Turiasaurus

Name: Turiasaurus ‭(‬Turia lizard‭)‬.
Phonetic: Tu-re-ah-sore-us.
Named By: R.‭ ‬Royo-Torres,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬Cobos‭ & ‬L.‭ ‬Alcal�‭ ‬-‭ ‬2006.
Synonyms: Riodevasaurus‭ (‬nomen nudum‭).
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Saurichia,‭ ‬Sauropoda,‭ ‬Turiasauria.
Species: T.‭ ‬riodevensis‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Estimated to be roughly‭ ‬30‭ ‬meters long.‭ ‬Skull about‭ ‬70‭ ‬centimetres long.
Known locations: Spain‭ ‬-‭ ‬Teruel Province‭ ‬-‭ ‬Villar del Arzobispo Formation.
Time period: Late Jurassic/early Cretaceous‭ (‬Tithonian/Berriasian‭) ‬boundary.
Fossil representation: Partial skull and post cranial remains,‭ ‬making up almost half of the post cranial skeleton.




       Without doubt,‭ ‬Turiasaurus is one of the largest sauropod dinosaurs to ever roam the European continent.‭ ‬Early estimates of Turiasaurus place the potential length of this dinosaur beyond thirty-five meters,‭ ‬though most now consider Turiasaurus to have been around thirty meters long,‭ ‬but still establishing Turiasaurus as one of the biggest.‭ ‬Despite being around thirty meters long however,‭ ‬Turiasaurus had a proportionately small head with a skull about seventy centimetres long.
       Turiasaurus was once informally named as Riodevasaurus,‭ ‬after Riodeva in Spain,‭ ‬but this is now a nomen nudum.‭ ‬The name Turiasaurus means‭ ‘‬Turia lizard‭’ ‬but it should be pointed out that‭ ‘‬Turia‭’ ‬is the Latinised form of Teruel,‭ ‬the name of the Province where the first Turiasaurus fossils were found.‭ ‬Turiasaurus has also become the type genus of the Turiasaria‭ (‬hence the similar name‭) ‬which also includes the genera Losillasaurus,‭ ‬Galveosaurus and Zby.‭ ‬This is quite odd as usually the first named genus is used to establish the group name,‭ ‬and in this instance it would be Losillasaurus which was named in‭ ‬2001.

Further reading
-‭ ‬A Giant European Dinosaur and a New Sauropod Clade.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Science‭ ‬314:‭ ‬1925-1927.‭ ‬-‭ ‬R.‭ ‬Royo-Torres,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬Cobos‭ & ‬L.‭ ‬Alcal�‭ ‬-‭ ‬2006.
- The sauropod Turiasaurus riodevensis in the Late Jurassic of Portugal. - Journal of vertebrate Paleontology, 29. - O. Mateus - 2009.



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