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Macrogryphosaurus Gondwanicus
''Macrogryphosaurus'' (meaning "big enigmatic lizard") is a genus of elasmarian dinosaur from the Coniacian age Upper Cretaceous Sierra Barrosa Formation (Neuquén Group) of Argentina in Patagonia. It was described by Jorge Calvo and colleagues in 2007, with ''M. gondwanicus'' as the type and only species. Discovery and naming In May 1999, during field work at Mari Menuco Lake, Argentina (sixty kilometres northwest of Neuquén) conducted by the National University of Comahue, an articulated, nearly complete dinosaur skeleton was discovered and excavated. It was brought to the attention of the palaeontologists by young boy Rafael Moyano, who had discovered it. Originally reported to hail from the Portezuelo Formation of the Neuquén Group, its locality was later revised to be in the Sierra Barrosa Formation of the same geologic group. These unit is dated to the Coniacian age of the Late Cretaceous. Noted for bony plates on its thorax, it was identified as a large species of ornit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coniacian
The Coniacian is an age or stage in the geologic timescale. It is a subdivision of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series and spans the time between 89.8 ± 1 Ma and 86.3 ± 0.7 Ma (million years ago). The Coniacian is preceded by the Turonian and followed by the Santonian. Stratigraphic definitions The Coniacian is named after the city of Cognac in the French region of Saintonge. It was first defined by French geologist Henri Coquand in 1857. The base of the Coniacian Stage is at the first appearance of the inoceramid bivalve species '' Cremnoceramus deformis erectus''. The official reference profile for the base (a GSSP) is located in Salzgitter-Salder, Lower Saxony, Germany. The top of the Coniacian (the base of the Santonian Stage) is defined by the appearance of the inoceramid bivalve '' Cladoceramus undulatoplicatus''. The Coniacian overlaps the regional Emscherian Stage of Germany, which is roughly coeval with the Coniacian and Santonian Stages. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the Latin word for the white limestone known as chalk. The chalk of northern France and the white cliffs of south-eastern England date from the Cretaceous Period. Climate During the Late Cretaceous, the climate was warmer than present, although throughout the period a cooling trend is evident. The tropics became restricted to equatorial regions and northern latitudes experienced markedly more seasonal climatic conditions. Geography Due to plate tectonics, the Americas were gradually moving westward, causing the Atlantic Ocean to expand. The Western Interior Seaway divided North America into eastern and western halves; Appalachia and Laramidia. India maintained a northward course towards Asia. In the Southern Hemisphere, Australia a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coelurosaur
Coelurosauria (; from Greek, meaning "hollow tailed lizards") is the clade containing all theropod dinosaurs more closely related to birds than to carnosaurs. Coelurosauria is a subgroup of theropod dinosaurs that includes compsognathids, tyrannosaurs, ornithomimosaurs, and maniraptorans; Maniraptora includes birds, the only known dinosaur group alive today. Most feathered dinosaurs discovered so far have been coelurosaurs. Philip J. Currie had considered it likely and probable that all coelurosaurs were feathered. However, several skin impressions found for some members of this group show pebbly, scaly skin, indicating that feathers did not completely replace scales in all taxa. In the past, Coelurosauria was used to refer to all small theropods, but this classification has since been abolished. Anatomy Bodyplan The studying of anatomical traits in coelurosaurs indicates that the last common ancestor had evolved the ability to eat and digest plant matter, adapting to an om ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hypsilophodon
''Hypsilophodon'' (; meaning "''Hypsilophus''-tooth") is a neornithischian dinosaur genus from the Early Cretaceous period of England. It has traditionally been considered an early member of the group Ornithopoda, but recent research has put this into question. The first remains of ''Hypsilophodon'' were found in 1849; the type species, ''Hypsilophodon foxii'', was named in 1869. Abundant fossil discoveries were made on the Isle of Wight, giving a good impression of the build of the species. It was a small, agile bipedal animal with an herbivorous or possibly omnivorous diet, measuring long and weighing . It had a pointed head equipped with a sharp beak used to bite off plant material, much like modern day parrots. Older studies have given rise to a number of misconceptions about ''Hypsilophodon'' that it was an armored, arboreal animal and that it could be found in areas outside of Wight. During the past decades, new researches have gradually shown this to be incorrect. Discov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thescelosaurus
''Thescelosaurus'' ( ; ancient Greek - (''-'') meaning "godlike", "marvellous", or "wondrous" and (') "lizard") was a genus of small neornithischian dinosaur that appeared at the very end of the Late Cretaceous period in North America. It was a member of the last dinosaurian fauna before the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event around 66 million years ago. The preservation and completeness of many of its specimens indicate that it may have preferred to live near streams. This bipedal neornithischian is known from several partial skeletons and skulls that indicate it grew to between 2.5 and 4.0 meters (8.2 to 13.1 ft) in length on average. It had sturdy hind limbs, small wide hands, and a head with an elongate pointed snout. The form of the teeth and jaws suggest a primarily herbivorous animal. This genus of dinosaur is regarded as a specialized neornithischian, traditionally described as a hypsilophodont, but more recently recognized as distinct from '' Hyps ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Talenkauen
