Pronunciation: ah-RAH-tah-SOR-us
Meaning: Fire born lizard
Author/s: Sayão et al. (2020)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Ceará, Brasil
Discovery Chart Position: #1023
Aratasaurus museunacionali
(Museu Nacional's Fire Born Lizard)Etymology
Aratasaurus is derived from the Tupi words "ara" (fire) and "atá" (born), and the Greek "sauros" (lizard).
The species epithet, museunacionali, honours the Museu Nacional/Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; the oldest scientific institution of Brazil, that was devasted by fire on the 2nd of September 2018.
ZooBank registry: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:430ED4FC-3580-4EFF-B1B7-226D0DBF0B34.
Discovery
The remains of Aratasaurus were discovered in the Romualdo formation at the Pedra Branca gypsum mine, about 5.2 km from the town of Santana do Cariri, Ceará State, Northeast Brazil, in 2008, by a local resident who donated them to the Museu de Paleontologia Plácido Cidade Nuvens (MPPCN) of the Universidade Regional do Cariri (URCA).
The holotype (MPSC R 2089) consists of an incomplete right hind limb (a partial thigh, shin and foot).
Preparator
Bruno C. Vila Nova of Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (partim).
