| Thanos Temporal range: Late Cretaceous | |
|---|---|
| |
| An artist's illustration of Thanos | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Theropoda |
| Family: | †Abelisauridae |
| Tribe: | †Carnotaurini |
| Genus: | †Thanos Delcourt and Iori, 2018 |
| Species: | †T. simonattoi |
| Binomial name | |
| †Thanos simonattoi Delcourt and Iori, 2018 | |
Thanos (named after the well-known Marvel villain) is an genus of abelisaurid dinosaur that lived during Santonian stage of the late Cretaceous Period in what is now Brazil. The type species is Thanos simonattoi.
Discovery and naming[]
Thanos was discovered in 2014 after Sérgio Luis Simonatto and a team from the Museu de Paleontologia "Prof. Antonio Celso de Arruda Campos" reported the front of the theropod's axis near São José do Rio Preto. Many years later, the team was able to uncover the back part of the same individual's vertebrae.
In 2018, the specimen was coined as Thanos simonattoi, with the generic name referring to Marvel's Thanos, who had just starred in a high-grossing film that released on the same year that the dinosaur was named. The character's name itself is derived from the Greek word θάνατος, thanatos, which roughly translates to "death". Meanwhile, the dinosaur's specific name honours Sérgio Luis Simonatto.
Description[]
A depiction of T. simonattoi by paleoartist Paulo Leite
The length of Thanos has been estimated at grow as much as; 5.5 to 6.5 meters (18–21 feet), making it a medium-sized theropod.
Although the holotype of Thanos is known to be highly incomplete, it still has some diagnostic features that separate it from other abelisaurs such as a keel that was well developed, a pair of lateral and tiny foramina which were both separated by an extremely wide wall on the centrum's lateral sides, and prezygapophyseal spinodiapophyseal fossae that were well developed and deep. Because of these features, it has been suggested that Thanos was more derived than other abelisaurids during this time.
Thanos in its natural habitat. Credit: Delcourt et Iori
Paleoecology[]
Thanos shared its environment with an undescribed larger theropod believed to be a Megaraptoran of which a vertebra, specimen MPMA 08–0003/94, has been found at Ibira. This would imply that Thanos was likely not the apex and/or dominant predator of its habitat.
Phylogeny[]
In Thanos' phylogenetic analysis, Delcourt and Lori (2018) recovered Thanos in a large polytomy with other Brachyrostrans within the Abelisauridae.
Other Wikis[]
References[]
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0895981121003977
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344632280_An_Early_Cretaceous_theropod_dinosaur_from_Brazil_sheds_light_on_the_cranial_evolution_of_the_Abelisauridae
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329034485_A_new_Abelisauridae_Dinosauria_Theropoda_from_Sao_Jose_do_Rio_Preto_Formation_Upper_Cretaceous_of_Brazil_and_comments_on_the_Bauru_Group_fauna
- https://www.cinemablend.com/pop/2462094/avengers-thanos-has-a-real-life-dinosaur-named-after-him
- https://www.cbr.com/thanos-dinosaur-name/
- https://comicbook.com/marvel/news/thanos-dinosaur/
- https://cosmicbook.news/marvel-thanos-dinosaur
- https://www.flipscience.ph/prehistory/theropod-titan-new-dinosaur-named-after-marvels-thanos/
- https://www.mindat.org/taxon-P379317.html
- https://medium.com/prehistoric-tales/the-rulers-of-the-cretaceous-south-31423abe7b49
- https://jglobal.jst.go.jp/en/detail?JGLOBAL_ID=202002289877342069