Open Paleo

Vespersaurus

Langer et al., 2019 VES-per-SAWR-us

From Latin 'vesper' meaning 'evening' or 'west', referencing the town Cruzeiro do Oeste ('Western Cross') near the discovery site, combined with Greek 'sauros' meaning 'lizard'.

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

Vespersaurus is a genus of noasaurid theropod dinosaur from the Cretaceous Rio Paraná Formation in the Paraná Basin, Brazil. The type and only species is V. paranaensis, which would have lived in the giant prehistoric Botucatu Desert.

Diagnosis

  1. Metatarsal II with extremely lateromedially compressed shaft, differing from Velocisaurus, Masiakasaurus, and Noasaurus
  2. Lateromedially compressed metatarsal IV
  3. Pedal ungual of the fourth digit with proximal end dorsoventrally taller than distal end of phalanx IV-1
  4. Ischium with no obturator notch
  5. Humeral head more than twice (lateromedially) longer than (craniocaudally) broad in proximal view
  6. Ischiadic peduncle of ilium not significantly projected ventrally relative to pubic peduncle

Species

Vespersaurus paranaensis Langer et al., 2019

Type species

Named for Paraná state, Brazil, where the fossils were found, with the suffix '-ensis' meaning 'from'.

Holotype
MPCO.V 0065d , Museu Paleontológico de Cruzeiro do Oeste
Material
Postcranial remains including three trunk, three sacral, and three tail vertebrae, partial left ilium and ischium, and partial articulated right pes
Horizon
Rio Paraná Formation, Aptian–Albian, Early Cretaceous , 121.4–100.5 million years ago
Locality
Cemitério dos Pterossauros Quarry, Paraná, Brazil Langer and colleagues (2019) give the horizon as "Dark red sandstones of the likely early Late Cretaceous Rio Paraná Formation", without a stage. Arai and Dias-Brito (2023) date the formation Aptian to Albian from the pterosaurs and noasaurid of the interdigitated Goioerê Formation.

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 langer2019a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Theropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the hip height estimate, and the appearance features.

    jones2026c
  3. Arai, M.; Dias-Brito, D. (2023). Supersequência Bauru (Cretáceo da Bacia do Paraná): revisão estratigráfica com base em dados paleontológicos recentes [The Bauru Supersequence (Cretaceous of the Paraná Basin): stratigraphic revision based on recent paleontological data]. Derbyana 44: e800. doi:10.14295/derb.v44.800

    Dates the Caiuá Group, the Rio Paraná included, Aptian to Albian from pterosaurs and a noasaurid of the interdigitated Goioerê Formation.

    arai2023a