Aniksosaurus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aniksosaurus Fossil range: Late Cretaceous
Conservation status
Extinct (fossil)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Sauropsida Superorder: Dinosauria Order: Saurischia Suborder: Theropoda (unranked) Coelurosauria Genus: Aniksosaurus
Binomial name
Aniksosaurus darwini Martinez & Novas, 2006

Aniksosaurus was a genus of dinosaur from what is now present-day Chubut Province, Argentina. It was a theropod, specifically a coelurosaur, which lived in the middle Cretaceous period (Cenomanian to Turonian stages, around 95 million years ago). The type species, Aniksosaurus darwini, was formally described by Martínez and Novas in 2006; the name was first coined in 1995. The specific epithet honors Charles Darwin. The type remains were found in the lower Bajo Barreal Formation of Patagonia. Aniksosaurus was around two meters in length. The paleontologists describe Aniksosaurus as "more derived than some basal coelurosaurians such as compsognathids, Ornitholestes, and coelurids", but less advanced than later coelurosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus and Oviraptor.

[edit] References

• Martínez, R.D., and Novas, F.E. (2006). "Aniksosaurus darwini gen. et sp. nov., a new coelurosaurian theropod from the early Late Cretaceous of central Patagonia, Argentina." Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, n.s. 8(2): 243-259.

[edit] External links

• Mickey Mortimer and Josh B. Smith on the genus.
• Coelurosauria page at Thescelosaurus web site