VITOSAURA
a carnivorous abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Argentina.
Pronunciation: VEE-toe-SOR-uh
Meaning: Vito's lizardess
Author/s: Jiménez Velandia
et al. (
2025)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: La Rioja Province, Argentina
Acta Ordinal: #1190
Vitosaura colozacani
Vito's Lizardess of ColozacánEtymology
Vitosaura is derived from "vito" (for the 19th-century soldier Victoria "Doña Vito" Romero, born in the Los Llanos region near the
Vitosaura type locality) and the Greek "saura" (feminine form of "lizard").
The
species epithet,
colozacani, refers to the Colozacán Valley, where the holotype was found.
Zoobank registry:
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:97DB3D77-317F-494B-A0D2-6BF4C22F7A1B.
Discovery
The remains of
Vitosaura were found in the Los Llanos Formation near Tama village in the Colozacán Valley, La Rioja Province, Argentina, in 2009 and 2010.
The
holotype (CRILAR-Pv 506) consists of a partial first back vertebra, a complete second back vertebra, a partial block of fused hip vertebrae, bones from the left side of the pelvis (ilium, pubis, and ischium), and other unidentified fragments. Lines of arrested growth (LAGs) in a cross-section of the pubis — much like growth rings in trees — showed the specimen was at least 17 years old.
Preparators
Technicians at the Paleontological Lab
of the Centro Regional de
Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de
La Rioja (CRILAR) in Anillaco, La Rioja, Argentina.
Estimations
Timeline:
Era: Mesozoic
Epoch: Late Cretaceous
Stage: Campanian
Age range: 84-70 mya
Stats:
Est. max. length: 5.5 meters
Est. max. hip height: ?
Est. max. weight: 800 Kg
Diet: Carnivore
References
• Fiorelli LE, Grellet-Tinner G, Alasino PH and Arganara E (2012) "The geology and palaeoecology of the newly discovered
Cretaceous neosauropod hydrothermal nesting site in Sanagasta (Los Llanos Formation), La Rioja, northwest Argentina".
Cretaceous Research, 35: 94–117. DOI: 10.1016/j.cretres.2011.12.002.
• Fiorelli LE, Leardi JM, Hechenleitner EM, Pol D, Basilici G and Grellet-Tinner G (2016) "A new Late Cretaceous crocodyliform from the western margin of Gondwana (La Rioja province, Argentina)".
Cretaceous Research, 60: 194–209. DOI: 10.1016/j.cretres.2015.12.003. [Page 195)
• Hechenleitner EM, Fiorelli LE, Martinelli AG and Grellet-Tinner
G (2018) "Titanosaur dinosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous of La Rioja province, NW Argentina".
Cretaceous Research, 85: 42-59. DOI: 10.1016/j.cretres.2018.01.006.
• Jiménez-Velandía H, Ezcurra MD, Hechenleitner ME, Martinelli AG, Basilici G and Fiorelli LE (2023) "A Late Cretaceous
abelisaurid from La Rioja province, NW Argentina".
XXXVI Jornadas Argentinas de Paleontología de Vertebrados, Abstract (pp. 56). La Rioja, Argentina.
• Jiménez Velandia H, Ezcurra MD, Hechenleitner EM, Basilici G, Martinelli AG and Fiorelli LE (2025) "A new Late Cretaceous abelisaurid species from La Rioja Province, northwestern Argentina".
Ameghiniana, 65(1): 1-23. DOI: 10.5710/AMGH.24.09.2025.3653.
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To cite this page:
Atkinson, L.
"
VITOSAURA :: from DinoChecker's dinosaur archive".
‹
http://www.dinochecker.com/dinosaurs/VITOSAURA›. Web access: 25th Apr 2026.
