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Lourinhasaurus

Dantas et al., 1998 loh-REEN-yah-SAWR-us

Named after Lourinhã, the municipality in Portugal associated with the fossil-bearing formation, combined with Greek 'sauros' (lizard); meaning 'lizard from Lourinhã'

154.8–143.1 million years ago Kimmeridgian–Tithonian, Late Jurassic
Late Jurassic stages

Lourinhasaurus is an extinct genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur dating from Late Jurassic strata of Estremadura, Portugal. The genus is monotypic, containing one species, Lourinhasaurus alenquerensis. The type specimen for this species was discovered near the town of Alenquer, near an abandoned mill. The specimen is housed at the Geological Museum of Lisbon. The research history of Lourinhasaurus is not without controversies, with referred specimens later being interpreted as not belonging to the genus (such as the type specimen of Supersaurus (=Dinheirosaurus) lourinhanensis). Lourinhasaurus means "lizard from Lourinhã" literally translated, despite the fact that the type specimen wasn't found in the Lourinhã municipality.

Diagnosis

  1. Cranial-to-middle dorsal vertebrae with a transversely concave ventral face bounded by longitudinal smooth crests.
  2. Sagittal keel on the dorsal margin of the sacral neural spines.
  3. Sacral neural spines, when vertical, becoming significantly higher caudally, with the dorsal margin bearing a marked cranial slope.
  4. Prespinal process with a sagittal (prespinal) lamina in the dorsal sector of the sacral spine, subdividing a smooth prespinal fossa.
  5. Circular and deep spinoprezygapophyseal fossa on the proximal caudal vertebrae (also shared by Jobaria).
  6. Dorsal surface of the most proximal caudal spine sloping cranially and transitioning continuously to the cranial face of the spine, the caudal edge forming a transverse hook-like process in lateral view.
  7. Circular process on the distal surface of carpal II.
  8. Longitudinal crest on the ventral margin of the ilium's postacetabular process near the ischiatic peduncle.
  9. Caudally oriented postacetabular process, with the chord through the ischiatic and pubic articulations passing through the ventral margin of the postacetabular process.
  10. Axis of the pubic peduncle and the ischiatic articulation parallel.
  11. Marked crest and groove bordering the lateral margin of the acetabulum on the ischium.
  12. Tibia and fibula of equal length (implying a more distal position of the fibula relative to the tibia for reception of the astragalus).
  13. Marked deflection of the entire femoral shaft without a lateral bulge.

Species

Lourinhasaurus alenquerensis Dantas et al., 1998

Type species

Named for the town of Alenquer in Portugal, near where the type specimen was excavated.

Lectotype
MG 2, MG 4931, MG 4956, MG 4957, MG 4970, MG 4975, MG 4979, MG 4980, MG 4983, MG 4984, MG 5780, MG 5781, MG 30370, MG 30371, MG 30372, MG 30373, MG 30374, MG 30375, MG 30376, MG 30377, MG 30378, MG 30379, MG 30380, MG 30381, MG 30382, MG 30383, MG 30384, MG 30385, MG 30386, MG 30387, MG 30388 , Museu Geológico do Instituto Geológico e Mineiro
Material
Partial skeleton of one individual: cervical vertebra fragments, twelve dorsal vertebrae with neural-arch fragments, dorsal ribs, five sacral vertebrae with ribs and neural spines, three proximal caudal vertebrae with neurapophyses and chevron fragments, both scapulae, coracoids, and sternal plates, both humeri, left radius and ulna, carpal II, left ilium, both pubes and ischia, left femur, tibia, fibula, and astragalus, and a pedal phalanx.
Notes
Antunes and Mateus (2003) designate the lectotype as numbers including "4979-80", as do Tschopp and colleagues (2015); Mocho and colleagues (2014) give both the left radius and the left ulna as MG 4979.
Horizon
Sobral Member, Farta Pão Formation, Kimmeridgian–Tithonian, Late Jurassic , 154.8–143.1 million years ago
Locality
Moinho do Carmo, Alenquer, Lisbon, Portugal

References

  1. Antunes, M. T.; Mateus, O. (2003). Dinosaurs of Portugal. Comptes Rendus Palevol 2(1): 77-95. Museum National D'Histoire Naturelle. doi:10.1016/s1631-0683(03)00003-4

    Designates the Moinho do Carmo specimen as the lectotype, "MIGM 4956-7, 4970, 4975, 4979-80, 4983-4 and 5780-1".

    antunes2003a
  2. Tschopp, E.; Mateus, O.; Benson, R. B. J. (2015). A specimen-level phylogenetic analysis and taxonomic revision of Diplodocidae (Dinosauria, Sauropoda). PeerJ 3: e857. PeerJ. doi:10.7717/peerj.857

    Lists the lectotype as "MIGM 2, 4931, 4956-57, 4970, 4975, 4979-80, 4983-84, 5780-81, 30370-88".

    tschopp2015a
  3. Dantas, P.; Sanz, J. L.; da Silva, C. M.; Ortega, F.; dos Santos, V. F.; Cachão, M. (1998). Lourinhasaurus n. gen. Novo dinossáurio saurópode do Juássico superior (Kimeridgiano superior-Titoniano inferior) de Portugal [Lourinhasaurus n. gen. New sauropod dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic (upper Kimmeridgian-lower Tithonian) of Portugal]. Actas do V Congresso Nacional de Geologia (Resumos Alargados). Comunicações del Instituto Geológico e Mineiro 84(1): A91-A94. dantas1998a
  4. Mocho, P.; Royo-Torres, R.; Ortega, F. (2014). Phylogenetic reassessment of Lourinhasaurus alenquerensis, a basal Macronaria (Sauropoda) from the Upper Jurassic of Portugal. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 170(4): 875-916. Oxford University Press (OUP). doi:10.1111/zoj.12113

    Restricts Lourinhasaurus to the Moinho do Carmo lectotype, from the Sobral Member of the Farta Pão Formation, with a 13-autapomorphy diagnosis; recovers it in Camarasauridae.

    mocho2014a
  5. Mateus, O.; Dinis, J.; Cunha, P. P. (2017). The Lourinhã Formation: the Upper Jurassic to lowermost Cretaceous of the Lusitanian Basin, Portugal - landscapes where dinosaurs walked. Ciências da Terra - Earth Sciences Journal 19(1): 75-97. doi:10.21695/cterra/esj.v19i1.355

    Lists Lourinhasaurus alenquerensis in the dinosaur fauna of the Praia da Amoreira-Porto Novo members of the Lourinhã Formation, without naming the Moinho do Carmo locality.

    mateus2017a
  6. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the hip height estimate.

    jones2026b