Ligabueino is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of noasaurid dinosaur

Dinosaur

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...

 named after Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 doctor

Physician

A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

 Giancario Ligabue. It is known only from an extremely fragmentary specimen, measuring 70 cm (2.3 ft) long. In spite of initial reports that it was an adult, the unfused vertebrae indicate that the specimen was a juvenile. It was a theropod and lived during the Early Cretaceous

Cretaceous

The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...

 Period, in what is now Patagonia

Patagonia

Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...

. It is sometimes considered a member of the Noasauridae

Noasauridae

Noasaurids were a group of theropod dinosaurs from the Cretaceous Period . They were generally small in size...

, but its remains are too fragmentary to show any unique similarities with that group. In 2011, Carrano and colleagues found that it could only be placed with any confidence in the larger group Abelisauroidea.

Fragments found were: a femur

Femur

The femur , or thigh bone, is the most proximal bone of the leg in tetrapod vertebrates capable of walking or jumping, such as most land mammals, birds, many reptiles such as lizards, and amphibians such as frogs. In vertebrates with four legs such as dogs and horses, the femur is found only in...

, ilium

Ilium (bone)

The ilium is the uppermost and largest bone of the pelvis, and appears in most vertebrates including mammals and birds, but not bony fish. All reptiles have an ilium except snakes, although some snake species have a tiny bone which is considered to be an ilium.The name comes from the Latin ,...

, pubis

Pubis (bone)

In vertebrates, the pubic bone is the ventral and anterior of the three principal bones composing either half of the pelvis.It is covered by a layer of fat, which is covered by the mons pubis....

, phalanx

Phalanx bones

In anatomy, phalanx bones are those that form the fingers and toes. In primates such as humans and monkeys, the thumb and big toe have two phalanges, while the other fingers and toes consist of three. Phalanges are classified as long bones.The phalanges do not have individual names...

 and neural arches of cervical, dorsal and caudal vertebrae.

External links

• Ligabueino in The Dinosaur Encyclopaedia at Dino Russ's Lair