Berthasaura leopoldinae (meaning "Bertha's lizard") is an extinct genus of noasaurid ceratosaurian Paraná, Brazil during the Late Cretaceous period.
Etymology[]
The generic name Berthasaura refers to the scientist and women's activist Bertha Maria Júlia Lutz, while the specific name honors Maria Leopoldina, the first empress of Brazil.
Discovery[]
The holotype of Berthasaura(Specimen MN 7821-V) was found in Late Cretaceous rocks of the Goio-Erê Formation dating to 85 million years ago; The genus name(Berthasaura) was named after the scientist and women's activist Bertha Maria Júlia Lutz, while the specific name(Leopoldinae) honors Brazil's first empress, Maria Leopoldina.[1]
Description[]
The holotype, MN 7821-V, is a nearly complete skeleton and is one of the most complete dinosaurs known from the Cretaceous Brazil, preserving the most complete axial series of any noasaurid known to date.
Berthasaura was extremely unusual for a Ceratosaurian, sporting a thick beak at the end of its snout, hinting at a herbivorous diet, and due to the holotype being labeled as immature, it was most likely herbivorous throughout its entire life, unlike Limusaurus which only recieved that diet by reaching adulthood.[2]
Classification[]
Where Berthasaura fits in the family tree, according to de Souza and colleagues.
Berthasaura, despite its similarities with more derived noasaurs, was placed as a basal Noasaurid[3].
Paleoenvironment[]
Berthasaura lived in the Goio-Erê formation, which was an ancient desert also home to the pterosaurs Caiuajara and Keresdrakon, as well as the the Gueragama.[4]