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''Vespersaurus'' (meaning "western lizard") is a genus of
The generic name is derived from the Latin "vesper," meaning "evening/west," in reference to the town Cruzeiro do Oeste ("Western Cross") near which the fossils were found, and the Greek "sauros," meaning "lizard." The specific name refers to the Paraná state.
After the discovery of numerous skeletons of the pterosaurs '' Caiuajara'' and '' Keresdrakon'' at the Cemitério dos Pterossauros site near Cruzeiro do Oeste, the remains of small theropods were uncovered between 2011 and 2015. One of these was named and described in 2019 as ''Vespersaurus''. The holotype, MPCO.V 0065d, was recovered from the
The
noasaurid
Noasauridae is an extinct family of theropod dinosaurs belonging to the group Ceratosauria. They were closely related to the short-armed abelisaurids, although most noasaurids had much more traditional body types generally similar to 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 ...
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 ...
from the 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'', ...
Rio Paraná Formation
Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil.
Rio or Río may also refer to:
Geography Brazil
* Rio de Janeiro
* Rio do Sul, a ...
in the Paraná Basin
The Paraná Basin ( pt, Bacia do Paraná, es, Cuenca del Paraná) is a large cratonic sedimentary basin situated in the central-eastern part of South America. About 75% of its areal distribution occurs in Brazil, from Mato Grosso to Rio Grande ...
, Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. The type
Type may refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc.
* Data type, collection of values used for computations.
* File type
* TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file.
* Ty ...
and only species is ''V. paranaensis'', which would have lived in the giant prehistoric Botucatu Desert.
Etymology
The generic name is derived from the Latin "vesper," meaning "evening/west," in reference to the town Cruzeiro do Oeste ("Western Cross") near which the fossils were found, and the Greek "sauros," meaning "lizard." The specific name refers to the Paraná state.
Discovery and naming
After the discovery of numerous skeletons of the pterosaurs '' Caiuajara'' and '' Keresdrakon'' at the Cemitério dos Pterossauros site near Cruzeiro do Oeste, the remains of small theropods were uncovered between 2011 and 2015. One of these was named and described in 2019 as ''Vespersaurus''. The holotype, MPCO.V 0065d, was recovered from the 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'', ...
period, found on dark red sandstones
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
in the Rio Paraná Formation
Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil.
Rio or Río may also refer to:
Geography Brazil
* Rio de Janeiro
* Rio do Sul, a ...
in the Paraná Basin
The Paraná Basin ( pt, Bacia do Paraná, es, Cuenca del Paraná) is a large cratonic sedimentary basin situated in the central-eastern part of South America. About 75% of its areal distribution occurs in Brazil, from Mato Grosso to Rio Grande ...
, Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. Footprints belonging to ''Vespersaurus'' or a similar one-toed 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 ...
were discovered near Cruzeiro do Oeste as early as the 1970s.
Description
The 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 n ...
is notable for its distinct, functionally monodactyl
In biology, dactyly is the arrangement of wikt:digit, digits (fingers and toes) on the hands, feet, or sometimes wings of a tetrapod animal. It comes from the Greek (language), Greek word δακτυλος (''dáktylos'') = "finger".
Sometimes t ...
foot anatomy, where the singularly large third digit
Digit may refer to:
Mathematics and science
* Numerical digit, as used in mathematics or computer science
** Hindu-Arabic numerals, the most common modern representation of numerical digits
* Digit (anatomy), the most distal part of a limb, such ...
would have borne most of the weight while walking. Based on the proportions of its 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 ...
remains (MPCO.V 0065d), ''Vespersaurus'' was a small theropod with an estimated body length of . This makes it comparable in size to '' Noasaurus'' and '' Masiakasaurus.'' The estimated body mass of ''Vespersaurus'' is , nearly that of the ornithischians ''Jeholosaurus shangyuanensis
''Jeholosaurus'' is a genus of neornithischian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period. It is thought to have been a herbivorous small ornithopod.
History of discovery
The first two ''Jeholosaurus'' specimens were found in 2000 at Lujiatu ...
'' and '' Gasparinisaura cincosaltensis''.
See also
*Timeline of ceratosaur research
This timeline of ceratosaur research is a chronological listing of events in the history of paleontology focused on the ceratosaurs, a group of relatively primitive, often horned, predatory theropod dinosaurs that became the apex predators of ...
References
Abelisaurs Late Cretaceous dinosaurs of South America Cretaceous Brazil Fossils of Brazil Fossil taxa described in 2019 Paraná Basin {{theropod-stub