Aoniraptor
From Tehuelche 'aoni' meaning 'south' and Latin 'raptor' meaning 'thief', meaning 'southern thief'.
Late Cretaceous stages
Aoniraptor is an extinct genus of megaraptoran theropod dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous Huincul Formation of Argentina. The genus contains a single species, Aoniraptor libertatem, known from a partial skeleton.
Diagnosis
- Anterior mid-caudal vertebrae with fan-shaped prezygapophyses lacking a discernible articular surface for contacting the postzygapophyses
- Blunt and thick process on the lateral surface of the prezygapophyses of anterior mid-caudal vertebrae
- Mid-posterior caudals with a pair of nonarticular flat surfaces located on the posterodorsal corner of the centrum
Species
Aoniraptor libertatem Motta et al., 2016
Type species
From Latin word for freedom, as the specimen was discovered in the bicentennial year of Argentina's independence from Spain in 1810.
- Holotype
- MPCA-PV 804/1, MPCA-PV 804/2, MPCA-PV 804/3, MPCA-PV 804/4, MPCA-PV 804/5, MPCA-PV 804/6, MPCA-PV 804/7, MPCA-PV 804/8, MPCA-PV 804/9, MPCA-PV 804/10, MPCA-PV 804/11, MPCA-PV 804/12, MPCA-PV 804/13, MPCA-PV 804/14, MPCA-PV 804/15, MPCA-PV 804/16, MPCA-PV 804/17, MPCA-PV 804/18, MPCA-PV 804/19, MPCA-PV 804/20, MPCA-PV 804/21, MPCA-PV 804/22, MPCA-PV 804/23, MPCA-PV 804/24, MPCA-PV 804/25 , Museo provincial de Cipolletti "Carlos Ameghino"
- Material
- Incomplete vertebral series: last sacral vertebra, 6 proximal caudal vertebrae, 4 mid-caudal vertebrae, and 5 haemal arches
- Horizon
- Huincul Formation, Cenomanian–Turonian, Late Cretaceous , 100.5–89.8 million years ago
- Locality
- Pueblo Blanco Natural Reserve, Río Negro, Argentina
References
- Motta, M. J.; Aranciaga Rolando, A. M.; Rozadilla, S.; Agnolín, F. L.; Chimento, N. R.; Brissón Egli, F.; Novas, F. E. (2016). New theropod fauna from the Upper Cretaceous (Huincul Formation) of northwestern Patagonia, Argentina. Cretaceous Period: Biotic Diversity and Biogeography 71: 231-253. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. motta2016a