Bagualosaurus

Bag-gu-al-o-sor-us.
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Benjamin Gutierrez

Vertebrate Paleontologist

Benjamin Gutierrez is a leading expert on dinosaurs, particularly the mighty theropods. His fieldwork in South America has uncovered new species and provided insights into dinosaur social structures.

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Name

Bagualosaurus ‭(‬strongly built lizard‭)‬.

Phonetic

Bag-gu-al-o-sor-us.

Named By

F.‭ ‬A.‭ ‬Pretto,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬C.‭ ‬Langer‭ & ‬C.‭ ‬L.‭ ‬Schultz‭ ‬-‭ ‬2018.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Saurischia,‭ ‬Sauropodomorpha.

Diet

Herbivore.

Species

B.‭ ‬agudoensis‭

Size

Roughly estimated at about‭ ‬2.5‭ ‬meters long.

Known locations

Brazil‭ ‬-‭ ‬Santa Maria Formation.

Time Period

Carnian of the Triassic.

Fossil representation

Partial skull and lower jaws as well as partial post cranial skeleton including hind leg,‭ ‬pelvis,‭ ‬ribs,‭ ‬as well as dorsal‭ (‬back‭)‬,‭ ‬sacral‭ (‬hip‭) ‬and caudal‭ (‬tail‭) ‬vertebrae.

In Depth

       Bagualosaurus is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived in South America during the late Triassic.‭ ‬Bagualosaurus seems to have been somewhat transitional in form in that the skull and tooth arrangement are like those of later sauropodomorph dinosaurs such as Plateosaurus and Efraasia,‭ ‬yet the main body of Bagualosaurus is more theropod-like,‭ ‬as in earlier sauropodomorphs.‭ ‬The teeth of Bagualosaurus however are clearly those of a herbivore,‭ ‬strongly suggesting that Bagualosaurus was an exclusive plant eater.‭ ‬With the holotype individual of Bagualosaurus estimated at about two and half meters long,‭ ‬Bagualosaurus seems to have been one of the smaller sauropodomorphs.

Further Reading

-‭ ‬A new dinosaur‭ (‬Saurischia:‭ ‬Sauropodomorpha‭) ‬from the Late Triassic of Brazil provides insights on the evolution of sauropodomorph body plan.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society‭ ‬185‭(‬2‭)‬:388-416.‭ ‬-‭ ‬F.‭ ‬A.‭ ‬Pretto,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬C.‭ ‬Langer‭ & ‬C.‭ ‬L.‭ ‬Schultz‭ ‬-‭ ‬2018.

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT