Genus
Valid Extinct

Mierasaurus

Royo-Torres et al. 2017

Mierasaurus is an extinct genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Utah, United States. The taxon was first described and named in 2017 by Rafael Royo-Torres and colleagues, from a mostly complete skeleton including a disarticulated partial skull and mandible, teeth, multiple vertebrae from along the length of the body, both scapulae, radius and ulna bones, a left manus, a complete pelvis, both femora and the entire left hindlimb. Additionally, they referred a lower jaw and femur from juvenile individuals, which were found nearby, to the genus. Collectively, Mierasaurus is among the most completely known North American sauropods. The genus name honours Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco, the first European scientist to enter what is now Utah. The type species for Mierasaurus is Mierasaurus bobyoungi, named after Robert Glen Young, a paleontologist who researched the Early Cretaceous of Utah.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
1
Group
Dinosaures
Herbivore Ground dwelling, gregarious Terrestrial
Mierasaurus
click to enlarge
Reconstructed skull of the turiasaurian Mierasaurus, based on the holotype UMNH.VP.26004. © PaleoNeolitic · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB Wikipedia
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
Saurischia Unranked clade
Sauropodomorpha Unranked clade
Massopoda Unranked clade
Sauropodiformes Unranked clade
Sauropoda Unranked clade
Gravisauria Unranked clade
Eusauropoda Unranked clade
Turiasauria Unranked clade
Mierasaurus Genus
Fossil sites 1 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇺🇸 United States
1
Geological formations
Temporal distribution
Valanginian (137.05–132.6 Ma)
1
Species (1)
Mierasaurus bobyoungi 139 Ma
Images 2
Bibliography
Original description
R. Royo-Torres, P. Upchurch, and J. I. Kirkland, D. D. DeBlieux, J. R. Foster, A. Cobos, L. Alcalá. 2017. Descendants of the Jurassic turiasaurs from Iberia found refuge in the Early Cretaceous of western USA. Scientific Reports 7:14311:1-12 DOI ↗
Bibliography (1)
R. Royo-Torres, P. Upchurch, and J. I. Kirkland, D. D. DeBlieux, J. R. Foster, A. Cobos, L. Alcalá. 2017. Descendants of the Jurassic turiasaurs from Iberia found refuge in the Early Cretaceous of western USA. Scientific Reports 7:14311:1-12 DOI ↗