| Lirainosaurus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Paratype braincase | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Clade: | †Macronaria |
| Clade: | †Titanosauria |
| Clade: | †Lithostrotia |
| Genus: | †Lirainosaurus Sanzet al., 1999 |
| Species: | †L. astibiae |
| Binomial name | |
| †Lirainosaurus astibiae Sanzet al., 1999 | |
Lirainosaurus (meaning "slender lizard"; from theBasquelirain, meaning "slender", and the Greeksauros, meaning "lizard"[1]) is a genus oftitanosaursauropod which lived in what is nowSpain. Thetype species,Lirainosaurus astibiae, was described by Sanz, Powell, Le Loeuff, Martinez, and Pereda-Suberbiola in 1999.[2] It was a relatively small sauropod, measuring 4 metres (13 ft) long, possibly up to 6 metres (20 ft) long for the largest individuals, and weighed about 2–4 metric tons (2.2–4.4 short tons).[3]
This genus was based on a skull fragment, isolated teeth, several vertebrae including theholotype - an anterior caudal vertebra, andappendicular bones from the Late Cretaceous ofLaño (northern Spain). New material from Laño, Spain described by Diazet al. (2013), which includes cervical, dorsal and caudal vertebrae, dorsal ribs, and a haemal arch, has been assigned toLirainosaurus.[4]
A diagnosis is a statement of the anatomical features of an organism (or group) that collectively distinguish it from all other organisms. Some, but not all, of the features in a diagnosis are also autapomorphies. An autapomorphy is a distinctive anatomical feature that is unique to a given organism. According to Diazet al.,Lirainosaurus can be distinguished by the presence of a lamina in the interzygapophysealfossa of the most proximal caudal vertebrae; and the spinopostzygapophyseal structure not posteriorly projected in the posterior caudal vertebrae.
The combination of characters present in the new axial remains described, supports the placement ofLirainosaurus as a derived lithostrotian titanosaur closely related to theSaltasaurinae. The results of an unpublished SVPCA abstract published in 2016 narrow down the exact position ofLirainosaurus by placing it as closer toAlamosaurus andOpisthocoelicaudia than toSaltasaurus.[5] Later, Diez Diazet al. (2018) erected Lirainosaurinae to accommodateLirainosaurus as well asAmpelosaurus andAtsinganosaurus.[6]
Specimens have been found in the North-Pyrenean site of Bellevue, which is located at the base of the Marnes de la Maurine member of theMarnes Rouges Inférieures Formation. Marine biostratigraphic testing of the formation places its age somewhere between LateCampanian to EarlyMaastrichtian. Other contemporary dinosaurs in the Bellevue layer include the titanosaur sauropodAmpelosaurus, therhabdodontidRhabdodon and indeterminateankylosaur andDromaeosauridae elements.[7]
Other material ascribed toLirainosaurus have been found in the Fox-Amphoux–Métisson locality, where unfortunately no magnetostratigraphic dating has been performed. However, the local stratigraphy presents the same succession of facies as in the Aix-en-Provence Basin, which is also in the Late Campanian to Early Maastrichtian age.
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