| Bagualosaurus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Skeletal remains ofBagualosaurus agudoensis (known in white/light grey and unknown in dark grey). | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Bagualosauria |
| Genus: | †Bagualosaurus Pretto, Langer & Schultz,2018 |
| Species: | †B. agudoensis |
| Binomial name | |
| †Bagualosaurus agudoensis Pretto, Langer & Schultz,2018 | |
Bagualosaurus is a genus ofsauropodomorphdinosaur from the Candelária Sequence (UppermostSanta Maria Formation) ofBrazil, dating to around 230 million years ago, in theCarnian of the LateTriassic.[1] It includes one species,Bagualosaurus agudoensis.
In 2007, in a ravine at the outcrop of Janner, nearAgudo inRio Grande do Sul, a sauropodomorph skeleton was excavated. It was removed in a single block of stone. For five years it remained unprepared in the collection of theLaboratório de Paleovertebrados da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, curated by Cesar Leandro Schultz. In 2012, Flávio Augusto Pretto began to study the specimen. In 2018, Pretto, Max Cardoso Langer and Schultz named and described thetype speciesBagualosaurus agudoensis. The generic name is derived frombagual, "strongly built fellow" in the dialect of Rio Grande do Sul, in reference to the strong hindlimbs. Thespecific name refers to the provenance from Agudo.[1]
Theholotype,UFRGS-PV-1099-T, has been found in a layer of red mudstone of the Candelária sequence dating from the latest Carnian. It consists of a partial skeleton with skull. It contains the lower parts of the skull, the lower jaws, nine trunk vertebrae, three sacral vertebrae, two tail vertebrae, ribs, gastralia, chevrons, both ilia, the right pubis, both femora, both tibiae, both fibulae, and most of the left foot. The skeleton was partly articulated but has been damaged by erosion. It was found on its back with the hindlimbs pulled up, a rare position for archosaurian fossils.[1]
Bagualosaurus was a modest-sized basal sauropodomorph, measuring approximately 2.25 metres (7.4 ft) in length that, based on its teeth, was mostlyherbivore.[2] Features of its skull and dental structure are similar toPampadromaeus, which comes from the same beds, and laterNorian sauropodomorphs such asPantydraco,Efraasia andPlateosaurus. However, its post-cranial skeleton resembles earlier forms. Likewise, it is somewhat smaller than Norian sauropodomorphs, yet significantly larger (~45% based on femoral length) than other sauropodomorphs of the Carnian epoch, suggesting that it is transitional between the sauropodomorphs of its time and their later Norian descendants.
