Pronunciation: lih-shih-SOR-us
Meaning: Leyes lizard
Author/s: Apaldetti et al. (2011)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: San Juan, Argentina
Discovery Chart Position: #789
Leyesaurus marayensis
(Leyes' lizard from Marayes-El Carrizal)Etymology
Leyesaurus is derived from "Leyes" (for the Leyes family,
inhabitants of the small town Balde de Leyes, who made the
discovery and notified palaeontologists at the San Juan
Museum) and the Greek "sauros" (lizard).
The species epithet, marayensis, refers to the Marayes-El Carrizal Basin, where the specimen was found. Is it just a coincidence that the LEYES family are from Balde de LEYES?
ZooBank registry: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:F7CD3D40-C64C-463E-A063-9E3FECF9C50D.
Discovery
The remains of Leyesaurus were discovered in the Quebrada del Barro Formation at Balde de Leyes (the first village in Argentina to receive its entire electricity supply from photovoltaic systems), Caucete Department of San Juan Province, Northwestern Argentina.
The holotype (PVSJ 706) is a partial skeleton and skull.
