Open Paleo

Chromogisaurus

Ezcurra, 2010 kroh-MO-gee-SOR-us

From Greek chroma meaning 'color' and Greek ge meaning 'earth', combined with Greek sauros meaning 'lizard'. Full meaning: 'colored earth lizard', a reference to the Valle Pintado ('Painted Valley') where it was found.

237.0–227.3 million years ago Carnian, Late Triassic
Late Triassic stages

Chromogisaurus is an extinct genus of saturnaliid sauropodomorph which existed in Argentina during the Late Triassic (Carnian) period. It is from the Cancha de Bochas Member of the Ischigualasto Formation, at the Valle Pintado locality. It was a small, bipedal herbivore, about 2 meters (6 ft 7 in) in length.

Diagnosis

  1. Proximal caudals without median notch separating the postzygapophyses
  2. Femoral lateral surface with deep and large fossa immediately below the trochanteric shelf (autapomorphy)
  3. Metatarsal II with strongly dorsoventrally asymmetric distal condyles (autapomorphy)
  4. Ilium with strongly posteriorly developed postacetabular process
  5. Incipiently perforated acetabulum

Species

Chromogisaurus novasi Ezcurra, 2010

Type species

Named for Argentine paleontologist Fernando Emilio Novas.

Holotype
PVSJ 845 , División de Paleontología de Vertebrados del Museo de Ciencias Naturales y Universidad Nacional de San Juan
Material
Partial skeleton: proximal and mid-caudal vertebrae, proximal right ulna, right ilium, probable ischial shaft fragment, both femora, left tibia, left fibula, left metatarsals II and V, pedal phalanges including complete left digit II
Horizon
lower Cancha de Bochas Member, Ischigualasto Formation, Carnian, Late Triassic , 237.0–227.3 million years ago
Locality
Valle Pintado, San Juan, Argentina

References

  1. Ezcurra, M. D. (2010). A new early dinosaur (Saurischia: Sauropodomorpha) from the Late Triassic of Argentina: a reassessment of dinosaur origin and phylogeny. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 8(3): 371-425. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/14772019.2010.484650 ezcurra2010a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the mass and hip height estimates.

    jones2026b