 |
 |
Magyarosaurus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Sauropsida
Superorder: Dinosauria
Order: Saurischia
Suborder: Sauropodomorpha
Infraorder: Sauropoda
(unranked) Titanosauria
Genus: Magyarosaurus
Species: M. dacus
Binomial name
Magyarosaurus dacus
Von Huene, 1932
|
Magyarosaurus was a small sauropod from late Cretaceous Period (Maastrichtian) of what is now Romania and one of the smallest-known adult sauropods, measuring only 6 meters in length. It is included in the "Rapetosaurus clade" of the family Saltosauridae (= Titanosauridae), in a recent study of the titanosaurs by Kristina Curry Rogers.
Discovery
Remains have been recovered from the Hunedoara region in what is now western Romania. Initially named Titanosaurus dacus (i.e. of the Dacia peoples of ancient Romania) by Nopsca in 1915, it was later renamed Magyarosaurus dacus by von Huene in 1932, as a ethnopolitically-motivated reflection of both the Hungarian and Romanian peoples.
In popular culture
Magyarosaurus is featured in the second episode of the Discovery Channel TV series Dinosaur planet as the dwarf titanosaur species living in the cretaceous "Hateg island".
Referances
- Kristina Curry Rogers, "Titanosauria: A phylogenetic Overview" in Kristina Curry Rogers and Jeffrey A. Wilson, (eds) 2005, The Sauropods: Evolution and Paleobiology, University of California Press, Berkeley, ISBN 0-520-24623-3
- Die fossile Reptil-Ordnung Saurischia, ihre Entwicklung und Geschichte. Huene, F. von MONOG. GEOL. PAL. 4 (1) pts. 1 and 2, viii +361 pp (1932).
- Die Dinosaurier der siebenburgischen Landesteile Ungarns. Mitteil. Nopcsa, F. JB. K. UNGAR. GEOL. REICHSANST. 23;1-26 (1915).
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
