Ligabueino

• Neuquén Province, Argentina (La Amarga Formation)

• Ligabueino andesi ( Bonaparte, 1996)

Ligabueino is a little known genus of small theropod dinosaur from the group of Abelisauroidea. The very incomplete remains date from Argentina and are the lower Cretaceous dated ( Barremian to early Aptian ). The only way is Ligabueino andesi.

Ligabueino was described in 1996 by José Fernando Bonaparte first time scientifically and bears his name in honor of the Italian businessman and scholar Giancarlo Ligabue.

Features

The only known treasure belonged to one of about 70 cm long animal. This was probably a young animal, whereupon the separated neural arches of the vertebrae point. Various features show the membership of the group Abelisauroidea, such as the anteroposterior short spinous processes of the cervical vertebrae.

System

Ligabueino the oldest known representative of the Noasauridae could have been a group within the Abelisauroidea. This is indicated by the long vortex centers of the vertebrae, as well as the shape of a Gelenkknorrens of the femur. However, definitive, shared derived characteristics ( synapomorphies ) of the Noasauridae can not be identified, so Ligabueino must be conducted as not be assigned, representatives of Abelisauroidea currently.

Discovery

The only Fund ( holotype, specimen number MACN -N -42 ) comes from the Departamento Catán Lil center in the province of Neuquen in southern Argentina. The rocks of the discovery site belong to the La Amarga Formation.

The Fund consists of only a handful of fragmentary bones. Thus, the neural arch of a vertebra, the vortex center of the vertebrae, a complete caudal vertebrae, the majority of the right iliac bone ( ilium ), two fragmentary pubic bones ( pubis ), a thigh bone (femur ), two phalanges ( phalanges ) and other unidentifiable fragments have survived.