Gualicho
Name: Gualicho
(named after a demon in Mapuche mythology).
Phonetic: Gu-al-e-ko.
Named By: Sebasti�n Apestegu�a, Nathan D.
Smith, Rub�n Ju�rez Valieri & Peter J. Makovicky -
2016.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Theropoda, Carcharodontosauria, Neovenatoridae.
Species: G. shinyae (type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Holotype individual roughly estimated to be
between 6 and 7 meters in length.
Known locations: Argentina, Patagonia, Huincul
Formation.
Time period: Cenomanian to Turonian of the
Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial post cranial skeleton
mostly composed from elements of the fore and hind limbs. Vertebrae,
ribs, gastralia and half of the pubis are also known.
Named
after a demon that appears in Mapuche mythology, Gualicho
is a medium
sized genus of theropod dinosaur that lived in South America during the
early stages of the late Cretaceous. Gualicho
would have been a
predator of other smaller and similarly sized dinosaurs.
Gualicho
was named as a genus in 2016, and also this year a second similarly
formed dinosaur from the same approximate location as Gualicho
was
called Aoniraptor. Similarities in known
vertebrae fossils of these
two dinosaurs have been noted, which has led to some suggestion that
the two dinosaur genera may be synonymous. However the original
description of Aoniraptor did not meet naming
specifications outlined
by the ICZN (the international body that governs the naming of
animals), while the description of Gualicho
did.
For these reasons,
Gualicho is considered to be a valid name for a
genus, while
Aoniraptor is not, which has led to its
classification as a Nomen
nudum.
Further reading
- An Unusual New Theropod with a Didactyl Manus from the Upper
Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina. - PLoS ONE. 11 (7).
- Sebasti�n Apestegu�a, Nathan D. Smith, Rub�n Ju�rez Valieri
& Peter J. Makovicky - 2016.
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