Cathartesaura
Name:
Cathartesaura
(Cathartes lizard).
Phonetic: Kaf-art-e-sore-rah.
Named By: Pablo A. Gallina & Sebasti�n
Apestegu�a - 2005.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Sauropoda, Diplodocoidea, Rebbachisauridae.
Species: C. anaerobica
(type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Unavailable.
Known locations: Argentina, Rio Negro Province
- Huincul Formation.
Time period: Cenomanian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial post cranial skeleton
including limbs and vertebrae.
The
name of the dinosaur Cathartesaura can be quite
confusing. Broken
down it can read as ‘Cathartes lizard’, with ‘Cathartes’ a
reference to the Cathartes genus which includes the
modern day turkey
vulture. The full genus and species name of the Turkey vulture
however is Cathartes aura, and when you remove
the space between the
genus and species name you are actually left with Cathartesaura,
the
name of this dinosaur genus. The species name is in honour of the
ANAEROBICOS S. A. corporation which provided field and laboratory
support for the team working upon the Cathartesaura.
Cathartesaura
has been identified as a rebacchisaurid sauropod
dinosaur upon the
basis of vertebrae similarity with other rebacchisaurids. The
rebacchisaurids themselves were a sub group of the diplodocoid
sauropods, though with the exception of the rebbachisaurids these all
seem to have died out during the early Cretaceous, and the only
representatives of the Diplodoidea that are known to have survived
into the late Cretaceous are the rebbachisaurids.
Cathartesaura
is known from the Huincal Formation of Argentina. This is the same
formation that the colossal Argentinosaurus,
a titanosaur that was
many times larger than Cathartesaura, is known
from. Potential
predatory threats to Cathartesaura could have come
from many
dinosaurs, including the abelisaurids
Skorpiovenator
and Ilokelesia
as well as the carcharodontosaurid
Mapusaurus.
Further reading
- Cathartesaura anaerobica gen. et sp. nov.,
a new
rebbachisaurid (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Huincul
Formation (Upper Cretaceous), R�o Negro, Argentina. -
Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, n.s. 7(2):
153-166. - Pablo A. Gallina & Sebasti�n Apestegu�a
-
2005.
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