Turiasaurus
| Turiasaurus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Mounted replica skeleton | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Clade: | †Turiasauria |
| Genus: | †Turiasaurus Royo Torres et al. 2006 |
| Species: | †T. riodevensis |
| Binomial name | |
| †Turiasaurus riodevensis Royo Torres et al. 2006 | |
Turiasaurus (meaning "Turia lizard") is a genus of sauropod dinosaurs. It is known from a multiple fossil specimens representing the species Turiasaurus riodevensis, found in the Kimmeridgian Villar del Arzobispo Formation of Teruel, Spain.
Description
[edit]
It is believed to be the largest dinosaur ever found in Europe, and is among the largest dinosaurs known. It was originally estimated at over 30 metres (98 ft), possibly around 36–39 metres (118–128 ft) in length and with a weight of 40–48 t (44–53 short tons).[1] More recent estimates suggest a length of 25–30 metres (82–98 ft) in length, but a comparable weight of 40–51 t (44–56 short tons).[2][3][4][5] The length of its skull is 70 centimetres, which is not too large. According to the paleontologist Luis Alcalá, this is because a larger head might have caused Turiasaurus to break its neck.[6] Its femur was some 2.2 metres (7.2 ft) in length.[7]
Phylogenetic analysis shows that Turiasaurus lies outside of the Neosauropoda division and belongs to a new clade, Turiasauria, together with Losillasaurus and Galvesaurus.[1]
History
[edit]
Fragmentary remains of this animal, including an articulated left forelimb (holotype), skull fragments, teeth, vertebrae and ribs, have been found in terrestrial deposits of the Villar del Arzobispo Formation of Riodeva (Teruel Province, Spain). A forelimb from Portugal[8] is now seen as Zby atlanticus.[9] The type species, Turiasaurus riodevensis, was formally described by Royo-Torres, Cobos & Alcala, in 2006.[1] In the early 2010s, excavations were made east of Madrid that uncovered the most complete fossil of such creatures in the whole world.[10] The material referred to Turiasaurus comes from multiple individuals across multiple different localities.[11][12]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 Royo-Torres, R., Cobos, A., and Alcalá, L. (2006). "A Giant European Dinosaur and a New Sauropod Clade." Science 314: 1925-1927.
- ↑ Paul, G.S., 2010, The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs, Princeton University Press.
- ↑ Agusti, Jordi; Alcalá, Luis; Santos-Cubedo, Andrés (2024-06-19). "Did large foraging migrations favor the enormous body size of giant sauropods? The case of Turiasaurus". Spanish Journal of Palaeontology. 39: 110. doi:10.7203/sjp.28176.
- ↑ Alcala, Luis (2019). Dinosaurios de la península ibérica. Susaeta.
- ↑ Benson, Roger B. J.; Hunt, Gene; Carrano, Matthew T.; Campione, Nicolás (2018). "Cope's rule and the adaptive landscape of dinosaur body size evolution". Palaeontology. 61 (1): 13–48. doi:10.1111/pala.12329. ISSN 1475-4983.
- ↑ "El Turiasaurus". El Mundo. 2012.
- ↑ Salvador, Pablo Prósper Salvador Prósper; Lluna, Francesc Gasco (2024-12-16). "Aplicación de las nuevas metodologías de reconstrucción postural en dinosaurios saurópodos. La problemática de Losillasaurus giganteus". Zubía. Revista de ciencias (in Spanish) (42): 203–208. doi:10.66737/ier.zub.73. ISSN 3045-963X.
- ↑ Mateus, O. (2009). The sauropod Turiasaurus riodevensis in the Late Jurassic of Portugal. Journal of vertebrate Paleontology, 29.
- ↑ Octávio Mateus, Philip D. Mannion & Paul Upchurch (2014) Zby atlanticus, a new turiasaurian sauropod (Dinosauria, Eusauropoda) from the Late Jurassic of Portugal, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 34:3, 618-634, DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2013.822875
- ↑ "Největší dinosaurus moc nemyslel, zato pořádně jedl". excavations. seznam. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
- ↑ Royo-Torres, Rafael; Upchurch, Paul (2012-09-01). "The cranial anatomy of the sauropod Turiasaurus riodevensis and implications for its phylogenetic relationships". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 10 (3): 553–583. doi:10.1080/14772019.2011.598577. ISSN 1477-2019.
- ↑ "PBDB Taxon". paleobiodb.org. Archived from the original on 2025-01-19. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
External links
[edit]- BBC report on Turiasaurus
- Fact-Sheet with picture (in german)
- Fundación Conjunto Paleontológico de Teruel
