Abditosaurus

Ab-di-to-sor-us.
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Lilah Turner

Evolutionary Biologist

Lilah Turner investigates how prehistoric animals adapted to changing environments, offering insights into evolution's mechanisms.

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Name

Abditosaurus ‭(‬forgotten lizard‭)‬.

Phonetic

Ab-di-to-sor-us.

Named By

Bernat Vila,‭ ‬Albert Sell�s,‭ ‬Miguel Moreno-Azanza,‭ ‬Novella L.‭ ‬Razzolini,‭ ‬Alejandro Gil-Delgado,‭ ‬Jos� Ignacio Canudo‭ & ‬�ngel Galobart‭ ‬-‭ ‬2022.

Classification

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

Diet

Herbivore.

Species

A.‭ ‬kuehnei

Size

Holotype roughly estimated to have been around‭ ‬17.5meters long.

Known locations

Spain‭ ‬-‭ ‬Tremp group/Conques Formation.

Time Period

Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous.

Fossil representation

Partial post cranial skeleton.

In Depth

       Fossils of Abditosaurus were originally discovered in‭ ‬1954‭ ‬and then described in‭ ‬1956‭ ‬as belonging to Hypselosaurus.‭ ‬Further study later in the twentieth century however began to see the Hypselosaurus‭ ‬genus‭ ‬as a dubious one,‭ ‬and many fossils that were assigned to new genera.‭ ‬A fresh expedition to the‭ ‬1954‭ ‬discovery site between‭ ‬2012‭ ‬and‭ ‬2014‭ ‬discovered additional‭ ‬fossil remains that were‭ ‬then described in‭ ‬2017.‭ ‬In‭ ‬2022‭ ‬a new genus,‭ ‬Abditosaurus,‭ ‬was erected to include these fossils.

       Abditosaurus is a genus of titanosaurian dinosaur that lived in Western Europe during the late Cretaceous.‭ ‬More specifically Abditosaurus is a saltasaurine titanosaur.‭ ‬One key discovery about Abditosaurus is that the neck and back vertebrae were found partially articulated,‭ ‬a rare discovery in sauropods/titanosaurs.‭ ‬The estimated size of the Abditosaurus holotype has revealed this dinosaur to have been quite large when compared to other European titanosaur genera‭ (‬e.g.‭ ‬Magyarosaurus‭) ‬living in the Late Cretaceous.

Further reading

-‭ ‬Pr�sence de Dinosauriens dans le Cr�tac� sup�rieur du bassin de Tremp‭ (‬province de L�rida,‭ ‬Espagne‭)‬.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Compte rendu sommaire des s�ances de la Soci�t� g�ologique de France.‭ ‬14:‭ ‬261‭–‬262‭ ‬-‭ ‬A.‭ ‬F.‭ ‬de Lapparent‭ & ‬E.‭ ‬Aguirre‭ ‬-‭ ‬1956.

-‭ ‬Systematic study of the historical material of Upper Cretaceous reptiles from the Tremp Basin‭ (‬Catalonia,‭ ‬Spain‭) ‬housed at the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales‭ (‬Madrid‭)‬.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Journal of Iberian Geology.‭ ‬43‭ (‬2‭)‬:‭ ‬217‭–‬233‭ ‬-‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Mart�n Jim�nez,‭ ‬B.‭ ‬S�nchez-Chill�n,‭ ‬Fernando Escaso,‭ ‬Pedro Mocho,‭ ‬Iv�n Narv�ez,Francisco Ortega‭ & ‬Ad�n P�rez-Garc�a‭ ‬-‭ ‬2017.

-‭ ‬A titanosaurian sauropod with Gondwanan affinities in the latest Cretaceous of Europe.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Nature Ecology‭ & ‬Evolution.‭ ‬6‭ (‬3‭)‬:‭ ‬288‭–‬296.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Bernat Vila,‭ ‬Albert Sell�s,‭ ‬Miguel Moreno-Azanza,‭ ‬Novella L.‭ ‬Razzolini,‭ ‬Alejandro Gil-Delgado,‭ ‬Jos� Ignacio Canudo‭ & ‬�ngel Galobart‭ ‬-‭ ‬2022.

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT