biology

Losillasaurus

Losillasaurus 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 Losillasaurus rather than just read about it. In short: Losillasaurus (meaning "Losilla lizard") is a genus of turiasaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic and possibly Early Cretaceous (Kimmeridgian-?Berriasian) of southeastern Spain. It is also known from the Lourinhã Formation of Portugal.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Losillasaurus (meaning "Losilla lizard") is a genus of turiasaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic and possibly Early Cretaceous (Kimmeridgian-?Berriasian) of southeastern Spain. It is also known from the Lourinhã Formation of Portugal. The type species, Losillasaurus giganteus, was discovered in the Villar del Arzobispo Formation in Valencia, and formally described by Casanovas, Santafé, and Sanz in 2001. The holotype material is from a subadult and includes part of a skull; complete cervical, dorsal, sacral, and caudal vertebrae as well as several fragments; skeletal elements from the limbs including a humerus, ulna, radius, and metacarpal; sternal plates; and from the pelvis: the ilium, ischium, and pubis. The genus is characterized by the dimension and shape of the neural spine of the proximal caudal vertebrae.

Description

Several specimens of L. giganteus were described in 2019 and 2020 - one such specimen (SHN 180) consists of a single anterior caudal vertebra, while another (the holotype) consists of a partial skull with teeth and partial postcranial skeleton. According to Rafael Royo-Torres et al., the specimen helps scientists to understand tooth variation, allows the positioning of isolated heart-shaped teeth in the skull and demonstrates heterodonty in Turiasauria. The humerus is 143 centimetres (56 in) long, which despite being from a subadult specimen is within 20% of the size of Paralititan. The size estimation proposed by Francisco Gascó in his master thesis is 15–18 m (49–59 ft) in length and 12–15 t (13–17 short tons) in body mass. However as the type specimen is not fully grown, adult Losillasaurus likely grew bigger. A giant referred specimen has a femur length of 1.92 metres (6.3 ft),a tibia length of 1.25 metres (4.1 ft) and a humerus length of 1.8 metres (5.9 ft) suggesting an animal that was similar in size to Turiasaurus. The largest Losillasaurus would have measured 25 metres (82 ft) in length and weighed about 47 tonnes (46 long tons; 52 short tons).

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Losillasaurus

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Losillasaurus 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 Losillasaurus 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 Losillasaurus 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 Losillasaurus

In research: Losillasaurus 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 Losillasaurus 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: Losillasaurus is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Dinosaur genera, Dinosaurs of Spain, Fossil taxa described in 2001, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Losillasaurus 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 Losillasaurus in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Losillasaurus 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 Losillasaurus out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Losillasaurus in simple terms?

Why does Losillasaurus 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 Losillasaurus?

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 Losillasaurus.