Ligabuesaurus is a genus of somphospondylan sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous that lived in what is now Argentina. The type species, Ligabuesaurus leanzai, was described by Jose Bonaparte, Gonzalez Riga, and Sebastián Apesteguía in 2006, based on a partial skeleton with skull, holotype MCF-PHV-233.[1] The generic name, Ligabuesaurus, honors Giancarlo Ligabue, while the specific name, leanzai, honors the geologist Dr. Héctor A. Leanza, who discovered the skeleton in the Lohan Cura Formation.[2] In 2022, a second skeleton was referred, specimen MCF-PHV-228.[3] A third skeleton was recovered but not referred due to a lack of overlapping material. The three skeletons were excavated between 1998 and 2000.[1]
| Ligabuesaurus | |
|---|---|
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| Speculative reconstruction | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Clade: | †Macronaria |
| Genus: | †Ligabuesaurus |
| Species: | †L. leanzai
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| Binomial name | |
| †Ligabuesaurus leanzai Bonaparte et al., 2006
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References
edit- ^ a b José F. Bonaparte, Bernardo J. González Riga and Sebastián Apesteguía 2006. Ligabuesaurus leanzai gen. et sp. nov. (Dinosauria, Sauropoda), a new titanosaur from the Lohan Cura Formation (Aptian, Lower Cretaceous) of Neuquén, Patagonia, Argentina. Cretaceous Research 27(3): 364–376.
- ^ Dinosaur Mailing List entry which announces the discovery (includes complete abstract)
- ^ Bellardini F, Coria RA, Pino DA, Windholz GJ, Baiano MA, Martinelli AG (2022). "Osteology and phylogenetic relationships of Ligabuesaurus leanzai (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the Early Cretaceous of the Neuquén Basin, Patagonia, Argentina". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
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