| Sidersaura | |
|---|---|
| |
| A restoration of Sidersaura marae | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Order: | †Saurischia |
| Suborder: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Family: | †Rebbachisauridae |
| Genus: | †Sidersaura |
| Species: | †S. marae |
| Binomial name | |
| Sidersaura Lerzo, 2024 | |
Sidersaura marae (meaning "star lizard" is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Argentina discovered in 2024.
Description[]
Sidersaura was a very large rebbachisaurid. Aside from the controversial giant sauropod Maraapunisaurus which may be a rebbachisaurid, Sidersaura may represent one of the largest known members of this group, at around 18–20 metres (59–66 ft) long and 15 tons in weight
The left femur of Sidersaura is 1.55 metres (5.1 ft) long, thus representing the largest known rebbachisaurid femur; other large femurs include those of Limaysaurus, at 1.44 metres (4.7 ft) long, and Comahuesaurus, at 1.13 metres (3.7 ft) long. The femur of Amphicoelias, a diplodocid from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation of the United States estimated at 18 metres (59 ft) in length, was similar in size, at 1.52 meters(5.0 ft).
Discovery[]
The Sidersaura fossil material was discovered in 2012 in sediments from the base of the Huincul Formation (Barda Atravesada de Las Campanas locality) in Cañadón de las Campanas near Villa El Chocón of Neuquén Province, Argentina. The bones were then excavated over the course of five years, during which the holotype of the giant carcharodontosaurid Meraxes was also found.
The holotype specimen, MMCh-PV 70, belonging to a mature individual, consists of a braincase fused to the skull roof and partial neurocranium, partial dorsal vertebrae, fourteen caudal vertebrae with some haemal arches, a partial left scapula, right pubic peduncle, part of both tibiae and fibulae, and several bones from the feet, including metatarsals, phalanges, ungual phalanges
Classification[]
Lerzo et al. (2024) recovered Sidersaura as a rebbachisaurid member of the sauropod clade Diplodocoidea, as the sister taxon to Itapeuasaurus in a clade also containing Zapalasaurus. This group is not particularly closely related to Limaysaurus and Cathartesaura (sometimes recovered in a clade called Limaysaurinae), the two other rebbachisaurids named from the Huincul Formation. Sidersaura was one of the last rebbachisaurids known before the clade went extinct at the end of the Turonian age
Gallery[]
