Berthasaura

Berthasaura; Temporal range: Early Cretaceous Aptian–Albian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ; Possible Late Cretaceous record
	Skeletal diagram
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	Theropoda
Family:	†Noasauridae
Genus:	†Berthasaura; de Souza et al., 2021
Type species
	†Berthasaura leopoldinae; de Souza et al., 2021

Berthasaura (meaning "Bertha's lizard") is a genus of noasaurid ceratosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Cretaceous Goio-Erê Formation of Paraná, Brazil. The type and only species is Berthasaura leopoldinae.^[1]

Discovery and naming[]

Between 2011 and 2015, paleontologists working at the Cemitério dos Pterossauros site near Cruzeiro do Oeste discovered the skeletons of the pterosaurs Caiuajara and Keresdrakon as well as remains of small theropods. One of these was in 2019 named and described as Vespersaurus but a second species proved to be present.^[1]

In 2021, the type species Berthasaura leopoldinae was named and described by Geovane Alves de Souza, Marina Bento Soares, Luiz Carlos Weinschütz, Everton Wilner, Ricardo Tadeu Lopes, Olga Maria Oliveira de Araújo and Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner. The generic name Berthasaura refers to the scientist and women's rights activist Bertha Maria Júlia Lutz, while the specific name honors Maria Leopoldina, the first Empress of Brazil; the bicentennial of Brazil's independence would be in 2022, close to when the dinosaur was described. Indirectly this also refers to the Imperatriz Leopoldinense samba school; for the 2018 carnival, they developed the theme of Uma noite real no Museu Nacional (Portuguese: A real night in the National Museum); in September of that year a catastrophic fire would destroy much of its collection.^[1]

Description[]

Life reconstruction

The holotype, MN 7821-V, is a nearly complete disarticulated skeleton excavated between 2011 and 2014 and is one of the most complete dinosaurs known from the Cretaceous Brazil, preserving the most complete axial series of any noasaurid known to date. Its toothless, short beak suggests it was a herbivore or at least an omnivore, unlike most other ceratosaurs except for adult Limusaurus. Because the holotype represents an immature individual, it has been suggested that Berthasaura was herbivorous throughout its entire life, unlike Limusaurus. It was probably less than 1 metre (3.3 ft) long.^[1]

Classification[]

Berthasaura was placed by de Souza and colleagues as the basalmost noasaurid, distantly related to Limusaurus.^[1]

Ceratosauria

Berberosaurus

Ceratosauridae

	Genyodectes

	Ceratosaurus

Abelisauridae

Noasauridae

Berthasaura

Deltadromeus

Vespersaurus

MNN tig6 (cf. Spinostropheus)

Elaphrosaurus

	CCG 20011

	Limusaurus

Paleoenvironment[]

Berthasaura lived in the Goio-Erê Formation, which was an ancient desert. Its dating is uncertain; de Souza and colleagues believe it was deposited during the Aptian-Albian, but a Late Cretaceous date has also been proposed.^[2] Other animals recovered from this formation include the pterosaurs Caiuajara and Keresdrakon, as well as the lizard Gueragama.^[3]^[2]^[4]

References[]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e de Souza GA, Soares MB, Weinschütz LC, Wilner E, Lopes RT, de Araújo OM, Kellner AW (2021). "The first edentulous ceratosaur from South America". Scientific Reports. 11 (1): Article number 22281. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-01312-4.
^ ^a ^b Kellner, Alexander W. A.; Weinschütz, Luiz C.; Holgado, Borja; Bantim, Renan A. M.; Sayão, Juliana M. (August 19, 2019). "A new toothless pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea) from Southern Brazil with insights into the paleoecology of a Cretaceous desert". Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências. 91 (suppl 2): e20190768. doi:10.1590/0001-3765201920190768. ISSN 0001-3765. PMID 31432888.
^ Manzig, P.C.; Kellner, A.W.A.; Weinschütz, L.C.; Fragoso, C.E.; Vega, C.S.; Guimarães, G.B.; Godoy, L.C.; Liccardo, A.; Ricetti, J.H.C.; Moura, C.C. (2014). "Discovery of a Rare Pterosaur Bone Bed in a Cretaceous Desert with Insights on Ontogeny and Behavior of Flying Reptiles". PLOS ONE. 9 (8): e100005. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...9j0005M. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0100005. PMC 4131874. PMID 25118592.
^ Simões, Tiago R.; Wilner, Everton; Caldwell, Michael W.; Weinschütz, Luiz C.; Kellner, Alexander W. A. (26 August 2015). "A stem acrodontan lizard in the Cretaceous of Brazil revises early lizard evolution in Gondwana". Nature Communications. 6: 8149. doi:10.1038/ncomms9149. PMC 4560825. PMID 26306778.

[Berthasaura-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e de Souza GA, Soares MB, Weinschütz LC, Wilner E, Lopes RT, de Araújo OM, Kellner AW (2021). "The first edentulous ceratosaur from South America". Scientific Reports. 11 (1): Article number 22281. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-01312-4.

[Kellner2019-2] Kellner, Alexander W. A.; Weinschütz, Luiz C.; Holgado, Borja; Bantim, Renan A. M.; Sayão, Juliana M. (August 19, 2019). "A new toothless pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea) from Southern Brazil with insights into the paleoecology of a Cretaceous desert". Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências. 91 (suppl 2): e20190768. doi:10.1590/0001-3765201920190768. ISSN 0001-3765. PMID 31432888.

[PLOS_ONE-3] Manzig, P.C.; Kellner, A.W.A.; Weinschütz, L.C.; Fragoso, C.E.; Vega, C.S.; Guimarães, G.B.; Godoy, L.C.; Liccardo, A.; Ricetti, J.H.C.; Moura, C.C. (2014). "Discovery of a Rare Pterosaur Bone Bed in a Cretaceous Desert with Insights on Ontogeny and Behavior of Flying Reptiles". PLOS ONE. 9 (8): e100005. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...9j0005M. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0100005. PMC 4131874. PMID 25118592.

[SWCWK15-4] Simões, Tiago R.; Wilner, Everton; Caldwell, Michael W.; Weinschütz, Luiz C.; Kellner, Alexander W. A. (26 August 2015). "A stem acrodontan lizard in the Cretaceous of Brazil revises early lizard evolution in Gondwana". Nature Communications. 6: 8149. doi:10.1038/ncomms9149. PMC 4560825. PMID 26306778.

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