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''Lourinhanosaurus'' (meaning "Lourinhã lizard") was a
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
of
carnivorous A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other ...
theropod Theropoda (; ), whose members are known as theropods, is a dinosaur clade that is characterized by hollow bones and three toes and claws on each limb. Theropods are generally classed as a group of saurischian dinosaurs. They were ancestrally c ...
dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
that lived during the Late
Jurassic Period The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...
(
Kimmeridgian In the geologic timescale, the Kimmeridgian is an age in the Late Jurassic Epoch and a stage in the Upper Jurassic Series. It spans the time between 157.3 ± 1.0 Ma and 152.1 ± 0.9 Ma (million years ago). The Kimmeridgian follows the Oxford ...
/
Tithonian In the geological timescale, the Tithonian is the latest age of the Late Jurassic Epoch and the uppermost stage of the Upper Jurassic Series. It spans the time between 152.1 ± 4 Ma and 145.0 ± 4 Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by ...
) in
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...
. It is one of many large predators discovered at the
Lourinhã Formation The Lourinhã Formation () is a fossil rich geological formation in western Portugal, named for the municipality of Lourinhã. The formation is mostly Late Jurassic in age (Kimmeridgian/Tithonian), with the top of the formation extending into the ...
and probably competed with coeval ''
Torvosaurus gurneyi ''Torvosaurus'' () is a genus of carnivorous megalosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 165 to 148 million years ago during the late Middle and Late Jurassic period (Callovian to Tithonian stages) in what is now Colorado, Portugal, ...
'', ''
Allosaurus europaeus ''Allosaurus'' () is a genus of large carnosaurian theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 145 million years ago during the Late Jurassic epoch (Kimmeridgian to late Tithonian). The name "''Allosaurus''" means "different lizard" alluding to ...
'', and ''
Ceratosaurus ''Ceratosaurus'' (from Greek κέρας/κέρατος, ' meaning "horn" and σαῦρος ' meaning "lizard") was a carnivorous theropod dinosaur in the Late Jurassic period ( Kimmeridgian to Tithonian). The genus was first described in 1 ...
''.


Discovery and naming

Its first remains were found at Peralta, near
Lourinhã Lourinhã () is a municipality in the District of Lisbon, in the Oeste Subregion of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 25,735, in an area of 147.17 km². The seat of the municipality is the town of Lourinhã, with a population of 8,800 inha ...
, Portugal in 1982, but were not described until 1998, by Portuguese paleontologist
Octávio Mateus Octávio Mateus (born 1975) is a Portuguese dinosaur paleontologist and biologist Professor of Paleontology at the Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa. He graduated in Universidade de Évora and received his PhD at ...
. Its type (and to date only) species is ''L. antunesi'', in honour of Portuguese paleontologist
Miguel Telles Antunes Dr. Miguel Telles Antunes (born 11 January 1937; Lisbon) is a famous Portuguese academic, specializing in paleontology, zooarchaeology, and geology. Antunes is a ranking member of various institutions, including the Lisbon Academy of Sciences, N ...
. To date, the most complete specimen of ''L. antunesi'' found is a partial
skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...
. The
holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of seve ...
, ML 370, consists of the remains of six cervical vertebrae with six ribs, five sacral vertebrae with ribs, 14 caudal vertebrae, eight chevrons, both femora, right tibia and fibula, one metatarsus, two ilia and both pubes and ischia, as well as an associated 32
gastroliths A gastrolith, also called a stomach stone or gizzard stone, is a rock held inside a gastrointestinal tract. Gastroliths in some species are retained in the muscular gizzard and used to grind food in animals lacking suitable grinding teeth. In othe ...
. A femur (ML 555) found at Porto das Barcas (
Lourinhã Formation The Lourinhã Formation () is a fossil rich geological formation in western Portugal, named for the municipality of Lourinhã. The formation is mostly Late Jurassic in age (Kimmeridgian/Tithonian), with the top of the formation extending into the ...
; Late Jurassic) has also been referred to ''L. antunesi''. Besides these specimens, around 100
eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...
(specimen number ML 565), some of them containing embryonic bones and skin, have been found in 1993 at the nearby beach of Paimogo. These were in 2001 assigned to ''L. antunesi''. Both the skeleton and the eggs are on display at
Museu da Lourinhã Museu da Lourinhã is a museum in the town of Lourinhã, west Portugal. It was founded in 1984 by GEAL - Grupo de Etnologia e Arqueologia da Lourinhã (Lourinhã's Group of Ethnology and Archeology). The president of the Direction Board is Lubélia ...
.


Paleobiology

''L. antunesi'' was rather large. The individual found was a sub-adult, measuring some 4.5 m in length and weighing around 160 kg. Histology shows that the holotype specimen was between 14 and 17 years old. Though gastroliths have been found in other theropods since the description of ''L. antunesi'', this was the first theropod dinosaur for which this kind of remains have been assigned. It was concluded during the description that these stones belonged to the animal, and were not swallowed while eating an herbivorous dinosaur. Dinosaur eggs and embryos, believed to be those of ''Lourinhanosaurus'', have also been discovered; a nest containing more than 100 eggs, some with well-preserved embryos, was announced in 1998.Mateus, O., Walen, A., and Antunes, M.T. (2006)
"The Large Theropod Fauna of the Lourinha Formation (Portugal) and its Similarity to the Morrison Formation, With a Description of a New Species of ''Allosaurus''"
in: Foster, J.R. and Lucas, S. G. R.M., eds., ''Paleontology and Geology of the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin'' 36.


Classification

The relationships of ''Lourinhanosaurus'' to other theropods have been uncertain, and no firm consensus has been reached as to its classification. Initially regarded as a primitive member of
Allosauroidea Allosauroidea is a superfamily or clade of theropod dinosaurs which contains four families — the Metriacanthosauridae, Allosauridae, Carcharodontosauridae, and Neovenatoridae. Allosauroids, alongside the family Megalosauroidea, were amo ...
, it was later discussed as being closely related to
Sinraptoridae Metriacanthosauridae is an extinct family of allosauroid theropod dinosaurs that lived from the Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous. When broken down into its Greek roots, it means "moderately-spined lizards". The family is split into two su ...
, a more inclusive clade within Allosauroidea. Recently, some researchers have been favourable to the idea that ''L. antunesi'' is not even an allosauroid, but in fact a member of
Megalosauroidea Megalosauroidea (meaning 'great/big lizard forms') is a superfamily (or clade) of tetanuran theropod dinosaurs that lived from the Middle Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous period. The group is defined as '' Megalosaurus bucklandii'' and all taxa s ...
, a more primitive group of
tetanuran Tetanurae (/ˌtɛtəˈnjuːriː/ or "stiff tails") is a clade that includes most theropod dinosaurs, including megalosauroids, allosauroids, tyrannosauroids, ornithomimosaurs, compsognathids and maniraptorans (including birds). Tetanurans ar ...
theropods. Benson ''et al.'' (2010) found it and '' Poekilopleuron'' to belong to Sinraptoridae.Supporting Information
/ref> Carrano ''et al.'' (2012) found it to be a coelurosaur. A 2022 study mentions it as a "putative metriacanthosaurid".


References

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External links


Dinosaurs of Lourinhã, Portugal
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q18578547, from2=Q1655776 Prehistoric tetanurans Kimmeridgian life Late Jurassic dinosaurs of Europe Jurassic Portugal Fossils of Portugal Fossil taxa described in 1998 Taxa named by Octávio Mateus