Friday, December 11, 2015

The Giving of December. Adamantisaurus

 Remains of Brazilian dinosaurs are often noted as being incomplete‭ (‬for example,‭ ‬the increasingly famous spinosaurid Oxalaia was named from only the tip of the snout‭)‬,‭ ‬and Adamantisaurus was no exception to this since it was named from only six caudal vertebrae.‭ ‬These six vertebrae were originally written about in‭ ‬1959‭ ‬by Sergio Mezzalira,‭ ‬but were not formally named as a genus until‭ ‬2006.‭ ‬The genus name is in reference to the Admantina Formation where the holotype remains were discovered,‭ ‬while the type species name is in honour of Sergio Mezzalira.
       Because it is only named from caudal vertebrae it is impossible to establish a size for Adamantisaurus as well as identify other features such as the presence of bony armour called scutes in the skin which are seen in at least some titanosaurs.‭ ‬Despite this,‭ ‬Adamantisaurus has been considered to possibly be similar to genera such as Aeolosaurus and Trigonosaurus.‭ ‬Other sauropods from the Admantina Formation that Adamantisaurus may have lived alongside include Antarctosaurus,‭ ‬Gondwanatitan and Maxakalisaurus.
       On a side note,‭ ‬care should be taken not to confuse the sauropod genus Adamantisaurus with the crocodylomorph Adamantinasuchus,‭ ‬which is also known from the same formation.

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