Genus
Valid Extinct

Losillasaurus

Casanovas et al. 2001
Etymology Lézard de Losilla

Losillasaurus is a genus of turiasaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic and possibly Early Cretaceous (Kimmeridgian-?Berriasian) of southeastern Spain. The type species, Losillasaurus giganteus, was discovered in the Villar del Arzobispo Formation in Valencia, and formally described by Casanovas, Santafé, and Sanz in 2001. The holotype material is from a subadult and includes part of a skull; complete cervical, dorsal, sacral, and caudal vertebrae as well as several fragments; skeletal elements from the limbs including a humerus, ulna, radius, and metacarpal; sternal plates; and from the pelvis: the ilium, ischium, and pubis. The genus is characterized by the dimension and shape of the neural spine of the proximal caudal vertebrae. The humerus is 143 centimetres (56 in) long, which despite being from a subadult specimen is within 20% of the size of Paralititan. The size estimation proposed by Francisco Gascó in his master thesis is 15–18 m (49–59 ft) in length and 12–15 t in body mass.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
3
Group
Dinosaures
Herbivore Ground dwelling, gregarious Terrestrial
Losillasaurus
click to enlarge
Vértebra de Losillasaurus giganteus © 19Tarrestnom65 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB Wikipedia
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
Saurischia Unranked clade
Sauropodomorpha Unranked clade
Massopoda Unranked clade
Sauropodiformes Unranked clade
Sauropoda Unranked clade
Gravisauria Unranked clade
Eusauropoda Unranked clade
Turiasauria Unranked clade
Losillasaurus Genus
Fossil sites 3 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇪🇸 Spain
2
🇵🇹 Portugal
1
Geological formations
Praia da Amoreira-Porto Novo
1
Temporal distribution
Tithonian (149.2–143.1 Ma)
2
Kimmeridgian (154.8–149.2 Ma)
1
Species (1)
Losillasaurus giganteus 155 Ma
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
M. L. Casanovas, J. V. Santafé, and J. L. Sanz. 2001. Losillasaurus giganteus, un nuevo saurópodo del tránsito Jurásico-Cretácico de la cuenca de "Los Serranos" (Valencia, España) [Losillasaurus giganteus, a new sauropod from the Jurassic-Cretaceous transition of the "Los Serranos" basin (Valencia, Spain)]. Paleontologia i Evolucio 32-33:99-122
Bibliography (2)
R. Royo-Torres, A. Cobos, and P. Mocho, L. Alcalá. 2021. Origin and evolution of turiasaur dinosaurs set by means of a new ‘rosetta’ specimen from Spain. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 191(1):201-227 DOI ↗
M. L. Casanovas, J. V. Santafé, and J. L. Sanz. 2001. Losillasaurus giganteus, un nuevo saurópodo del tránsito Jurásico-Cretácico de la cuenca de "Los Serranos" (Valencia, España) [Losillasaurus giganteus, a new sauropod from the Jurassic-Cretaceous transition of the "Los Serranos" basin (Valencia, Spain)]. Paleontologia i Evolucio 32-33:99-122