''Talenkauen'' is a genus of basal iguanodont dinosaur from the Campanian or Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous Cerro Fortaleza Formation, formerly known as the Pari Aike Formation of Patagonian Lake Viedma, in the Austral Basin of Santa Cruz, Argentina. It is based on MPM-10001A, a partial articulated skeleton missing the rear part of the skull, the tail, and the hands. The type and only species is ''Talenkauen santacrucensis''. Discovery and naming One among a string of discoveries of ornithopods in South America, following taxa such as '' Gasparinisaura'' and '' Anabisetia'', the specimen that would become ''Talenkauen'' was collected in February 2000 and would later be described and named in a short 2004 paper by Fernando E. Novas and colleagues. It was discovered on Los Hornos Hill on the coast of Viedma Lake, in the Santa Cruz Province region of Argentina. Geologically, it hails from the Cerro Fortaleza Formation. The holotype specimen is MPM–10001A, a rela ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hadrosauridae
Hadrosaurids (), or duck-billed dinosaurs, are members of the ornithischian family Hadrosauridae. This group is known as the duck-billed dinosaurs for the flat duck-bill appearance of the bones in their snouts. The ornithopod family, which includes genera such as '' Edmontosaurus'' and '' Parasaurolophus'', was a common group of herbivores during the Late Cretaceous Period. Hadrosaurids are descendants of the Upper Jurassic/Lower Cretaceous iguanodontian dinosaurs and had a similar body layout. Hadrosaurs were among the most dominant herbivores during the Late Cretaceous in Asia and North America, and during the close of the Cretaceous several lineages dispersed into Europe, Africa, South America and Antarctica. Like other ornithischians, hadrosaurids had a predentary bone and a pubic bone which was positioned backwards in the pelvis. Unlike more primitive iguanodonts, the teeth of hadrosaurids are stacked into complex structures known as dental batteries, which acted as ef ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ornithopod
Ornithopoda () is a clade of ornithischian dinosaurs, called ornithopods (), that started out as small, bipedal running grazers and grew in size and numbers until they became one of the most successful groups of herbivores in the Cretaceous world, dominating the North American land. Their major evolutionary advantage was the progressive development of a chewing apparatus that became the most sophisticated ever developed by a non-avian dinosaur, rivaling that of modern mammals such as the domestic cow. They reached their apex of diversity and ecological dominance in the hadrosaurids (colloquially known as 'duck-bills'), before they were wiped out by the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event along with all other non- avian dinosaurs. Members are known from all seven continents, though they are generally rare in the Southern Hemisphere. History of research In 1870, Thomas Henry Huxley listed Iguanodontidae (coined by Cope a year earlier) as one of his three families of dinosa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macrogryphosaurus Scale
''Macrogryphosaurus'' (meaning "big enigmatic lizard") is a genus of elasmarian dinosaur from the Coniacian age Upper Cretaceous Sierra Barrosa Formation ( Neuquén Group) of Argentina in Patagonia. It was described by Jorge Calvo and colleagues in 2007, with ''M. gondwanicus'' as the type and only species. Discovery and naming In May 1999, during field work at Mari Menuco Lake, Argentina (sixty kilometres northwest of Neuquén) conducted by the National University of Comahue, an articulated, nearly complete dinosaur skeleton was discovered and excavated. It was brought to the attention of the palaeontologists by young boy Rafael Moyano, who had discovered it. Originally reported to hail from the Portezuelo Formation of the Neuquén Group, its locality was later revised to be in the Sierra Barrosa Formation of the same geologic group. These unit is dated to the Coniacian age of the Late Cretaceous. Noted for bony plates on its thorax, it was identified as a large species of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taxon
In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and given a particular ranking, especially if and when it is accepted or becomes established. It is very common, however, for taxonomists to remain at odds over what belongs to a taxon and the criteria used for inclusion. If a taxon is given a formal scientific name, its use is then governed by one of the nomenclature codes specifying which scientific name is correct for a particular grouping. Initial attempts at classifying and ordering organisms (plants and animals) were set forth in Carl Linnaeus's system in ''Systema Naturae'', 10th edition (1758), as well as an unpublished work by Bernard and Antoine Laurent de Jussieu. The idea of a unit-based system of biological classification was first made widely available in 1805 in the i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stratigraphy
Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers ( strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithostratigraphy (lithologic stratigraphy), biostratigraphy (biologic stratigraphy), and chronostratigraphy (stratigraphy by age). Historical development Catholic priest Nicholas Steno established the theoretical basis for stratigraphy when he introduced the law of superposition, the principle of original horizontality and the principle of lateral continuity in a 1669 work on the fossilization of organic remains in layers of sediment. The first practical large-scale application of stratigraphy was by William Smith in the 1790s and early 19th century. Known as the "Father of English geology", Smith recognized the significance of strata or rock layering and the importance of fossil markers for correlating strata; he created the first ge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plottier Formation
The Plottier Formation is a geologic formation that outcrops in the Argentine Patagonian provinces of Río Negro and Neuquén. It is the younger of two formations belonging to the Río Neuquén Subgroup within the Neuquén Group of the Neuquén Basin, with the oldest rocks dating from the late Coniacian and its youngest maybe from the very start of the Santonian. Formerly, that subgroup was treated as a formation, and the Plottier Formation was known as the Plottier Member.Sánchez ''et al.'', 2006 Description A section near the Neuquén City airport, north of the town of Plottier, is the type locality of the Plottier Formation. At its base, this formation grades into the Portezuelo Formation, and it is in turn overlain conformably by the Bajo de la Carpa Formation, a unit of the Río Colorado Subgroup. The Plottier Formation is the thinnest formation within the Neuquén Group, with a maximum thickness of only . It is differentiated from the underlying Portezuelo Formation p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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