Morelladon
Morelladon | |
---|---|
Dorsal vertebrae | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | †Ornithischia |
Clade: | †Ornithopoda |
Clade: | †Ankylopollexia |
Clade: | † Styracosterna
|
Genus: | †Morelladon Gasulla et al., 2015 |
Species: | †M. beltrani
|
Binomial name | |
†Morelladon beltrani Gasulla et al., 2015
|
Morelladon is an
Discovery
In 2013, teams of the
In 2015, the type species Morelladon beltrani was named and described by José Miguel Gasulla, Fernando Escaso, Iván Narváez, Francisco Ortega and José Luis Sanz. The generic name combines a reference to Morella with Greek ὀδών, odṓn, "tooth". The specific name honours Victor Beltrán, the owner of the Vega del Moll S.A. Company exploiting the quarries, for his cooperation with the scientific research.[1]
The holotype, CMP-MS-03, was found in a layer of the Arcillas de Morella Formation traditionally dated to the early Aptian, but according to recent palynological research perhaps dating from the late Barremian. It consists of a partial skeleton lacking the skull. It contains a right dentary tooth, seven dorsal vertebrae, fragments of the neural spines of dorsal vertebrae, two rib pieces, a sacrum, two chevrons, the ilia, incomplete pubes and ischia and a right tibia.[1]
Morelladon was one of eighteen dinosaur taxa from 2015 to be described in open access or free-to-read journals.[2]
Description
Morelladon is a medium-sized euornithopod. Its body length has been estimated at six metres, its weight at two tonnes.
The describing authors established some distinguishing traits. These were all
References
- ^ PMID 26673161.
- ^ "The Open Access Dinosaurs of 2015". PLOS Paleo.