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Un Excepcional Titanosaurio Hallado En Tanzania

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Un Excepcional Titanosaurio Hallado En Tanzania TIERRA La ‘bestia de Mtuka’, un excepcional titanosaurio hallado en Tanzania El hallazgo de un nuevo dinosaurio en el suroeste de África, denominado Mnyamawamtuka moyowamkia, aumenta el conocimiento sobre la evolución y la distribución de los titanosaurios durante el Cretácico Medio. SINC 13/2/2019 20:00 CEST Ilustración que muestra a Mnyamawamtuka en su entorno / Mark Witton (2018) Un equipo de científicos ha descubierto un ejemplar excepcional de titanosaurio en Tanzania. Este dinosaurio saurópodo, que se describe en la revista PLOS ONE, representa una especie única y proporciona nuevos conocimientos sobre la evolución de estos vertebrados. Los titanosaurios fueron el grupo más extenso de dinosaurios, los animales terrestres más grandes que han pisado la Tierra. Alcanzaron su máxima diversidad en el Cretácico tardío después de que todos los demás grupos de saurópodos desaparecieran. Sin embargo, su evolución temprana es poco conocida debido a la escasez de fósiles bien conservados, especialmente fuera de América del Sur. De ahí la importancia de este nuevo ejemplar. TIERRA Es una especie única y proporciona nuevos conocimientos sobre la evolución de estos vertebrados "Aunque los titanosaurios se convirtieron en uno de los grupos de dinosaurios más exitosos antes de la extinción masiva, su historia evolutiva primitiva sigue siendo oscura. Mnyamawamtuka ayuda a detallar esos comienzos, especialmente por la parte africana de la historia", enfatiza Eric Gorscak, investigador de la Universidad de Midwestern en Illinois (EE UU), que junto con Patrick O'Connor de la Universidad de Ohio (EE UU) lidera el trabajo. Los investigadores llamaron al nuevo dinosaurio Mnyamawamtuka moyowamkia. Su descripción se ha hecho solo a partir de un espécimen excavado en una cantera a lo largo del río Mtuka, en el suroeste de Tanzania. Pero se trata de uno de los ejemplares más completos conocidos, especialmente de África. Un tiranosaurio con vértebras en forma de corazón Mnyamawamtuka conserva restos parciales de cada región corporal importante, incluidas numerosas vértebras, costillas, huesos de las extremidades y dientes. Su nombre científico deriva del kishwahili (swahili) y significa "bestia de Mtuka" y "corazón de la cola", refiriéndose respectivamente a la ubicación en la que se encontró y al centro de las vértebras de su cola que tienen forma de corazón. 'Mnyamawamtuka' conserva restos parciales de cada región corporal importante Al comparar a Mnyamawamtuka con el árbol genealógico conocido de los titanosaurios, los investigadores concluyeron que esta nueva especie encaja cerca del origen de un clado llamado Lithostrotia, que incluye a la mayoría de las especies de titanosaurios del Cretácico Superior. Este dinosaurio TIERRA representa, por lo tanto, una etapa temprana en la evolución de los titanosaurios. El descubrimiento se suma a la evidencia de una relación cercana entre los titanosaurios del sur de África y América del Sur, un vínculo que probablemente fue importante en la evolución de los ecosistemas cretáceos en los continentes del sur, según el estudio. Referencia bibliográfica: Gorscak E, O'Connor PM (2019) A new African Titanosaurian Sauropod Dinosaur from the middle Cretaceous Galula Formation (Mtuka Member), Rukwa Rift Basin, Southwestern Tanzania. PLoS ONE 14(2): e0211412. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0211412 Derechos: Creative Commons TAGS TITANOSAURIO DINOSAURIO SAURÓPODO NUEVA ESPECIE TANZANIA Creative Commons 4.0 Puedes copiar, difundir y transformar los contenidos de SINC. Lee las condiciones de nuestra licencia .
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