Loricosaurus

Huene, 1929 lo-REE-ko-SAWR-us Nomen dubium

From Latin 'lorica' (armor/cuirass) and Greek 'sauros' (lizard); meaning 'armor lizard', in reference to the dermal armor on which the genus is based.

83.6–72.2 million years ago Campanian, Late Cretaceous

Late Cretaceous stages

Loricosaurus is a genus of sauropod represented by a single species, L. scutatus. It is a titanosaur that lived near the end of the Late Cretaceous period, approximately 71 million years ago in the early Maastrichtian, being found in the province of Neuquen, Argentina in the Allen Formation. Due to the presence of armor, at first it was believed that it was an ankylosaur, but today it is considered to be that of a titanosaur.

Under dispute

Huene (1929) described the plates as thyreophoran armor; they are now read as titanosaur osteoderms (D'Emic and colleagues 2009). Upchurch and colleagues (2004) list Loricosaurus scutatus as a questioned synonym of Neuquensaurus australis, and Santucci and Filippi (2022) list it as one without query, but no paper read compares the plates with Neuquensaurus to argue the synonymy. It is treated as a nomen dubium at Titanosauria incertae sedis.

Species

Loricosaurus scutatus Huene, 1929 Nomen dubium

Type species

No etymology was given by Huene (1929); the epithet is likely from Latin 'scutatus' meaning 'armed with a shield', referring to the dermal plates that form the type material.

Syntypes: MLP C.S. 1210, MLP C.S. 1213, MLP C.S. 1214, MLP C.S. 1215, MLP C.S. 1218, MLP C.S. 1219, MLP C.S. 1220, MLP C.S. 1221, MLP C.S. 1226, MLP C.S. 1228, MLP C.S. 1229, MLP C.S. 1230, MLP C.S. 1231, MLP C.S. 1232, MLP C.S. 1235, MLP C.S. 1237, MLP C.S. 1470, MLP C.S. 1471, MLP C.S. 1472, MLP C.S. 1473, MLP C.S. 1474, MLP C.S. 1475, MLP C.S. 1476, MLP C.S. 1477, MLP C.S. 2006, MLP C.S. 2010 , Museo de La Plata
Material: Twenty-six cutaneous ossifications and dermal plates of varying sizes (1.3-15 cm diameter, 0.5-7 cm thickness).
Notes: Huene (1929) lists the twenty-six plates by number. D'Emic and colleagues (2009) figure an osteoderm as C.S. 1227, credited to Huene, a number his list does not include.
Horizon: Anacleto Formation, Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–72.2 million years ago
Locality: Cinco Saltos, Río Negro, Argentina

References

D'Emic, M. D.; Wilson, J. A.; Chatterjee, S. (2009). The titanosaur (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) osteoderm record: review and first definitive specimen from India. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 29(1): 165-177. doi:10.1671/039.029.0131
Figures the Cinco Saltos osteoderms, crediting them to Huene (1929).
d'emic2009a
Huene, F. V. (1929). Los saurisquios y ornitisquios del Cretáceo Argentino [The Saurischians and Ornithischians of the Argentine Cretaceous]. Anales del Museo de La Plata, series 2 3: 1-196. huene1929a
Weishampel, D. B.; Dodson, P.; Osmólska, H. (eds.) (2004). The Dinosauria, Second Edition. University of California Press, Berkeley.
Sauropoda chapter (Upchurch, Barrett and Dodson); treats Loricosaurus scutatus as a questioned junior synonym of Saltasaurus and Neuquensaurus, with the armor reinterpreted as titanosaurian.
weishampel2004a
Santucci, R. M.; Filippi, L. S. (2022). Last titans: Titanosaurs from the Campanian–Maastrichtian age. South American Sauropodomorph Dinosaurs: Record, Diversity and Evolution 341-391. Springer International Publishing. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-95959-3_10
Assigns the Cinco Saltos dinosaur beds to the Anacleto Formation.
santucci2022a
Upchurch, P.; Barrett, P. M.; Dodson, P. (2004). Sauropoda. The Dinosauria, Second Edition (Weishampel, D. B.; Dodson, P.; Osmólska, H., eds.) 259-322. University of California Press, Berkeley.
Lists Loricosaurus scutatus, with a query, among the synonyms of Neuquensaurus australis.
upchurch2004a