Atsinganosaurus lizard gypsy is sort represented by a unique species of dinosaur sauropodomorph Titanosauriano who lived at the end of the Cretaceous period , makes approximately 75 million years during the Campanian , in what is today Europe .
Description
Atsinganosaurus was a thin titanosaurian . Among the other known European titanosaurs , this genus can be identified by a combination of diagnostic characteristics. For example, the cylindrical root and crowns of teeth have a spatulate shape. The vertebrae lost the hyposphene-hypantro connection, as with most other titanosaurs, except for some basal forms such as Andesaurus. The sacrum consists of five vertebrae with a concave back, opistocelica. In contrast, many titanosaurs had six sacral vertebrae. Only the anterior caudal vertebrae are strongly procelic, with the concave front facing as in Malawisaurus. The coracoid foramen is located in the center of the upper and lower part. The lower end of the humerus is expanded slightly obliquely.
History
The site of La Bastide Neuve is near the town of Velaux in the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and was discovered in 1992 by Xavier Valentin. The bones are well preserved and were discovered in an area of six square meters. The bones were found along with the remains of other vertebrates such as turtles and the teeth of crocodilomorphs , theropods , nodosaurids and rhabdodonts . The sauropods belong to the least two genres. The degree of fusion of the vertebral arches and ribscervical and sacrum indicates that they belong to adult individuals. Some parts of the skeleton were found in anatomical position.1 Classification Atsinganosaurus shows a combination of modern and original plesiomorphic features of titanosaurs. Especially several of these characteristics bring it closer to the basal Lithostrotia , and in particular to Malawisaurus . The Lithostrotia are a group within the advanced titanosaurs. Although there are no published phylogenetic analyzes, it is assumed by this combination of characteristics that Atsinganosaurus is a basal representative of Lithostrotia.
