Open Paleo

Aragosaurus

Sanz et al., 1987 AHR-a-go-SAWR-us

Named after the Aragon region of Spain where fossils were found, combined with Greek 'sauros' meaning 'lizard'; meaning 'Aragon lizard'

149.2–137.1 million years ago Tithonian–Berriasian, Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous
Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous stages

Aragosaurus was a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the latest Jurassic to earliest Cretaceous of Galve, province of Teruel, in the autonomous territory of Aragon, Spain. It was deposited in the Villar del Arzobispo Formation.

Diagnosis

  1. Anterior caudal vertebrae with shallow, dorsolaterally facing concavities on either side of the neural spine summit midline
  2. Small epipophysis-like protuberances on the dorsal surfaces of middle caudal postzygapophyses
  3. Long interosseous ridges on the ulna and radius, convergent with derived titanosaurs
  4. Interosseous ridge on the posterolateral face of the radial shaft ending distally in a distinct tubercle
  5. Carpal subquadrangular in proximal and distal view, its lateromedial and anteroposterior diameters similar
  6. Proximal pedal phalanx with a midline dorsal ridge where its lateral and medial faces meet

Species

Aragosaurus ischiaticus Sanz et al., 1987

Type species

From 'ischium', referring to the ischial bones that are part of the known fossil material from this dinosaur.

Holotype
IG 450 bis, IG 453, IG 468, IG 473, IG 474, IG 475, IG 476, IG 477, IG 479, IG 480, IG 481, IG 482, IG 483, IG 484, IG 485, IG 486, IG 487, IG 488, IG 489, IG 490, IG 492, IG 493, ZH-1, ZH-2, ZH-3, ZH-4, ZH-5, ZH-6, ZH-7, ZH-8, ZH-9, ZH-10, ZH-11, ZH-12, ZH-13, ZH-14, ZH-15, ZH-16, ZH-17, ZH-18, ZH-19 , Museo de Teruel
Material
Partial associated postcranial skeleton with dorsal rib fragments, caudal vertebrae, chevrons, both scapulae, a coracoid, humerus, ulna, radius, carpal, four metacarpals, pubis, both ischia, femur and pedal phalanges
Notes
The holotype is divided between two collections. The IG material, excavated in the 1950s, is at the Museo Provincial de Teruel, and the ZH material, excavated in the 1980s, is at the Museo Paleontologico de Galve. ZH is the acronym of the Las Zabacheras site rather than an institution code. A seventh rib fragment carries the field number V20 and no museum number, so it is not listed.
Horizon
Villar del Arzobispo Formation, Tithonian–Berriasian, Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous , 149.2–137.1 million years ago
Locality
Las Zabacheras, Teruel, Spain The unit is disputed. Sanz and colleagues (1987) name no formation, placing Las Zabacheras in an informal Unit 3. Later work splits three ways. Aurell and colleagues (2016) erect the Galve Formation for that unit, while Campos-Soto and colleagues (2019) keep it in the Villar del Arzobispo Formation in the broad sense, the reading the horizon follows and the one Jones (2026) follows. Weishampel and colleagues (2004) instead give the Castellar Formation. Royo-Torres and colleagues (2014) give the site in UTM, 679 266 and 4 503 362, without a datum; read on WGS84 it is the recorded position, and on ED50 it lies 236 m away.

References

  1. Sanz, J. L.; Buscalioni, A. D.; Casanovas, M. L.; Santafé, J. V. (1987). Dinosaurios del Cretácico inferior de Galve (Teruel, España) [Dinosaurs from the Lower Cretaceous of Galve (Teruel, Spain)]. Estudios Geologicos, Volumen Extraordinario Galve-Tremp 45-64. doi:10.3989/egeol.8743extra625 sanz1987a
  2. Aurell, M.; Bádenas, B.; Gasca, J. M.; Canudo, J. I.; Liesa, C. L.; Soria, A. R.; Moreno-Azanza, M.; Najes, L. (2016). Stratigraphy and evolution of the Galve sub-basin (Spain) in the middle Tithonian-early Barremian: implications for the setting and age of some dinosaur fossil sites. Cretaceous Research 65: 138-162. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2016.04.020 aurell2016a
  3. Campos-Soto, S.; Benito, M. I.; Cobos, A.; Caus, E.; Quijada, I. E.; Suarez-Gonzalez, P.; Mas, R.; Royo-Torres, R.; Alcalá, L. (2019). Revisiting the age and palaeoenvironments of the Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous? dinosaur-bearing sedimentary record of eastern Spain: implications for Iberian palaeogeography. Journal of Iberian Geology 45(3): 471-510. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1007/s41513-019-00106-y campos-soto2019a
  4. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Illustrated by E. Viola.

    jones2026b
  5. Weishampel, D. B.; Dodson, P.; Osmólska, H. (eds.) (2004). The Dinosauria, Second Edition. University of California Press, Berkeley. weishampel2004a
  6. Royo-Torres, R.; Upchurch, P.; Mannion, P. D.; Mas, R.; Cobos, A.; Gascó, F.; Alcalá, L.; Sanz, J. L. (2014). The anatomy, phylogenetic relationships, and stratigraphic position of the Tithonian-Berriasian Spanish sauropod dinosaur Aragosaurus ischiaticus. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 171(3): 623-655. Oxford University Press (OUP). doi:10.1111/zoj.12144

    Redescription; gives the type locality and horizon as the Las Zabacheras site in the Villar del Arzobispo Formation, upper Tithonian to lower Berriasian.

    royo-torres2014a