They find a new species of rhinosaurus that is 230 million years old

Argentina remains a fertile land to find traces of prehistoric lifeThis time, researchers found one a new species of rhinosaurus, a quadruped and herbivorous animal about three meters long that shared habitat with the first dinosaurs. The discovery took place in Talampaya National Park, in the mid-west of the La Rioja province.

A team of Argentinian paleontologists unveiled Elorhynchus carrolli a herbivorous reptile that lived 230 million years ago. The name of this new species was given in honor of and in memory of the biologist Eloisa Argarañaz, who took part in the campaigns in which this discovery took place.

The discovery was made in the Chañares Formation, in La Rioja. The doctor Martin Ezcurra, one of the heads of the Vertebrate Paleontology Section of the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences (MACN) and a researcher at CONICET, told the CTyS-UNLaM Agency that “Fragments of the skull of this new species were found, including premaxillary, maxillary and dental, part of the sacrum, the first vertebrae of the tail and part of the hip.

“The skull has one highly specialized teeth consisting of numerous rows of teeth and a bony beak in the snout that could be used to process the food before it was swallowed, unlike what happens in the vast majority of reptilesSpecified Ezcurra, lead author of the study recently published in the scientific journal Journal of Systematic PalaentologyThe rhinoceroses had their legs out to the sides of their bodies and their bellies close to the ground, in one similar to the overos of lizards living today. These animals were herbivores and have a distant relationship to crocodiles and dinosaurs.

“The remains found are from different individuals, collected during various campaigns conducted in Talampaya over the past decade, from which we could recognize that it was a new species,” said the paleontologist. Lucas Fiorelli of the Regional Center for Scientific Research and Technology Transfer of La Rioja (CRILAR-CONICET).

In this sense, Dr. Ezcurra that “when the first dinosaur faunas appeared, the rhinosaurs were very abundant forms; in fact, in the Valley of the Moon, in San Juan, where some of the oldest known dinosaurs were recorded, the rincosaurs are the most common animals that existed then ”.

So there are many specimens of rincosaurs known in Argentina, but they all belong to a species that is mentioned Hyperodapedon ischigualastensis and this was the only known species in our country that we made known so far Elorhynchus carrolli, which is older and we can distinguish it by certain features in the hip and in the first vertebrae of the tail, ”said the MACN researcher.

Tribute to Eloisa Argarañaz, “the Elo”

This new species takes its name from Eloisa Argarañaz, “the Elo”, who graduated as a biologist from the National University of Córdoba (UNC) and, after completing her graduate thesis, joined the Archosauriform Research Group team. Eloisa has participated in numerous paleontological campaigns together with the CRILAR group from La Rioja and since 2011 has participated in several campaigns in Talampaya, where this new find was made.

In June 2014, the campaign led by Fiorelli and Desojo was accepted by the UNC’s Doctorate of Geology to study the fossil communal latrines and their coprolites (fossil fecal matter) from the Chañares Formation. At the same time, he was also scheduled to participate in a new campaign in Talampaya, but he suffered a devastating illness from which he died on August 6 of the same year. Her teammates remember her as a good friend and a great professional, which is why they say that this mention of the new species in memory of “the Elo” is a simple but heartfelt tribute.

“She started to work very closely together in CRILAR and she was able to cope with our work rhythm very quickly, so we had already planned that she would continue with paleontology studies. And she was very excited about the issue of fossil coprolites that we found in Talampaya, which is a very interesting topic, ”said Fiorelli. And I add: “She joined us in the 2011 and 2012 campaigns in the Chañares Formation and with her in particular we found the remains of what would be this new rhinosaurus. Her departure was a great pain for all of us, and then we decided with the whole team that this little animal should be named after her, ”recalls the CRILAR-CONICET researcher.

The director of the ARG group, Julia B. Desojo, also expressed her affection for the young colleague Eloisa Argarañaz: “She was very loved, happy and would go to the field with us in a few days when this disease occurred.” she said. Likewise, this new taxon’s specific nickname, Elorhynchus carrolli, was given in memory of Dr. Robert Carroll, an American paleontologist who died in 2020 as a result of COVID-19 and is recognized for his work on the anatomy and evolution of animals. Older rhinosaurs, as well as other groups that lived during the Permian and Triassic periods.

Talampaya: a new variety after 22 years

This new species of rhinosaur allows a better understanding of the early evolution of this group in northwestern Argentina. “Above all, it enables us to observe how there was the transition from the rhinosaurs that lived before the emergence of the first dinosaurs even the rhinos that came to live with these reptiles 233 million years ago until they became extinct about 227 million years ago, ”said Dr. Ezcurra.

“At the same time, this species helps us to better establish temporal correlations between the Chañares Formation and other formations in the world, mainly from the southern hemisphere, before the Triassic, as this species is very closely related to species from southern Brazil, Tanzania and India, indicating that these formations were approximately equal in age, “he added.

Elorhynchus carrolli, in turn, is the first new animal species published for the Chañares formation in the past 22 years. Most of the species were described between the 60s and 70s. And at the end of the 20th century, two more species were discovered on this site. In addition to the doctors Martín Ezcurra, Lucas Fiorelli and Julia B. Desojo, Dr. Jimena Trotteyn from the Department of Biology at the National University of San Juan and CONICET and Dr. Agustín Martinelli participated in this publication in the Journal of Systematic Palaentology. MACN and CONICET.

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