Clasmodosaurus
| Clasmodosaurus Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Clade: | †Macronaria |
| Clade: | †Titanosauria |
| Genus: | †Clasmodosaurus Ameghino, 1898 |
| Species: | †C. spatula
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Clasmodosaurus spatula Ameghino, 1898
| |
Clasmodosaurus (meaning "fragmentary tooth reptile") is a
sauropod dinosaur from the Mata Amarilla Formation and the Cerro Fortaleza Formation.[1] It lived during the Late Cretaceous in what is now Argentina. It is known from five fossilized and assorted teeth, but is diagnosed by a unique combination of characters.[1][2]
History
Clasmodosaurus was named by
carnosaur.[2] Like Loncosaurus, its taxonomy remained unclear with it regarded as a theropod on the rare occasions it was mentioned.[2] However, Jaime Powell suggested that it was a dubious genus of sauropod in 1986, an identification which has been accepted since. Like diplodocoids and titanosaurs, it had narrow tooth crowns, and it is typically regarded as a titanosaur like most Late Cretaceous sauropods.[2] More recently, a revision of Ameghino's collection and new discoveries in the Cerro Fortaleza Formation find the taxon to also hail from this formation.[1]
Description
The teeth of Clasmodosaurus spatula were polygonal in cross section rather than round, an unusual trait also found in the
titanosaur Bonitasaura salgadoi.[4] However, these teeth are much larger and more robust than those of Bonitasaura, with well-defined longitudinal ridges and grooves, resembling diamantinasaur teeth in some aspects.[1]
References
- ^ ISSN 0195-6671.
- ^ a b c d Powell JE. 2003. Revision of South American titanosaurid dinosaurs: palaeobiological, palaeobiogeographical and phylogenetic aspects. Records of the Queen Victoria Museum 111:1–173.
- ^ von Huene F. 1929. Los Saurisquios y ornithisquios del Cretaceo Argentino. Anales del Museo de la Plata.
- hdl:11336/192915.