Lourinhanosaurus

Lourinhanosaurus Temporal range: Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Reconstructed skeleton, Museum of Lourinhã
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	Theropoda
Clade:	Orionides
Clade:	Avetheropoda
Genus:	†Lourinhanosaurus Mateus, 1998
Species:	†L. antunesi
Binomial name
†Lourinhanosaurus antunesi Mateus, 1998

Lourinhanosaurus (meaning "Lourinhã lizard") was a

Its first remains were found at Peralta, near Lourinhã, Portugal in 1982, but were not described until 1998, by Portuguese paleontologist Octávio Mateus.^[2] Its type (and to date only) species is L. antunesi, in honour of Portuguese paleontologist Miguel Telles Antunes.

Fossils of Lourinhasaurus are stored at

L. antunesi was rather large. The individual found was a sub-adult, measuring some 4.5 m in length and weighing around 160 kg. Histology shows that the holotype specimen was between 14 and 17 years old.^[6]

Though gastroliths have been found in other theropods since the description of L. antunesi, this was the first theropod dinosaur for which this kind of remains have been assigned. It was concluded during the description that these stones belonged to the animal, and were not swallowed while eating a herbivorous dinosaur.

Dinosaur eggs and embryos, believed to be those of Lourinhanosaurus, have also been discovered; a nest containing more than 100 eggs, some with well-preserved embryos, was announced in 1998.^[7][8]

Classification

The relationships of Lourinhanosaurus to other theropods have been uncertain, and no firm consensus has been reached as to its classification. Initially regarded as a primitive member of Allosauroidea, it was later discussed as being closely related to Sinraptoridae (Metriacanthosauridae), a more inclusive clade within Allosauroidea. Since the original description, some researchers have been favourable to the idea that L. antunesi is not even an allosauroid, but in fact a member of Megalosauroidea, a more basal group of tetanuran theropods. Benson et al. (2010) found it and Poekilopleuron to belong to Sinraptoridae.^[9] Carrano et al. (2012) found it to be a coelurosaur.^[10] A 2022 study mentions it as a "putative metriacanthosaurid".^[3]

References