Emiliasaura
Genus of iguanodontian dinosaurs From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Emiliasaura (meaning "Emilia's lizard") is a genus of rhabdodontomorph ornithopod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Valanginian) Mulichinco Formation of Neuquén Province, Argentina. The type species is Emiliasaura alessandrii. Emiliasaura is the first rhabdodontomorph named from South America, as well as the oldest member of this clade.
| Emiliasaura Temporal range: Early Cretaceous | |
|---|---|
| |
| Speculative life restoration | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | †Ornithischia |
| Clade: | †Ornithopoda |
| Clade: | †Rhabdodontomorpha |
| Genus: | †Emiliasaura Coria et al., 2025 |
| Species: | †E. alessandrii |
| Binomial name | |
| †Emiliasaura alessandrii Coria et al., 2025 | |
Discovery and naming
Emiliasaura is known from the holotype, MLL-Pv-001. It consists of a partial skeleton including bones from the forelimbs, hindlimbs, hips, and caudal vertebrae, recovered from the Mulichinco Formation in the Las Lajas municipality.[1]
After being announced in October 2024 in a non-finalized preprint, Coria et al. (2025) described Emiliasaura alessandrii as a new genus and species of ornithopod based on these fossil remains. The generic name, Emiliasaura, honors Emilia "Grandma" Ondettia de Fix, the founder of the first museum in Las Lajas. The specific name, refers to Carlos Alessandri, discoverer of the holotype.[1]
Classification
Coria et al. (2025) scored Emiliasaura in a phylogenetic analysis and found it to be the most basal member of the Rhabdodontomorpha. This makes it the oldest known member of the clade and the first one known from South America. Their results are displayed in the cladogram below:[1]
Paleoenvironment
The Mulichinco Formation where Emiliasaura was found also produced the remains of an indeterminate diplodocid, the dicraeosaurid Pilmatueia, the carcharodontosaurid Lajasvenator, and podocarp trees. [2][3][4][5]
References
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