Marisaurus
Name:
Marisaurus
(Mari lizard).
Phonetic: Mah-re-sore-us.
Named By: M. Sadiq Malkani - 2006.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Sauropodomorpha, Sauropoda, Titanosauria,
Balochisauridae?
Species: M. jeffi (type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Uncertain due to lack of remains.
Known locations: Pakistan, Balochistan - Pab
Formation.
Time period: Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Described from caudal
(tail) vertebrae. Further vertebrae, partial hind limbs and
partial skull remains have been attributed to the genus.
In
2006
the palaeontologists M. Sadiq Malkani described five new genera of
titanosaur, Marisaurus, Balochisaurus,
Sulaimanisaurus,
Khetranisaurus
and Pakisaurus,
all from caudal vertebrae. From
these only Marisaurus and Balochisaurus
have had skull remains
attributed to them, and only Marisaurus has
(partial) rear limb
bones attributed to the genus. Marisaurus and Balochisaurus
were also
classified into a new group created by Malkani, the Balochisauridae,
which was created along with the Pakisauridae for the other three
genera of titanosaur named by Malkani in 2006.
In
2006 Malkani also
named a new abelisaurid theropod called Vitakridrinda
from the same
formation as these titanosaurs.
Further reading
- Biodiversity of saurischian dinosaurs from the latest Cretaceous
Park of Pakistan, M. Sadiq Malkani - 2006.
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