Aratasaurus
From Tupi 'ara' meaning 'born' and 'atá' meaning 'fire', combined with Greek 'sauros' meaning 'lizard'. The full name is intended to mean 'the dinosaur born from the National Museum fire', honoring the fire-devastated National Museum of Brazil.
Aratasaurus is an extinct genus of basal coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian–Albian) Romualdo Formation of Brazil. The genus contains a single species, A. museunacionali, known from a partial right leg. Aratasaurus represents the only tetrapod fossil known from the lower levels of the Romualdo Formation.
Diagnosis
- Tibia exhibiting a medial fossa on the medial surface near the proximal articulation
- Symmetric pes with digits II and IV subequal in total length
- Distal condyles of metatarsi II, III and IV symmetric mediolaterally and with subequal width
- Width of metatarsi II and IV similar, with dorsal surface of distal articulation bulbous
Species
Aratasaurus museunacionali Sayão et al., 2020
Type species
Named for the fire-devastated National Museum of Brazil, which is the country's oldest science institution; the full name is intended to mean 'the dinosaur born from the National Museum fire'.
- Holotype
- MPSC R 2089 , Museu de Paleontologia Plácido Cidade Nuvens
- Material
- Incomplete but articulated right hind limb: distal portion of femur, proximal half of tibia, mid-distal metatarsals I-IV, phalanges I-1, II-1-2, III-1-3, IV-1-4, and unguals I-III
- Horizon
- lower Romualdo Formation, Aptian–Albian, Early Cretaceous , 121.4–100.5 million years ago
- Locality
- Mina Pedra Branca, Ceará, Brazil
References
- Sayão, J. M.; Saraiva, A. Á. F.; Brum, A. S.; Bantim, R. A. M.; de Andrade, R. C. L. P.; Cheng, X.; de Lima, F. J.; de Paula Silva, H.; Kellner, A. W. A. (2020). The first theropod dinosaur (Coelurosauria, Theropoda) from the base of the Romualdo Formation (Albian), Araripe Basin, Northeast Brazil. Scientific Reports 10(1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-67822-9 sayão2020a