Leyesaurus is an extinct genus of massospondylid sauropodomorph dinosaur known from the San Juan Province, northwestern Argentina.
Description
Leyesaurus is known from the
holotype PVSJ 706, a nearly complete
skull with articulated
mandible and some
remains (
vertebral column,
scapular and
and
hindlimb). The skull has a length of 18
, and
Leyesaurus has been estimated to have been about 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
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 language 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:
