 1975.

Random favourites