biology

Oblitosaurus

Oblitosaurus 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 Oblitosaurus rather than just read about it. In short: Oblitosaurus (meaning "forgotten lizard") is a genus of ankylopollexian ornithopod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Villar del Arzobispo Formation of Spain. The type species is Oblitosaurus bunnueli.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Oblitosaurus (meaning "forgotten lizard") is a genus of ankylopollexian ornithopod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Villar del Arzobispo Formation of Spain. The type species is Oblitosaurus bunnueli.

Discovery and naming The type specimens of Oblitosaurus consist of a dentary tooth (CPT-1440), an ungual pollex from the left manus (CPT-1444), and an almost complete left hindlimb (MAP-8290 to MAP-8299). Large footprints from the same area may also belong to this taxon. The skeletal remains were identified as belonging to a new genus and species of ornithopod, Oblitosaurus bunnueli, in 2023. The generic name, "Oblitosaurus", comes from the Latin "oblitus", meaning "obsolete" or "forgotten", and the Greek word "sauros", meaning "lizard", referring to how its fossils were the last to be found from the site where they were discovered. The specific name, "bunnueli", honors Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel.

Description

Oblitosaurus has been estimated as being 6–7 metres (20–23 ft) long, larger than its close relatives Camptosaurus and Draconyx. This makes it the largest ornithopod known from Europe in the Late Jurassic.

Classification

Sánchez-Fenollosa et al. (2023) placed Oblitosaurus in a phylogenetic analysis and found it to be a basal ankylopollexian as the sister taxon to Draconyx, forming a European ankylopollexian clade that did not seem to appear in North America. Furthermore, their analysis also supports a monophyly of Camptosaurus, showing for the first time all the species assigned to it in a single clade. The results of their phylogenetic analysis are displayed in the cladogram below.

Paleoenvironment Apart from Oblitosaurus, the Villar del Arzobispo Formation also produced the remains of many other animals, including a distinct Camptosaurus-like ornithopod known from vertebrae, a stegosaur similar to Dacentrurus, and various sauropods, such as Turiasaurus, Losillasaurus, Galvesaurus, and Aragosaurus.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Oblitosaurus

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

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

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Oblitosaurus in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Oblitosaurus in simple terms?

Oblitosaurus (meaning "forgotten lizard") is a genus of ankylopollexian ornithopod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Villar del Arzobispo Formation of Spain. The type species is Oblitosaurus bunnueli.

Why does Oblitosaurus 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 Oblitosaurus?

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 Oblitosaurus.