Ibirania

I-be-ran-e-ah.
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Harper Gray

Paleoartist

Harper Grey combines artistic talent with scientific precision to bring extinct creatures and environments back to life. Collaborating closely with paleontologists

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Name

Ibirania ‭(‬Tree Wanderer‭)‬.

Phonetic

I-be-ran-e-ah.

Named By

Bruno A.‭ ‬Navarro,‭ ‬Aline Marcele Ghilardi,‭ ‬Tito Aureliano,‭ ‬Ver�nica D�ez D�az,‭ ‬Kamila L.N.‭ ‬Bandeira,‭ ‬Andr� Cattaruzzi,‭ ‬Fabiano Vidoi Iori,‭ ‬Ariel M.‭ ‬Martine,‭ ‬Alberto B.‭ ‬Carvalho,‭ ‬Luiz E.‭ ‬Anelli,‭ ‬Marcelo Adorna Fernandes‭ & ‬Hussam Zaher‭ ‬-‭ ‬2022.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Saurischia,‭ ‬Sauropoda,‭ ‬Titanosauria,‭ ‬Lithostrotia,‭ ‬Saltasauridae,‭ ‬Saltasaurinae.

Diet

Herbivore.

Species

I.‭ ‬parva‭

Size

Holotype estimated to have been about‭ ‬5.7‭ ‬meters long.

Known locations

Brazil‭ ‬-S�o Jos� do Rio Preto Formation.

Time Period

Santonian to Campanian of the Cretaceous.

Fossil representation

Partial post cranial skeletal remains.

In Depth

       Ibirania is a genus of titanosaurian dinosaur that lived in South America during the late Cretaceous.‭ ‬While South America is known to have at times been home to some truly giant titanosaurs,‭ ‬Ibirania is at the extreme polar opposite of the size scale.‭ ‬Though incomplete,‭ ‬reconstructions of the holotype individual‭ ‬suggest Ibirania was barely six meters long.‭

       Dwarf titanosaurs are not unknown,‭ ‬Magyarosaurus and Europasaurus from Europe are both estimated to have only been about six meters long.‭ ‬However,‭ ‬at the time these dinosaurs lived,‭ ‬Europe was essentially a large island chain,‭ ‬and the small size of these dinosaurs is thought to have been a result of evolution pushed by insular dwarfism.‭ ‬Ibirania however lived on a continent that was thought to have been a relatively large land mass,‭ ‬even in the late Cretaceous.‭ ‬So could it be there was something about the geology of ancient South America that we don’t yet know,‭ ‬or was there another factor responsible for Ibirania growing much smaller than its giant relatives and neighbours‭? ‬At the time of writing,‭ ‬no one can be really sure.

       Small size aside,‭ ‬study of the cervical vertebrae of Ibirania has confirmed the presence of an avian-like air sac system for respiration.‭ ‬The presence of such respiratory development in dinosaurs has long been theorized,‭ ‬but this discovery in Ibirania helps to shed more light on this area of dinosaur biology.

Further reading

-‭ ‬A new nanoid titanosaur‭ (‬Dinosauria:‭ ‬Sauropoda‭) ‬from the Upper Cretaceous of Brazil.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Ameghiniana.‭ ‬59‭ (‬5‭)‬:‭ ‬317‭–‬354.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Bruno A.‭ ‬Navarro,‭ ‬Aline Marcele Ghilardi,‭ ‬Tito Aureliano,‭ ‬Ver�nica D�ez D�az,‭ ‬Kamila L.N.‭ ‬Bandeira,‭ ‬Andr� Cattaruzzi,‭ ‬Fabiano Vidoi Iori,‭ ‬Ariel M.‭ ‬Martine,‭ ‬Alberto B.‭ ‬Carvalho,‭ ‬Luiz E.‭ ‬Anelli,‭ ‬Marcelo Adorna Fernandes‭ & ‬Hussam Zaher‭ ‬-‭ ‬2022.

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