View source for Macrogryphosaurus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of dinosaurs}}
{{Italic title}}
{{speciesbox
| name = ''Macrogryphosaurus''
| image = Macrogryphosaurus life reconstruction.png
| fossil_range = [[Coniacian]]<br />~{{fossilrange|93|89}}
| display_parents = 3
| genus = Macrogryphosaurus
| parent_authority = Calvo ''et al.'' [[2007 in paleontology|2007]]
| species = gondwanicus
| authority = Calvo ''et al.'' 2007
}}

'''''Macrogryphosaurus''''' (meaning "big enigmatic lizard") is a [[genus]] of [[elasmaria]]n [[dinosaur]] from the [[Coniacian]] age [[Upper Cretaceous]] [[Sierra Barrosa Formation]] ([[Neuquén Group]]) of [[Argentina]] in [[Patagonia]]. It was described by Jorge Calvo and colleagues in 2007, with '''''M. gondwanicus''''' as the [[type species|type]] and only species.

==Discovery and naming==
[[File:Cerros colorados res.jpg|thumb|left|Satellite image of the terrain of the Neuquén Group, the geologic unit ''Macrogryphosaurus'' is from]]
In May 1999, during field work at [[Mari Menuco Lake]], [[Argentina]] (sixty kilometres northwest of [[Neuquén]]) conducted by the [[National University of Comahue]], an articulated, nearly complete dinosaur skeleton was discovered and excavated.<ref name=calvo2007>{{cite journal | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233735488 | title=Discovery of a new ornithopod dinosaur from the Portezuelo formation (Upper Cretaceous), Neuquen, Patagonia, Argentina. | last1=Calvo | first1=Jorge O. | last2=Porfiri | first2=Juan D. | last3=Novas | first3=Fernando E. | journal=Arquivos do Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro | year=2007 | volume=65 | issue=4 | pages=471–483}}</ref> It was brought to the attention of the palaeontologists by young boy Rafael Moyano, who had discovered it.<ref name=poropat2019>[http://cdn.webninjashops.com/aaod/images/content_files/Churchill%20Fellowship%202017%20-%20Stephen%20F%20Poropat.pdf Poropat, S. F. The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust of Australia.]</ref> Originally reported to hail from the [[Portezuelo Formation]] of the [[Neuquén Group]], its locality was later revised to be in the [[Sierra Barrosa Formation]] of the same geologic group.<ref name=rozadilla2019/> This unit is dated to the [[Coniacian]] [[Age (geology)|age]] of the [[Late Cretaceous]]. Noted for bony plates on its thorax, it was identified as a large species of ornithopod.<ref name=calvo2007/> 

The species would be described and named ''Macrogryphosaurus gondwanicus'' in 2007, in a study authored by Jorge O. Calvo, Juan D. Porfiri, and Fernando E. Novas. Its generic name was derived from the Greek ''macro'', meaning large, ''grypho'', meaning enigmatic, and ''saurus'', meaning lizard. The specific epithet ''gondwanicus'' refers to the ancient continent of [[Gondwana]].<ref name=calvo2007/> The [[holotype]] specimen, MUCPv-32, consists of an essentially complete set of vertebra, a number of ribs, four mineralized thoracic plates, both sides of the pectoral girdle, and a sternum. The individual is considered to have been an adult.<ref name=calvo2007/><ref name=rozadilla2019/> The preservation of the fossil was described by [[Australian_Age_of_Dinosaurs#Dr_Stephen_Poropat|Dr. Stephen F. Poropat]] as "amazing" in nature.<ref name=poropat2019/>

