Name:
Rayososaurus
(Rayoso lizard - after the Rayoso Formation).
Phonetic: Ya-o-so-soer-us.
Named By: Jose Fernando Bonaparte - 1996.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Sauropodomorpha, Sauropoda, Diplodocoidea,
Rebbachisauridae.
Species: R. agrionensis
(type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Uncertain, but very roughly estimated to be
about 6 meters long.
Known locations: Argentina, Patagonia - Rayoso
Formation.
Time period: Cenomanian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial post cranial remains
including Scapula, femur and partial fibula.
A very small sauropod, Rayososaurus is considered to be very similar to another genus called Rebbachisaurus. Because Rayososaurus is from South America and Rebbachisaurus is from Africa, this has given rise to the notion that these two continents were joined for much longer than previously thought back in the Cretaceous.
Further reading
- Cretaceous tetrapods of Argentina. - M�nchner Geowissenschaften
Abhandlungen 30:73-130. - J. F. Bonaparte - 1996.