Sacisaurus

Taxobox
name = "Sacisaurus"
fossil_range = Late Triassic
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
infraclassis = Archosauromorpha
unranked_ordo = Ornithodira
unranked_familia = Dinosauriformes
genus = "Sacisaurus"
genus_authority= Ferigolo & Langer, 2006
subdivision_ranks=Species
subdivision=
*"S. agudoensis" Ferigolo & Langer, 2006 (type)

"Sacisaurus", from the Portuguese "sacissauro", is a genus of dinosauriform (a relative to basal dinosaurs) that lived in the south of Brazil 220 million years ago, in the Triassic period.cite journal |last=Ferigolo |first=J. |coauthors=and Langer, M.C. |year=2006 |url=http://www.journalsonline.tandf.co.uk/(ciigzuqwmoomny2lspjqn155)/app/home/contribution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=issue,3,14;journal,1,8;linkingpublicationresults,1:300240,1 |title=A Late Triassic dinosauriform from south Brazil and the origin of the ornithischian predentary bone |journal=Historical Biology |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=1–11] The scientific name refers to the city where the "Sacisaurus" was found, Agudo in the Rio Grande do Sul state and to Saci, a famous one-legged elf from Brazilian mythology, because the fossil skeleton has been found missing a leg.

Characteristics

"Sacisaurus" was 1.5 meters (5 ft) long and 70 centimeters (2.3 ft) high. Its long and strong legs indicate that it was a fast animal. According to Jorge Ferigolo, paleontologist of Zoobothanic Foundation of Rio Grande do Sul state, the biggest teeth of the genus were 3 millimeters (1/12 in) long.

The well-preserved jaw indicates that "Sacisaurus" was an herbivore, and there is a process at the tip that resembles the ornithischian predentary bone. Further research will attempt to define if "Sacisaurus" was the oldest ornithischian dinosaur. Through the cladistic analysis of some of its morphological particularities, its closest relative may be "Silesaurus".

History

"Sacisaurus" was discovered in 2001 in the small municipality of Agudo, in the countryside of Rio Grande do Sul state. Through 50 bones, scientists could assemble the skeleton and speculate on how it might have lived. The fossil was presented for the first time in the 2nd Latin American Congress of Vertebrate Paleonthology in 2005.

After the work of Brazilian scientists, the announcement of the discovery of the new species was made on November 1, 2006 at the University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, where the bones were identified and the paper was published in the British scientific journal "Historical Biology: A Journal of Paleobiology" on October 30 2006.

The discovery helped scientists to study the feeding habits of dinosaurs and their close relatives, since it is one of the oldest ever found.

ee also

*Paleorrota

References

External links

* [http://jornalhoje.globo.com/JHoje/0,19125,VJS0-3076-20061101-250279,00.html Jornal Hoje - Sacissauro é apresentado ao mundo]
* [http://www.agudo.rs.gov.br/portal1/municipio/noticia.asp?iIdMun=100143002&iIdNoticia= Site oficial de Agudo - Fósseis de dinossauro foram encontrados em Agudo]
* [http://ecofalante.terra.com.br/sub/noticias.old.php?set=680 ecoelefante - Novo dinossauro brasileiro]
* [http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/ciencia/ult306u13588.shtml Folha online - Brasil "ganha" dinossauro de 220 milhões de anos]
* [http://www.royalsul.com.br/paleo/galeria.asp Dinosaurs of Rio grande do Sul.]