Subsequent research has not referred any other specimens to the species.<ref name=rozadilla2019/> However, in 2016, a study was published on MAU-Pv-PH-458, a fragmentary dorsal neural arch from the [[Plottier Formation]] of northern Argentina. The bone is the northernmost record of an ornithopod in South America. It was not determined to belong to a ''Macrogryphosaurus'', but noted to be from an animal of similar size and anatomy, and from approximately the same geographic and [[Stratigraphy|stratigraphic]] location, though it lived at a slightly earlier time.<ref name=cruzado-caballero2016>{{cite journal | url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0753396916300064 | title=New record of ornithopod dinosaur from the Plottier Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Patagonia, Argentina | last1=Cruzado-Caballero | first1=Penélope | last2=Filippi | first2=Leonardo S. | last3=Méndez | first3=Ariel H. | last4=Garrido | first4=Alberto C. | last5=Valieri | first5=Rubén D.Juárez | journal=Annales de Paléontologie | year=2016 | volume=102 | issue=2 | pages=145–150 | doi=10.1016/j.annpal.2016.02.003| bibcode=2016AnPal.102..145C | hdl=11336/62352 | hdl-access=free }}</ref> Other indeterminate ornithopod specimens from Argentina similarly indicate animals of similar size to the [[taxon]].<ref name=ibiricu2010>{{cite journal | url=https://bioone.org/journals/Annals-of-Carnegie-Museum/volume-79/issue-1/007.079.0103/A-Medium-Sized-Ornithopod-Dinosauria--Ornithischia-from-the-Upper/10.2992/007.079.0103.short | title=A Medium-Sized Ornithopod (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Upper Cretaceous Bajo Barreal Formation of Lago Colhué Huapi, Southern Chubut Province, Argentina | journal=Annals of Carnegie Museum | year=2010 | volume=79 | issue=1 | pages=39–50 | doi=10.2992/007.079.0103| last1=Ibiricu | first1=Lucio M. | last2=Martínez | first2=Rubén D. | last3=Lamanna | first3=Matthew C. | last4=Casal | first4=Gabriel A. | last5=Luna | first5=Marcelo | last6=Harris | first6=Jerald D. | last7=Lacovara | first7=Kenneth J. | s2cid=53407321 }}</ref><ref name=cruzado-caballero2018>{{cite journal | url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667117301489 | title=First ornithopod remains from the Bajo de la Carpa Formation (Santonian, Upper Cretaceous), northern Patagonia, Argentina | journal=Cretaceous Research | year=2018 | volume=79 | pages=182–193 | doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2017.07.022| last1=Cruzado-Caballero | first1=Penélope | last2=Filippi | first2=Leonardo S. | last3=Méndez | first3=Ariel H. | last4=Garrido | first4=Alberto C. | last5=Díaz-Martínez | first5=Ignacio | bibcode=2018CrRes..83..182C | hdl=11336/71315 | hdl-access=free }}</ref> ''M. gondwanicus'' received a complete osteology in 2020, a study published in Cretaceous Research by Sebastián Rozadilla, Penélope Cruzado-Caballero, Jorge O. Calvo. This described the anatomy of the species in much more thoroughly and investigating its classification and biomechanics under a more modern lens. They considered the genus to be of importance, due to being the largest known elasmarian species, and for the completeness of its known remains, informing on the anatomy of the group.<ref name=rozadilla2019>{{cite journal | url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667119302460 | title=Osteology of Ornithopod Macrogryphosaurus gondwanicus (Dinosauria, Ornithischia) from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina | last1=Rozadilla | first1=Sebastián | last2=Cruzado-Caballero | first2=Penélope | last3=Calvo | first3=Jorge O. | journal=Cretaceous Research | year=2020 | volume=108 | page=104311 | doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2019.104311| bibcode=2020CrRes.10804311R | s2cid=213679041 }}</ref>

==Description==
[[File:Macrogryphosaurus Scale.svg|thumb|right|Size comparison]]
''Macrogryphosaurus'' has been noted for its large size compared to other South American ornithopods. It has been estimated to have been around {{convert|6|m|ft}} in length, though the only known individual may not have been fully grown.<ref name=rozadilla2019/> Gregory S. Paul estimated the length of this specimen at {{cvt|5|m|ft}} in length and {{cvt|300|kg|lbs}} in body mass.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Paul|first=Gregory S.|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/985402380|title=The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs|year=2016|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-78684-190-2|oclc=985402380|pages=310}}</ref> As such, it is the largest species of South American [[ornithopod]] outside of [[Hadrosauridae]], and the largest species of elasmarian. Approaching the size of many more derived iguanodontian ornithopods, it is, compared to these derived taxa, much more graceful and lightly built in form. One of the most remarked upon features of the taxon is its mineralized thoracic plates, also referred to as intercostal plates. These are a series of plates along the side of the torso, shared with a handful of other ornithischians such as ''[[Talenkauen]]'', ''[[Thescelosaurus]]'', and ''[[Hypsilophodon]]''. Along with a fused, birdlike sternum, its short torso would have been rather stiff in nature. This, alongside its relatively elongate neck and [[coelurosaur]]-like tail, gave it a rather unique form compared to that documented in other ornithischian dinosaurs.<ref name=rozadilla2019/>

