biology

Histriasaurus

Histriasaurus is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Histriasaurus rather than just read about it. In short: Histriasaurus (HIS-tree-ah-SAWR-us) (meaning "Istria lizard") is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Hauterivian to Barremian stages, around 135-125 million years ago) of Croatia. It has been suggested to be a rebbachisaurid, and if so one of the oldest known members of the group.

Key takeaways

Histriasaurus belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Histriasaurus to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Histriasaurus from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Histriasaurus (HIS-tree-ah-SAWR-us) (meaning "Istria lizard") is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Hauterivian to Barremian stages, around 135-125 million years ago) of Croatia. It has been suggested to be a rebbachisaurid, and if so one of the oldest known members of the group.

Discovery and naming The holotype, specimen WN V-6, was found in a bonebed in lacustrine limestone exposed on the seafloor off the coast of the town of Bale on the Istrian peninsula in Croatia by Dario Boscarolli during the 1980s, and described in 1998 by Dalla Vecchia. The type species, H. boscarollii, was described by Dalla Vecchia in 1998. The specific name honours the discoverer of the site, Darío Boscarolli. Although some authors consider Histriasaurus a dubious taxon, more recent papers support the original classification.

Classification It was a diplodocoid sauropod, related to, but more primitive than, Rebbachisaurus. Phylogenetic analyses published in 2007 and 2011 placed Histriasaurus as the most basal member of Rebbachisauridae.

Paleoenvironment Histriasaurus would have coexisted with an indeterminate camarasaurid, an indeterminate titanosauriform, an indeterminate somphospondylian, an indeterminate theropod, an indeterminate dinosaur of unknown classification and the foraminiferan Campanellula capuensis.

References

External links

Histriasaurus at Dinosauria On-Line (Backup at WayBack Machine) Histriasaurus at the Paleobiology Database

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Histriasaurus

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Histriasaurus claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Histriasaurus before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Histriasaurus ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Histriasaurus

In research: Histriasaurus appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Histriasaurus in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Histriasaurus is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Barremian dinosaurs, Dinosaur genera, Dinosaurs of Europe, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Histriasaurus outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Histriasaurus in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Histriasaurus means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Histriasaurus out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Histriasaurus in simple terms?

Why does Histriasaurus matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Histriasaurus?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Histriasaurus.