Pronunciation: ah-NIK-so-SOR-us
Meaning: Spring lizard
Author/s: Martinez and Novas (2006)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Chubut Province, Argentina
Discovery Chart Position: #582
Aniksosaurus darwini
(Darwin's Spring lizard)Etymology
Aniksosaurus is derived from the Greek
"ánoixi" (spring) and "sauros" (lizard), referring to its discovery on September 21st; the first day of spring in the Southern Hemisphere. The species epithet, darwini, honors Charles Darwin.
Discovery
Aniksosaurus was discovered in the Lower Member of the Bajo Barreal Formation at Laguna Palacios ranch, 30 km north of Buen Pasto, south-central Chubut Province, Argentina, by personnel of the Laboratorio de Paleovertebrados of the Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco" (UNPSJB) in 1995.
The holotype (MDT-PV 1/48) is an articulated right
hindlimb including the thigh, shin, calf, and foot.
Although modestly sized at four meters long, two meters wide and one meter thick, the quarry also yielded the remains of at least four more specimens, including a neck vertebra (MDT-PV 1/14), two back vertebrae (1/6, 1/18), two tail vertebrae (1/32, 1/13), six indeterminate vertebrae (1/7, 1/8, 1/9, 1/15, 1/47, 1/52), three chevrons (1/21, 1/30, 1/46), three left upper arm bones (1/29, 1/37, 1/42), two right upper arm bones(1/16, 1/36), a left lower arm bone (1/17), one finger bone (1/40), five hip bones (1/24, 1/33, 1/35, 1/5, 1/41), two left thighs (1/23, 1/26, the latter of which bore tooth marks suggesting it was scavenged by a small vertebrate), two right thighs (1/3, 1/27), three left shins (1/1, 1/22 , 1/34), four right shins (1/2, 1/10, 1/28, 1/44), two indeterminate footbones (1/4, 1/45, 1/43), and several indeterminate fragments (1/11, 1/12, 1/19, 1/20, 1/25, 1/31, 1/38, 1/39).
The long bones exhibit noticeable differences in proportions and other features, suggesting they belonged to different aged specimens, perhaps of the same family or a social group.
