Narindasaurus

Narindasaurus (meaning "Narinda Bay lizard") is a genus of turiasaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Isalo III Formation of Madagascar.^[1][2] The type species, N. thevenini was formally described by Royo-Torres et al. in 2020.^[3] The holotype, which consists of one specimen, is currently stored at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle and has been since 1906 or 1907.^[2]

Narindasaurus Temporal range: Middle Jurassic, ~168–165 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Left pubis (MNHN MAJ 430)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	†Sauropodomorpha
Clade:	†Sauropoda
Clade:	†Turiasauria
Genus:	†Narindasaurus Royo-Torres et al., 2020
Species:	†N. thevenini
Binomial name
†Narindasaurus thevenini Royo-Torres et al., 2020

Discovery and naming

The holotype was discovered in the Isalo III Formation before 1894 by Joseph Thomas Last,^[4] and were briefly noted on by Paul Lemoine in 1906.^[1] Armand Thevenin (1861-1942) was the first to diagnose Narindasaurus. In 1907, he placed it within the now obsolete species "Bothriospondylus madagascariensis",^[2] which is now known as Lapparentosaurus.^[5] It was briefly mentioned in 1972^[6] and it was reevaluated in 2008 and 2010 as both a distinct taxon and a non-neosauropod eusauropod.^[7][8] It was classified as a turiasaur in 2015.^[9] The species Narindasaurus thevenini was formally named in 2020.^[3]

The holotype consists of a partial skeleton composed by a right maxillary or premaxillary tooth (MNHN MAJ 423), an anterior caudal vertebra (MNHN MAJ 424), a posterior caudal vertebra (MNHN MAJ 426), a middle-anterior chevron (MNHN MAJ 425), a right ulna (MNHN MAJ 427), a right tibia (MNHN MAJ 428), a right fibula with a distal chevron attached (MNHN MAJ 429) and a left pubis (MNHN MAJ 430).^[2][3]