Vespersaurus

Vespersaurus is a genus of noasaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period, found in the Rio Paraná Formation in the Paraná Basin, Brazil. The type and only species is V. paranaensis, which would have lived in the giant prehistoric Botucatu Desert.[1]

Vespersaurus
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
Holotype foot bones
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Family: †Noasauridae
Subfamily: †Noasaurinae
Genus: †Vespersaurus
Langer et al., 2019
Type species
Vespersaurus paranaensis
Langer et al., 2019
Vespersaurus paranaensis

Etymology

The generic name means "evening" or "west lizard" ("vesper" is latin for "evening/west") in reference to the town Cruzeiro do Oeste ("Western Cross") near which the fossils were found. The specific name refers to the Paraná state.[1]

Discovery and naming

Footprints belonging to Vespersaurus or a similar one-toed theropod were discovered near Cruzeiro do Oeste as early as the 1970s.

At the Cemitério dos Pterossauros site, near Cruzeiro do Oeste, after numerous skeletons of the pterosaurs Caiuajara and Keresdrakon between 2011 and 2015 also the remains of small theropods were uncovered. One of these was in 2019 named and described as Vespersaurus but a second species proved to be present.[2] The other theropod species was named Berthasaura in 2021.[2]

Description
Frontal bone and tooth
Size comparison

The taxon is notable for its distinct, functionally monodactyl foot anatomy, where the singularly large third digit would have borne most of the weight while walking. Based on the proportions of its holotype remains (MPCO.V 0065d), V. paranaensis was a small theropod, with an estimated body length of 1 to 1.5 meters. This makes it comparable in size to Noasaurus leali and Masiakasaurus knopfleri. Body mass of V. paranaensis was 11.28 kg, nearly that of the ornithischians Jeholosaurus shangyuanensis and Gasparinisaura cincosaltensis.[1]

See also

References
  1. Langer, Max Cardoso; de Oliveira Martins, Neurides; Manzig, Paulo César; de Souza Ferreira, Gabriel; de Almeida Marsola, Júlio César; Fortes, Edison; Lima, Rosana; Sant’ana, Lucas Cesar Frediani; da Silva Vidal, Luciano; da Silva Lorençato, Rosangela Honório; Ezcurra, Martín Daniel Ezcurra (2019). "A new desert-dwelling dinosaur (Theropoda, Noasaurinae) from the Cretaceous of south Brazil". Scientific Reports. 9 (1): 9379. Bibcode:2019NatSR...9.9379L. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-45306-9. PMC 6594977. PMID 31243312.
  2. de Souza GA, Soares MB, Weinschütz LC, Wilner E, Lopes RT, de Araújo OM, Kellner AW (2021). "The first edentulous ceratosaur from South America". Scientific Reports. 11 (1): Article number 22281. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-01312-4.


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