==Classification==
[[cladistics|Phylogenetic]] analysis indicates that it is related to ''[[Talenkauen]]'', and Calvo and colleagues proposed a new [[clade]], [[Elasmaria]], for the two genera.<ref name=calvo2007/>

The [[cladogram]] below results from analysis by Herne ''et al.'', 2019.<ref name="herne2019">{{cite journal | title=New small-bodied ornithopods (Dinosauria, Neornithischia) from the Early Cretaceous Wonthaggi Formation (Strzelecki Group) of the Australian-Antarctic rift system, with revision of Qantassaurus intrepidus Rich and Vickers-Rich, 1999 | last1=Herne | first1=Matthew C. | last2=Nair | first2=Jay P. | last3=Evans | first3=Alistair R. | last4=Tait | first4=Alan M. | journal=Journal of Paleontology | year=2019 | volume=93 | issue=3 | pages=543–584 | doi=10.1017/jpa.2018.95| doi-access=free | bibcode=2019JPal...93..543H }}</ref>
{{clade| style=font-size:85%; line-height:85%
|label1='''[[Ornithischia]]'''
|1={{clade
 |1=[[Heterodontosauridae]]
 |2={{clade
  |1=''[[Eocursor]]''
  |2={{clade
   |1='''[[Thyreophora]]'''
   |label2='''[[Neornithischia]]'''
   |2={{clade
    |1=''[[Lesothosaurus]]''
    |2={{clade
     |1=''[[Agilisaurus]]''
     |2={{clade
      |1={{clade
       |1=''[[Hexinlusaurus]]''
       |2=''[[Yandusaurus]]'' }}
      |2={{clade
       |1={{clade
        |1=''[[Nanosaurus]]''
        |2={{clade
         |label1=[[Jeholosauridae]]
         |1={{clade
          |1=''[[Haya (dinosaur)|Haya]]''
          |2={{clade
           |1=''[[Jeholosaurus]]''
           |2=''[[Changchunsaurus]]'' }} }}
         |label2=[[Thescelosauridae]]
         |2={{clade
          |1={{clade
           |1=''[[Orodromeus]]''
           |2=''[[Koreanosaurus]]'' }}
          |2={{clade
           |1=''[[Zephyrosaurus]]''
           |2={{clade
            |1=''[[Yueosaurus]]''
            |2=''[[Thescelosaurus]]'' }} }} }} }} }}
       |label2='''[[Cerapoda]]'''
       |2={{clade
        |1='''[[Marginocephalia]]'''
        |label2='''[[Ornithopoda]]'''
        |2={{clade
         |1=''[[Parksosaurus]]''
         |2={{clade
          |label1=[[Elasmaria]]
          |1={{clade
           |1=''[[Talenkauen]]''
           |2={{clade
            |1={{clade
             |1='''''Macrogryphosaurus'''''
             |2=''[[Gasparinisaura]]'' }}
            |2={{clade
             |1=''[[Galleonosaurus]]''
             |2=''[[Leaellynasaura]]''
             |3=''[[Anabisetia]]''
             |4=''[[Diluvicursor]]'' }} }} }}
          |label2=[[Clypeodonta]]
          |2={{clade
           |1=''[[Hypsilophodon]]''
           |label2=[[Iguanodontia]]
           |2={{clade
            |1=[[Rhabdodontidae]]
            |2={{clade
             |1=''[[Muttaburrasaurus]]''
             |2={{clade
              |1=''[[Tenontosaurus]]''
              |2=[[Dryomorpha]] }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Wikispecies-inline}}
* {{Commons category-inline|Macrogryphosaurus|Macrogryphosaurus}}

{{Portal bar|Dinosaurs|Paleontology}}
{{Ornithopoda|O.}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q138604}}

[[Category:Elasmarians]]
[[Category:Coniacian life]]
[[Category:Turonian life]]
[[Category:Late Cretaceous dinosaurs of South America]]
[[Category:Cretaceous Argentina]]
[[Category:Fossils of Argentina]]
[[Category:Portezuelo Formation]]
[[Category:Fossil taxa described in 2007]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Fernando Novas]]
[[Category:Ornithischian genera]]