Pronunciation:
Meaning: Drusila lizard
Author/s: Navarrete et al. (2011)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Santa Cruz, Argentina
Discovery Chart Position: #773
Drusilasaura deseadensis
(Drusila's Lizard from Deseado)Etymology
Drusilasaura is derived from "Drusila" (a young female member of the Ortiz de Zárate family) and the Greek "saura" (the feminine form of the Greek "sauros" which means "lizard").
The species epithet, deseadensis, means "from Deseado" in Latin, refering to the Río Deseado, a river which runs through Santa Cruz Province.
Discovery
Drusilasaura was discovered at the Ortiz de Zárate family's María Aike Ranch in the Upper Member of the Bajo Barreal Formation, Santa Cruz Province, southern Patagonia, Argentina, by palaeontologist Marcelo Tejedor who was actually searching for mammal fossils.The holotype (MPM-PV 2097/1 to 2097/19) is a partial skeleton including four back vertebrae, a hip vertebra, six tail vertebrae, a left shoulder blade(143cm, which is 30% longer than that of Mendozasaurus), a partial rib and other fragments.
The fossils were collected by a team from the Laboratorio de Paleontología de Vertebrados of the Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco.
