Leyesaurus
Extinct genus of dinosaurs
title: "Leyesaurus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["massospondylidae", "dinosaur-genera", "pliensbachian-dinosaurs", "fossil-taxa-described-in-2011", "dinosaurs-of-argentina"] description: "Extinct genus of dinosaurs" topic_path: "geography/argentina" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leyesaurus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Extinct genus of dinosaurs ::
| fossil_range = Early Jurassic ~ | image = Leyesaurus skull in lateral view.png | image_caption = Skull of Leyesaurus marayensis in lateral view | genus = Leyesaurus | parent_authority = Apaldetti et al. 2011 | authority = Apaldetti et al. 2011 | species = marayensis
Leyesaurus is an extinct genus of massospondylid sauropodomorph dinosaur known from the San Juan Province, northwestern Argentina.
Description
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Leyesaurus_silhouette.png" caption="Silhouette reconstruction of the skeleton of ''L. marayensis''"] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Leyesaurus_skull_in_dorsal_view.png" caption="Skull of ''L. marayensis'' in dorsal view"] ::
Leyesaurus is known from the holotype PVSJ 706, a nearly complete skull with articulated mandible and some postcranial remains (vertebral column, scapular and pelvic girdles and hindlimb). The skull has a length of 18 centimeters, and Leyesaurus has been estimated to have been about 2.5 m in length. It was collected from the uppermost part of the Quebrada del Barro Formation of the Marayes-El Carrizal Basin, dating to the Lower Jurassic (based on the similarities between Leyesaurus and Lower Jurassic sauropodomorphs, like Massospondylus and Adeopapposaurus). Leyesaurus was found near the locality Balde de Leyes, in the Caucete Department of San Juan Province. Within Massospondylidae, Leyesaurus was found to be most closely related to Adeopapposaurus.
Etymology
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Leyesaurus_Scale.svg" caption="Size diagram of ''Leyesaurus marayensis''"] ::
Leyesaurus was first named by Cecilia Apaldetti, Ricardo N. Martinez, Oscar A. Alcober and Diego Pol in 2011 and the type species is Leyesaurus marayensis. The generic name honors the Leyes family, inhabitants of the small town Balde de Leyes, who discovered the holotype and notified the paleontologists of the San Juan Museum, and saurus, Greek for "lizard". The specific name refers to the Marayes-El Carrizal Basin, where the holotype was discovered.
Phylogeny
The following cladogram shows the position of Leyesaurus within Massopoda, according to Oliver W. M. Rauhut and colleagues, 2020:
|label1=Massopoda |1={{clade |1={{clade |1=Eucnemesaurus |2=Riojasaurus [[File:Riojasaurus sketch3.jpg|80px]] |2={{clade |1=Sarahsaurus |2={{clade |label1=Massospondylidae |1={{clade |1={{clade |1=Yunnanosaurus |2={{clade |1=Jingshanosaurus [[File:Jingshanosaurus xinwaensis.png|80px]] |2=Seitaad |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=Coloradisaurus |2={{clade |1=Glacialisaurus [[File:Glacialisaurus2.jpg|80px]] |2=Lufengosaurus |2={{clade |1=Massospondylus [[File:Massospondylus reconstruction.png|80px]] |2={{clade |1=Adeopapposaurus |2=Leyesaurus |label2=Sauropodiformes |2={{clade |1=Xingxiulong |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=Anchisaurus |2=Leonerasaurus [[File:Leonerasaurus NT.jpg|80px]] |2={{clade |1=Mussaurus [[File:Mussaurus patagonicus life restoration.png|80px]] |2={{clade |1=Aardonyx |2={{clade |1=Sefapanosaurus |2={{clade |1=Meroktenos |2={{clade |1=Melanorosaurus |2={{clade |1=Camelotia |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=Lessemsaurus |2={{clade |1=Antetonitrus [[File:Antetonitrus reconstruction.jpg|80px]] |2=Ingentia |2={{clade |1=Blikanasaurus |2={{clade |1=Pulanesaura |2={{clade |1=Gongxianosaurus |2={{clade |1=Schleitheimia |2={{clade |1=Isanosaurus |2={{clade |1=Tazoudasaurus |2=Sauropoda [[File:Diplodocus carnegii (flipped, cropped).jpg|80px]]
References
References
- Cecilia Apaldetti. (2011). "A New Basal Sauropodomorph (Dinosauria: Saurischia) from Quebrada del Barro Formation (Marayes-El Carrizal Basin), Northwestern Argentina". PLOS ONE.
- (2020). "A derived sauropodiform dinosaur and other sauropodomorph material from the Late Triassic of Canton Schaffhausen, Switzerland". [[Swiss Journal of Geosciences]].
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