Austrosaurus

• Australia, Queensland ( Allaru - mudstone )

• Austrosaurus mckillopi

Austrosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the group of Titanosauria. Fossils of this genus are from the Lower Cretaceous ( Albian ) of Queensland, Australia.

Austrosaurus described in 1933 by the British- Australian paleontologists Heber Longman basis of three fragmentary, highly weathered vertebrae scientifically for the first time; Type species is Austrosaurus mckillopi. This Austrosaurus is the first described and named sauropod from Australia. Later described Cooms and Molnar (1981 ) finds from various nearby Winton tentatively identified as another type of Austrosaurus ( Austrosaurus sp.) - Researchers today doubt, however, that these finds were actually Austrosaurus. Hock zero and colleagues ( 2009) lead Austrosaurus as a noun dubium ( dubious name ) because the vertebrae described by Longman are so poorly preserved that few diagnostic characters are recognizable.

The name Austrosaurus means as much as " southern lizard" (Latin austr - "South", Gr sauros -. " Lizard" ), which is on the location in Australia, a continent in the southern hemisphere point.

System

While McIntosh leads (1990 ) Austrosaurus as not einordbaren sauropod ( Sauropoda incertae sedis ), confirm Upchurch and colleagues ( 2004) a position within the Titanosauria. These researchers indicate that Austrosaurus is likely to be classified outside the Lithostrotia, which includes all modern Titanosauria.

History of Research

The described by Heber Longman three incomplete vertebra ( holotype, specimen number QMF 2316 ) are from the Allaru - mudstone from near Maxwelton in northern Queensland. Shortly after the publication of the first description Longman received further vortex remnants, which increased the total number of known vertebrate to eight. These vortices have a sponge-like structure with numerous internal chambers. Because of the strong weathering and incompleteness is partly unclear which end of the front and which is the rear.

Coombs and Molnar (1981 ) described several finds of vertebrae and bones of the limbs from the Winton Formation (late Albian to early Cenomanian ) and found that the eddy same sponge-like internal structure as shown by the Austrosaurus mckillopi swirls. Mainly due to this common written Cooms and Molnar to the new discoveries of the genus Austrosaurus than Austrosaurus sp.

Today we know that such spongy vertebrae were not for Austrosaurus specific but occurred in almost all representatives of the group Titanosauriformes. Thus, the assignment of these findings described by Coombs and Molnar to Austrosaurus appears questionable. The most complete of these findings has been described by researchers at Scott Hock zero ( 2009) as a distinct genus: Wintonotitan.