Open Paleo

Berthasaura

de Souza et al., 2021 BUR-tha-SOR-uh

Named after Bertha Lutz, a prominent Brazilian scientist and feminist, combined with Greek sauros (σαῦρος) meaning 'lizard'; overall meaning 'Bertha's lizard'.

121.4–100.5 million years ago Aptian–Albian, Early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous stages

Berthasaura is an extinct genus of ceratosaurian theropod dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous Goio-Erê Formation of Paraná, Brazil. The genus contains a single species, Berthasaura leopoldinae, known from a nearly complete skeleton.

Under dispute

Berthasaura was described as the basalmost noasaurid, the placement followed, but Hendrickx and colleagues (2024) recovered it in a new clade Berthasauridae (with Austrocheirus and Afromimus) as the sister group of Abelisauroidea; that clade was recovered in only one of three analyses and is acknowledged to be poorly supported.

Diagnosis

  1. Lamellae on the medial surface of the premaxilla
  2. Short dentaries with the length rostral to the mandibular fenestra about 1.5 times the height of the dentary
  3. Protuberance projecting from the caudoventral end of the premaxillary buccal rim
  4. Non-bifurcated rostral end of splenial
  5. Medial brevis shelf strongly reduced
  6. Deep notch on the caudal margin of the ischial process producing an eminent and caudally-oriented prong

Species

Berthasaura leopoldinae de Souza et al., 2021

Type species

Named for Maria Leopoldina, the first Empress of Brazil, with the naming timed near the bicentennial of Brazil's independence in 2022.

Holotype
MN 7821-V , Museu Nacional
Material
Nearly complete disarticulated skeleton, including a partial skull and lower jaw
Horizon
Rio Paraná Formation, Aptian–Albian, Early Cretaceous , 121.4–100.5 million years ago
Locality
Cemitério dos Pterossauros Quarry, Paraná, Brazil

References

  1. Langer, M. C.; Martins, N. de O.; Manzig, P. C.; Ferreira, G. de S.; Marsola, J. C. de A.; Fortes, E.; Lima, R.; Sant'ana, L. C. F.; Vidal, L. da S.; Lorençato, R. H. da S.; Ezcurra, M. D. (2019). A new desert-dwelling dinosaur (Theropoda, Noasaurinae) from the Cretaceous of south Brazil. Scientific Reports 9(1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-45306-9

    Assigns the Cruzeiro do Oeste beds to the Rio Paraná Formation and prints the site's position, 53° 03′ 53″W, 26° 45′ 34″S.

    langer2019a
  2. de Souza, G. A.; Soares, M. B.; Weinschütz, L. C.; Wilner, E.; Lopes, R. T.; de Araújo, O. M. O.; Kellner, A. W. A. (2021). The first edentulous ceratosaur from South America. Scientific Reports 11(1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-01312-4 desouza2021a
  3. Hendrickx, C.; Cerroni, M. A.; Agnolín, F. L.; Catalano, S.; Ribeiro, C. F.; Delcourt, R. (2024). Osteology, relationship, and feeding ecology of the theropod dinosaur Noasaurus leali, from the Late Cretaceous of North-Western Argentina. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 202(4): zlae150. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae150

    Erected Berthasauridae (Berthasaura + Afromimus + Austrocheirus) as sister to Abelisauroidea; poorly supported, recovered in one of three matrices.

    hendrickx2024a
  4. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Theropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the mass and hip height estimates, and the appearance features.

    jones2026c