Adamantisaurus
Name:
Adamantisaurus
(Adamantina lizard).
Phonetic: Ad-ah-man-te-nah-sore-us.
Named By: Rodrigo Santucci and Reinaldo Bertini -
2006.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Sauropoda, Titanosauria.
Species: A. mezzalirai
(type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Unknown due to lack of remains.
Known locations: Brazil - Adamantina Formation.
Time period: Turonian to Maastricthian of the
Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Six caudal (tail)
vertebrae.
Remains
of Brazilian dinosaurs are often noted as being incomplete (for
example, the increasingly famous spinosaurid
Oxalaia
was named from
only the tip of the snout), and Adamantisaurus
was no exception to
this since it was named from only six caudal vertebrae. These six
vertebrae were originally written about in 1959 by Sergio
Mezzalira, but were not formally named as a genus until 2006. The
genus name is in reference to the Admantina Formation where the
holotype remains were discovered, while the type species name is in
honour of Sergio Mezzalira.
Because
it is only named from caudal vertebrae it is impossible to establish a
size for Adamantisaurus as well as identify other
features such as the
presence of bony armour called scutes in the skin which are seen in at
least some titanosaurs. Despite this, Adamantisaurus
has been
considered to possibly be similar to genera such as Aeolosaurus
and
Trigonosaurus.
Other sauropods
from the Admantina Formation that
Adamantisaurus may have lived alongside include Antarctosaurus,
Gondwanatitan
and Maxakalisaurus.
On
a side note, care should be taken not to confuse the sauropod genus
Adamantisaurus with the crocodylomorph Adamantinasuchus,
which is
also known from the same formation.
Further reading
- A new titanosaur from western S�o Paulo State, Upper Cretaceous
Bauru Group, south-east Brazil - Rodrigo Santucci and Reinaldo
Bertini - 2006.
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