Patagosaurus
Name:
Patagosaurus
(Patagonian lizard).
Phonetic: Pat-ah-goe-sore-us.
Named By: José Bonaparte - 1979.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Sauropodomorpha, Sauropoda.
Species: P. fariasi (type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: 15 meters long.
Known locations: Argentina.
Time period: Callovian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Many individuals.
Patagosaurus is one of the earliest sauropods known to have roamed South America, however it’s usually the Cretaceous genera such as Amargasaurus, Saltasaurus and Argentinosaurus that usually get all of the attention. At eighteen meters long Patagosaurus was big for a mid-Jurassic era sauropod, yet it was not as advanced as the sauropods that began appearing in the late Jurassic. Instead Patagosaurus is regarded as being a more basal sauropod that is similar to other such as the European/North African Cetiosaurus and the Indian Barapasaurus. In fact all three of these sauropods are sometimes included in the same group called the Cetiosauridae, however not all palaeontologists are convinced that these three sauropods should be placed so close together.
Further reading
- Dinosaurs: a Jurassic assemblage from Patagonia. - Science
205:1377-1378. - J. F. Bonaparte - 1979.
- A Dentary of Patagosaurus (Sauropoda) from the
Middle Jurassic of
Patagonia. - Ameghiniana 40 (3): 425–32. - O. W. M. Rauhut - 2003.
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