Sanjuansaurus
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Sanjuansaurus Temporal range: Late Triassic, 231.4 Ma |
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| Holotype | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Family: | †Herrerasauridae |
| Genus: |
†Sanjuansaurus Alcober & Martinez, 2010 |
| Species: | †S. gordilloi |
| Binomial name | |
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Sanjuansaurus gordilloi Alcober & Martinez, 2010 |
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Sanjuansaurus ("San Juan Province lizard") is a genus of herrerasaurid dinosaur from the Late Triassic-age Ischigualasto Formation of northwestern Argentina.
Sanjuansaurus was comparable in size to a medium-sized Herrerasaurus, with a thigh bone that was 395 millimetres (15.6 in) long and a tibia that is 260 millimetres (10 in) in length. Alcober and Martinez performed a phylogenetic analysis and found Sanjuansaurus to be a herrerasaurid. It was determined that Sanjuansaurus and Herrerasaurus share many similarities in the morphology of the skull, neck vertebrae, back vertebrae, hip vertebrae, scapula, and the hip bones. Alcober and Martinez observed that Sanjuansaurus and Staurikosaurus share many similarities in the morphology of the hip bones, and the tibia. The pubis of Sanjuansaurus, unlike in other herrerasaurids, points toward the cranium.
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 or group.
According to Alcober and Martinez (2010), Sanjuansaurus can be distinguished based on the following characteristics:
Sanjuansaurus was named and described in 2010 by Oscar Alcober and Ricardo Martinez. The type species was named S. gordilloi after Raul Gordillo, the head fossil preparator and artist of the San Juan Museum. It is known from and based on an associated and partially articulated partial skeleton (PVSJ 605) consisting of a jaw fragment, most of the vertebral column from the axis to the anterior tail, the shoulder blades, an ulna, part of the pelvis, most of the long bones of the legs, and a few other bones.
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