Aerosteon Temporal range:
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Skeletal diagram illustrating air-filled bones | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | Saurischia |
Clade: | Theropoda |
Clade: | †Megaraptora |
Family: | †Megaraptoridae |
Genus: | †Aerosteon Sereno et al. 2009 |
Type species | |
†Aerosteon riocoloradensis Sereno et al. 2009
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Aerosteon is a genus of megaraptoran dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period of Argentina. Its remains were discovered in 1996 in the Anacleto Formation, which is from the late Campanian.[1] The type and only known species is A. riocoloradensis. Its specific name indicates that its remains were found 1 km (0.6 miles) north of the Río Colorado, in Mendoza Province, Argentina.
They show evidence of a bird-like respiratory system.[1] Aerosteon's name can be translated as air bone and derives from Greek ἀήρ (aer, "air") and ὀστέον (osteon, "bone").