Oxalaia
Name: Oxalaia
(After the deity Oxal�).
Phonetic: Ox-ah-lie-ah.
Named By: Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner, Sergio
A.K. Azevedeo, Elaine B. Machado, Luciana B. Carvalho
& Deise D.R. Henriques - 2011.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Theropoda, Spinosauridae, Spinosaurinae.
Species: O. quilombensis (type).
Diet: Piscivore.
Size: Estimated between 12 and 14 meters
long.
Known locations: Brazil, Cajual Island -
Alc�ntara Formation.
Time period: Cenomanian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Single fused premaxillae,
fragment of the left maxilla.
Although
only currently known from partial snout remains, it is still enough
material to declare Oxalaia a spinosaurid
due to
the unique nature of
the snout. Spinosaurid teeth were also known from the fossil site
before the current material was discovered, and may have belonged
to Oxalaia in life. With its total length
estimated between twelve
and fourteen metres, Oxalaia was smaller than Spinosaurus,
yet
larger than Baryonx
and probably also Suchomimus.
Also if the larger
estimate of fourteen metres ever proves correct then Oxalaia
may have
been the one of the longest South American theropod dinosaurs, being
just a bit
bigger than the lowest estimate of Giganotosaurus.
The
species name O. quilombensis is in reference to
the quilombo
settlements on Cajual Island that were originally built by escaped
slaves. Along with Irritator,
the discovery of Oxalaia
is further
proof that Africa and South America were once joined during the
Mesozoic, something that allowed the spinosaurids to spread over the
two continents.
1 - Spinosaurus, 2 - Baryonyx, 3 - Ichthyovenator, 4 - Oxalaia, 5 - Suchomimus, 6 - Irritator.
Further reading
- A new dinosaur (Theropoda, Spinosauridae) from the Cretaceous
(Cenomanian) Alc�ntara Formation, Cajual Island, Brazil. - Anais da
Academia Brasileira de Ci�ncias 83(1):99-108. - A. W. A. Kellner, S. A.
K. Azevedo, E. B. Machado, L. B. Carvalho & D. D. R. Henriques
- 2011.
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