Adamantisaurus
Named for the Adamantina Formation of Brazil, where related titanosaurs were found, combined with Greek 'sauros' meaning 'lizard'.
Late Cretaceous stages
Adamantisaurus is a poorly-known genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now South America. It is only known from six tail vertebrae but, as a sauropod, it can be assumed that this dinosaur was a very large animal with a long neck and tail.
Diagnosis
- Anterior caudal vertebrae with straight or slightly backward-projecting neural spines with distal ends strongly expanded laterally.
- Stout prespinal lamina on anterior caudal vertebrae.
- Pre- and postzygapophyses with very wide articular facets on anterior caudal vertebrae.
- Concave postzygapophyseal articular facets on anterior caudal vertebrae.
Species
Adamantisaurus mezzalirai Santucci & Bertini, 2006
Type species
Named for Sérgio Mezzalira, the Brazilian geologist who originally found the specimen and first mentioned it in print in 1959.
- Holotype
- MUGEO 1282, MUGEO 1289, MUGEO 1295 , Museu Geológico Valdemar Lefèvre
- Material
- Six articulated anterior caudal vertebrae and two haemapophyses.
- Horizon
- Adamantina Formation, Campanian–Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–66.0 million years ago
- Locality
- near Flórida Paulista, on the railway between Adamantina and Irapurú, São Paulo, Brazil
References
- Santucci, R. M.; Bertini, R. J. (2006). A new titanosaur from western São Paulo State, Upper Cretaceous Bauru Group, south-east Brazil. Palaeontology 49(1): 59-66. Wiley. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2005.00527.x santucci2006a