Rayososaurus is an extinct genus of sauropod dinosaur in the family Rebbachisauridae. Rayososaurus was named by Argentinian paleontologist José Bonaparte in 1996. Its type and only accepted species is Rayososaurus agrioensis. The species Limaysaurus tessonei was at one point included in Rayososaurus as Rayososaurus tessonei.
| Rayososaurus Temporal range: Cenomanian,
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Superfamily: | †Diplodocoidea |
| Family: | †Rebbachisauridae |
| Subfamily: | †Limaysaurinae |
| Genus: | †Rayososaurus Bonaparte, 1996 |
| Type species | |
| †Rayososaurus agrioensis Bonaparte, 1996
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History of discovery edit
The only known specimen of Rayososaurus agrioensis was discovered in 1991 by a team led by José F. Bonaparte, at a locality three kilometers south of Agrio del Medio in Picunches Department, Neuquén Province, Argentina. In 1996, Bonaparte described the remains as a new genus and species of sauropod, Rayososaurus agrioensis. Bonaparte believed that the strata the specimen was excavated from belonged to the Rayoso Formation, and named the genus after it. The species name refers to the Agrio River, which the specimen was found near.[1] Bonaparte argued that the distinctive morphology of the scapula indicated that Rayososaurus was closely related to Rebbachisaurus, which was considered a diplodocid at the time, and suggested that the two probably represent a previously-unrecognized clade of sauropods distinct from diplodocids. The following year, Bonaparte proposed the family Rebbachisauridae to encompass Rayososaurus and Rebbachisaurus.[2] Efforts undertaken in 2008 and 2009 re-located the original locality and determined that the specimen actually came from the upper layers of the Candeleros Formation.[3]
In 1998, Jeffrey Wilson and Paul Sereno proposed assigning Rebbachisaurus tessonei to Rayososaurus.[4] In 2004, Salgado and colleagues rejected this asignment and proposed the new genus Limaysaurus for R. tessonei, which is now known as Limaysaurus tessonei.[5]
Fossil record edit
The holotype and only known specimen of Rayososaurus agrioensis, MACN-N 41, consists of two partial scapulae, most of the left femur, and the proximal half of the left fibula.[3] The Candeleros Formation, where the specimen was found, dates to the Cenomanian age of the Late Cretaceous.[3]
Specimens from Brazil were assigned to Rayososaurus in 2004,[6] but this was based on the now-rejected inclusion of Limaysaurus tessonei in Rayososaurus, so the specimens would better be referred to Limaysaurus, although they might actually be fragmentary remains of Amazonsaurus.[3]
Description edit
Rayososaurus has been considered a medium-sized sauropod,[7] with a body mass estimated at 9,353 kg.[8] Like other rebbachisaurids, Rayososaurus had a racquet-shaped scapula.[3]
References edit
- ^ Bonaparte, José F. (1996). "Cretaceous tetrapods of Argentina". Münchner geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen. Reihe A, Geologie und Paläontologie. 30: 76–130. ISSN 0177-0950.
- ^ Bonaparte, J. F. (1997). "Rayososaurus agrioensis Bonaparte 1995". Ameghiniana. 34 (1): 116. ISSN 0002-7014.
- ^ a b c d e Carballido, José L.; Garrido, Alberto C.; Canudo, José I.; Salgado, Leonardo (2010). "Redescription of Rayososaurus agrioensis Bonaparte (Sauropoda, Diplodocoidea), a rebbachisaurid from the early Late Cretaceous of Neuquén". Geobios. 43 (5): 493–502. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2010.01.004. ISSN 0016-6995.
- ^ Wilson, Jeffrey A.; Sereno, Paul C. (1998-06-15). "Early evolution and higher-level phylogeny of sauropod dinosaurs". Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Memoir. 5: 1–68. doi:10.2307/3889325. ISSN 1062-161X. JSTOR 3889325.
- ^ Salgado, Leonardo; Garrido, Alberto; Cocca, Sergio E.; Cocca, Juan R. (2004-12-10). "Lower Cretaceous rebbachisaurid sauropods from Cerro Aguada del León (Lohan Cura Formation), Neuquén Province, northwestern Patagonia, Argentina". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 24 (4): 903–912. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2004)024[0903:LCRSFC]2.0.CO;2. eISSN 1937-2809. ISSN 0272-4634.
- ^ Medeiros, Manuel Alfredo; Schultz, Cesar Leandro (2004-08-30). "Rayososaurus (Sauropoda, Diplodocoidea) no Meso-Cretáceo do norte-nordeste brasileiro". Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia. 7 (2): 275–279. doi:10.4072/rbp.2004.2.22. ISSN 1519-7530.
- ^ González Riga, Bernardo J.; Casal, Gabriel A.; Fiorillo, Anthony R.; Ortiz David, Leonardo D. (2022), Otero, Alejandro; Carballido, José L.; Pol, Diego (eds.), "Taphonomy: Overview and New Perspectives Related to the Paleobiology of Giants", South American Sauropodomorph Dinosaurs: Record, Diversity and Evolution, Springer Earth System Sciences, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 541–582, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-95959-3_15, ISBN 978-3-030-95959-3
- ^ Otero, Alejandro; Hutchinson, John R. (2022). "Body Size Evolution and Locomotion in Sauropodomorpha: What the South American Record Tells Us". In Otero, Alejandro; Carballido, José L.; Pol, Diego (eds.). South American Sauropodomorph Dinosaurs. Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 443–472. ISBN 978-3-030-95959-3.
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