Vitosaura
| Vitosaura | |
|---|---|
| Speculative life restoration | |
| Scientific classification Edit this classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Family: | †Abelisauridae |
| Genus: | †Vitosaura Jiménez Velandia et al., 2025 |
| Species: | †V. colozacani
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Vitosaura colozacani Jiménez Velandia et al., 2025
| |
Vitosaura is an extinct genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaurs known from the Late Cretaceous Los Llanos Formation of Argentina. The genus contains a single species, Vitosaura colozacani, known from a partial skeleton. Alongside Guemesia and the noasaurid Noasaurus , Vitosaura is one of the only Argentinian ceratosaurians found outside of Patagonia.[1]
Discovery and naming
[edit ]During fieldwork in the Colozacán Valley conducted through 2009 and 2010, a partial theropod skeleton, found in association with various titanosaur sauropod remains, was collected from outcrops of the Los Llanos Formation. This site is located near Tama village in southeast La Rioja Province, Argentina. Following its excavation, the specimen was prepared at the La Rioja Regional Center for Scientific Research and Technology, where it is now permanently accessioned as CRILAR-Pv 506 in the vertebrate paleontology collections. The specimen consists of the centrum of the first dorsal (back) vertebra, a complete second dorsal vertebra, part of the sacrum , a partial left pelvis (ilium , pubis , and ischium ), and other unidentified fragments.[1]
In 2025, Harold Jiménez Velandia and colleagues described Vitosaura colozacani as a new genus and species of abelisaurid theropods, establishing CRILAR-Pv 506 as the holotype and only known specimen. The generic name, Vitosaura, honors 19th-century soldier Victoria 'Doña Vito' Romero, born in the Los Llanos region near the Vitosaura type locality. This is combined with 'saura', the feminine declension of the Ancient Greek σαῦρος (sauros), meaning 'lizard'. The specific name, colozacani, references the discovery of the specimen in the Colozacán Valley.[1]
References
[edit ]- ^ a b c Jiménez Velandia, Harold; Ezcurra, Martín D.; Hechenleitner, E. Martín; Basilici, Giorgio; Martinelli, Agustín G.; Fiorelli, Lucas E. (2025). "A new Late Cretaceous abelisaurid species from La Rioja Province, northwestern Argentina". Ameghiniana . 65 (1): 1–23. ISSN 0002-7014.
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