{This page is under construction.}. Mapusaurus ('earth lizard') was a giant charcarodontosaurid carnosaurian from the Late Cretaceous of what is now Argentina. It was similar in size to its close relative Giganotosaurus, with the largest known specimens measuring over 12.2 meters (40 ft) in length and weighing over 3 tons.[1]
Mapusaurus was excavated between 1997 and 2001, by the Argentinian-Canadian Dinosaur Project, from an exposure of the Huincul Formation (Rio Limay Group, Cenomanian) at Canadon de Gato. It was described and named by paleontologists Rodolfo Coria and Phil Currie in 2006.[2]
The name Mapusaurus is derived from the Mapuche word Mapu, meaning 'of the Land' or 'of the Earth' and the Greek sauros, meaning 'lizard'. The type species, Mapusaurus roseae, is named for both the rose-colored rocks, in which the fossils were found and for Rose Letwin, who sponsored the expeditions which recovered these fossils.[3]
References[]
- ↑ http://fossilworks.org/bridge.pl?a=taxonInfo&taxon_no=77206
- ↑ R. A. Coria and P. J. Currie. 2006. A new carcharodontosaurid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Argentina. Geodiversitas 28(1):71-118
- ↑ http://fossilworks.org/bridge.pl?a=taxonInfo&taxon_no=54541