Open Paleo

Ligabuesaurus

Bonaparte et al., 2006 lee-gah-boo-sore-us

Named in honor of Giancarlo Ligabue, an Italian explorer and naturalist who supported paleontological research.

113.2–100.5 million years ago Albian, Early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous stages

Ligabuesaurus is a genus of somphospondylan sauropod from the Early Cretaceous Lohan Cura Formation of what is now Argentina. The type species, Ligabuesaurus leanzai, was described in 2006, based on a partial skeleton preserving an isolated tooth row (no other cranial bones). The generic name, Ligabuesaurus, honors Giancarlo Ligabue, while the specific name, leanzai, honors the geologist Dr. Héctor A. Leanza, who discovered the skeleton in the Lohan Cura Formation.

Diagnosis

  1. Laminar, anteroposteriorly compressed neural spines of rhomboid shape on posterior cervical and anterior dorsal vertebrae, transversely wider than the vertebral centra
  2. Spinoprezygapophyseal laminae in posterior cervical vertebrae bifurcated into two pairs: the medial pair converging toward the neural spine apex, the lateral pair forming the lateral border of the neural spine
  3. Neural arch pedicels of posterior cervical and anterior dorsal vertebrae very low, less than one-third the height of the anterior articular surface
  4. Ventral half of the coracoid quadrangular in lateral view
  5. Posteriorly expanded humeral head
  6. Fossae on the proximoventral faces of metatarsals II and III
  7. Deep pit on the ventrodistal face of pedal phalanx II-1

Species

Ligabuesaurus leanzai Bonaparte et al., 2006

Type species

Named for geologist Dr. Héctor A. Leanza, who discovered the skeleton in the Lohan Cura Formation of Patagonia, Argentina.

Holotype
MCF-PVPH 233 , Museo ‘Carmen Funes’, Plaza Huincul
Material
Isolated tooth row (ten teeth; reinterpreted from the original 'maxilla'), cervical and dorsal vertebrae, both scapulae, humerus, metacarpals, femur, tibia, fibula, astragalus, and an articulated right pes.
Horizon
lower Cullín Grande Member, Lohan Cura Formation, Albian, Early Cretaceous , 113.2–100.5 million years ago
Locality
Cerro de los Leones, quarry no. 4, Neuquén, Argentina

References

  1. Bonaparte, J. F.; González Riga, B. J.; Apesteguía, S. (2006). Ligabuesaurus leanzai gen. et sp. nov. (Dinosauria, Sauropoda), a new titanosaur from the Lohan Cura Formation (Aptian, Lower Cretaceous) of Neuquén, Patagonia, Argentina. Cretaceous Research 27(3): 364-376. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2005.07.004 bonaparte2006a
  2. Bellardini, F.; Coria, R. A.; Pino, D. A.; Windholz, G. J.; Baiano, M. A.; Martinelli, A. G. (2022). Osteology and phylogenetic relationships of Ligabuesaurus leanzai (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the Early Cretaceous of the Neuquén Basin, Patagonia, Argentina. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 196(4): 1333-1393. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac003

    Comprehensive osteological redescription of the holotype with an emended diagnosis; recovers Ligabuesaurus as a non-titanosaurian somphospondylan.

    bellardini2022a
  3. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the hip height estimate.

    jones2026b