EMILIASAURA
The first rhabdodontomorph ornithopod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Argentina.
Pronunciation: eh-MEE-lee-uh-SOH-ruh
Meaning: Emilia's Lizard
Author/s: Coria
et al. (
2024)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Neuquén, Argentina
Discovery Chart Position: #1146
Emiliasaura alessandrii
(Emilia's Lizard, honouring Alessandri)Etymology
Emiliasaura is derived from "Emilia" (for Emilia "Grandma" Ondettia de Fix [1913-2007], founder of the first museum at Las Lajas and pioneer in the recovery of the local history) and the Greek "saura" (feminine form of "sauros", meaning "lizard").
The
species epithet,
alessandrii, honours Mr. Carlos Alessandri who found the holotype.
Discovery
The first remains of
Emiliasaura were discovered in the Mulichinco Formation at the Pilmatué locality, 9 km northeast of Las Lajas town, Neuquén Province, Argentina, by Carlos Alessandri in March 2009, mingled with the remains of the dicraeosaurid sauropod
Pilmatueia, indeterminate diplodocid fossils, and a carcharodontosaurid theropod called
Lajasvenator.
The
holotype (MLL-Pv-001) is a partial shoulder girdle, an upper arm bone and a complete right leg. The paratype specimen (MLL-Pv-006), found in March 2011 by G. Azúa 1000 m north of the holotype site and excavated by Giordano (University of San Luis, Argentina), P. Bell (University of New England), and C. Succar, includes elements from the vertebral column, pelvis, and hind limbs.
Estimations
Timeline:
Era: Mesozoic
Epoch: Early Cretaceous
Stage: Valanginian
Age range: 140-133 mya
Stats:
Est. max. length: ?
Est. max. hip height: ?
Est. max. weight: ?
Diet: Herbivore
References
• Coria RA, Ortega F, Currie P, Previtera E and Cárdenas M (2013) "
An Early Cretaceous dinosaur assemblage from the Neuquen Basin, Patagonia, Argentina".
XXVII Jornadas Argentinas de Paleontología de Vertebrados. Ameghiniana 50(4) Supp: R13.
• Coria RA, Windholz GJ, Ortega F and Currie PJ (2018) "A new dicraeosaurid sauropod from the Lower Cretaceous (Mulichinco Formation, Valanginian, Neuquén Basin) of Argentina".
Cretaceous Research, 93: 33-48. DOI: 10.1016/j.cretres.2018.08.019. [names Pilmatueia.]
• Coria RA, Currie PJ, Ortega F and Baiano MA (2019) "An Early Cretaceous, medium-sized carcharodontosaurid theropod (Dinosauria, Saurischia) from the Mulichinco Formation (upper Valanginian), Neuquén Province, Patagonia, Argentina".
Cretaceous Research, 111: 104319. DOI: 10.1016/j.cretres.2019.104319. [names Lajasvenator.]
• Coria RA, Cerda IA, Escaso F, Baiano MA, Bellardini F, Braun A, Coria LM, Gutierrez JM, Pino D, Windholz GJ, Currie PJ and Ortega F (2024) "First Valanginian (Early Cretaceous) ornithopod (Dinosauria, Ornithischia) from Patagonia".
Cretaceous Research 106027
DOI: 10.1016/j.cretres.2024.106027.
Time stands still for no man, and research is ongoing. If you spot an error, or want to expand, edit or add a dinosaur, please use
this form. Go
here to contribute to our FAQ.
All dinos are GM free, and no herbivores were eaten during site construction!
To cite this page:
Atkinson, L.
"
EMILIASAURA :: from DinoChecker's dinosaur archive".
‹
http://www.dinochecker.com/dinosaurs/EMILIASAURA›. Web access: 06th Mar 2026.
