{"id":1995,"date":"2025-08-27T16:53:32","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T19:53:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lillo.org.ar\/uel\/?page_id=1995"},"modified":"2025-08-27T17:34:56","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T20:34:56","slug":"osteology-relationship-and-feeding-ecology-of-the-theropod-dinosaur-noasaurus-leali-from-the-late-cretaceous-of-north-western-argentina","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/lillo.org.ar\/uel\/osteology-relationship-and-feeding-ecology-of-the-theropod-dinosaur-noasaurus-leali-from-the-late-cretaceous-of-north-western-argentina\/","title":{"rendered":"Osteology, relationship, and feeding ecology of the theropod dinosaur Noasaurus leali, from the Late Cretaceous of North-Western Argentina"},"content":{"rendered":"

Noasaurus leali<\/em> es un peque\u00f1o ter\u00f3podo carn\u00edvoro (~2 m) y el g\u00e9nero nominal del clado Noasauridae, una de las dos radiaciones de ceratosaurios abelisauroides predominantemente presentes en el Hemisferio Sur durante el Mesozoico. Este ter\u00f3podo ep\u00f3nimo de la Formaci\u00f3n Lecho del Maastrichtiense de Salta, Argentina, se conoce a partir de un esqueleto incompleto del que la ungual manual fuertemente curvada es el elemento m\u00e1s peculiar. Aqu\u00ed proporcionamos por primera vez una descripci\u00f3n completa de los espec\u00edmenes holot\u00edpicos de Noasaurus<\/em>, cuya posici\u00f3n filogen\u00e9tica se explor\u00f3 utilizando tres datamatrices independientes sobre relaciones entre ter\u00f3podos. Esta especie se diagnostica por varias apomorf\u00edas, como una cresta dorsal en la fosa maxilar, un cuadrado fuertemente arqueado, un arco neural cervical con puntas epifisarias anteriores y un ungual manual con una fosa flexora subtriangular delimitada por una cresta en forma de V. Los resultados de los an\u00e1lisis filogen\u00e9ticos muestran que Noasaurus<\/em> est\u00e1 estrechamente emparentado con Velocisaurus<\/em>, Masiakasaurus<\/em> y Laevisuchus<\/em>, que juntos forman una radiaci\u00f3n del Cret\u00e1cico Superior de noas\u00e1uridos de cuerpo peque\u00f1o restringida al hemisferio sur. La peculiar morfolog\u00eda de la dentici\u00f3n lateral y los ungulados manuales sugieren que el Noasaurus<\/em> era un carn\u00edvoro oportunista que se alimentaba de presas peque\u00f1as y un posible pisc\u00edvoro que pescaba peces con sus garras manuales especializadas.<\/p>\n

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Noasaurus leali<\/em> is a small (~2 m) carnivorous theropod and the nominal genus of the clade Noasauridae, one of the two radiations of abelisauroid ceratosaurs predominantly present in the Southern Hemisphere during the Mesozoic. This eponymous theropod from the Maastrichtian Lecho Formation of Salta, Argentina, is known from an incomplete skeleton of which the strongly curved manual ungual is the most peculiar element. We here provide for the first time a comprehensive description of the holotypic specimens of Noasaurus<\/em>, whose phylogenetic position was explored using three independent datamatrices on theropod relationships. This species is diagnosed by several apomorphies such as a dorsal ridge in the maxillary fossa, a strongly arched quadrate, a cervical neural arch with anterior epipophyseal prongs, and a manual ungual with a subtriangular flexor fossa delimited by a V-shaped ridge. Results of the phylogenetic analyses recovered Noasaurus<\/em> closely related to Velocisaurus<\/em>, Masiakasaurus<\/em>, and Laevisuchus<\/em>, which together form a Late Cretaceous radiation of small-bodied noasaurids restricted to the Southern Hemisphere. The peculiar morphology of the lateral dentition and manual unguals suggests that Noasaurus<\/em> was an opportunistic carnivore feeding on small prey items and a possible piscivore gaffing fish with its specialized hand claws.<\/p>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Noasaurus leali es un peque\u00f1o ter\u00f3podo carn\u00edvoro (~2 m) y el g\u00e9nero nominal del clado Noasauridae, una de las dos radiaciones de ceratosaurios abelisauroides predominantemente presentes en el Hemisferio Sur durante el Mesozoico. Este ter\u00f3podo ep\u00f3nimo de la Formaci\u00f3n Lecho del Maastrichtiense de Salta, Argentina, se conoce a partir de un esqueleto incompleto del que […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lillo.org.ar\/uel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1995"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lillo.org.ar\/uel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lillo.org.ar\/uel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lillo.org.ar\/uel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lillo.org.ar\/uel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1995"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lillo.org.ar\/uel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1995\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2006,"href":"https:\/\/lillo.org.ar\/uel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1995\/revisions\/2006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lillo.org.ar\/uel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Christophe Hendrickx<\/a><\/td>Christophe Hendrickx<\/strong><\/a>Becario postdoctoral\rCONICET\rPaleontolog\u00eda<\/td>