Lavocatisaurus (meaning "René Lavocat's lizard") is a genus of sauropod in the family Rebbachisauridae from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian to Albian) Rayoso Formation of the Neuquén Basin, northern Patagonia, Argentina.[1]
| Lavocatisaurus Temporal range:
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| Fossil bones and skeletal diagram showing known elements | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Superfamily: | †Diplodocoidea |
| Family: | †Rebbachisauridae |
| Genus: | †Lavocatisaurus Canudo et al. 2018 |
| Type species | |
| †Lavocatisaurus agrioensis Canudo et al. 2018
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Description
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Lavocatisaurus was a medium-sized sauropod, and one of the only known dinosaurs from the Rayoso Formation. It is known from almost all of its anatomical elements, and it is known from a few specimens including juveniles and an adult. The adult specimen is currently under preparation, and thus the described fossils come from a number of juvenile individuals. The skull was elongate and similar in shape to that of Diplodocus. The skull is well preserved for the most part, and it provides further evidence that some sauropods may have had a beak-like keratinous sheath covering the anterior of the snout.[1]
Classification
editIn their phylogenetic analysis Canudo et al. (2018) found Lavocatisaurus to be a basal rebbachisaurid. They resolved it in a derived position relative to other basal rebbachisaurids, as the sister group to the Khebbashia, the clade formed by Rebbachisaurinae and Limaysaurinae.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c Canudo, José; Carballido, Jose; Garrido, Alberto; Salgado, Leonardo (2018). "A new rebbachisaurid sauropod from the Aptian–Albian, Lower Cretaceous Rayoso Formation, Neuquén, Argentina". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 63. doi:10.4202/app.00524.2018. hdl:11336/88390. ISSN 0567-7920.
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