biology

Perijasaurus

Perijasaurus 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 Perijasaurus rather than just read about it. In short: Perijasaurus (meaning "Perija lizard") is a genus of basal eusauropod sauropod dinosaur from the "Girón-type redbeds" of the La Quinta Formation of Cesar Department, north-eastern Colombia. The type species is Perijasaurus lapaz.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Perijasaurus (meaning "Perija lizard") is a genus of basal eusauropod sauropod dinosaur from the "Girón-type redbeds" of the La Quinta Formation of Cesar Department, north-eastern Colombia. The type species is Perijasaurus lapaz. It lived during the Toarcian-Aalenian boundary around 175 million years ago (early to middle Jurassic period).

Discovery and naming The holotype, UCMP 37689, is a broken dorsal vertebra, around 55 cm (22 in) tall and 45 cm (18 in) centimeters long. It was discovered on 27 March 1943 at the western flank of the Serranía del Perijá mountain range by the Tropical Oil Company and was sent to the fossil collection at the University of California, Berkeley. Starting in 1955, UCMP 37689 had been mentioned in the literature with no consensus developing over its affinities. Eventually, the original site was rediscovered and the bone was prepared, allowing it to be named as a new genus and species, Perijasaurus lapaz, in 2022. The generic name, "Perijasaurus", honors the mountain range where the fossil was found. The specific name, "lapaz", honors the town of La Paz, Cesar, near where the discovery was made, as well as the peace agreement that allowed the described to perform fieldwork in the area ("la paz" in Spanish means "the peace").

Classification Rincón et al. (2022) found Perijasaurus to be a basal eusauropod. The results of their phylogenetic analyses are shown in the cladogram below:

Paleoenvironment

Perijasaurus hails from the La Quinta Formation of northern South America, in what is now Colombia and Venezuela, making it the northernmost sauropod from South America ever recorded as well as the first dinosaur found in the Colombian part of the La Quinta Formation. The La Quinta environment is interpreted as a tropical lowland forest. Its location and time suggests eusauropods reached a broad distribution before the breakup of Pangaea and the Toarcian faunal turnover. Other dinosaurs from this formation include the stem-averostran theropod Tachiraptor and the ornithischian Laquintasaura, both from Venezuela and from older (Hettangian) layers.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Perijasaurus

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

In research: Perijasaurus 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 Perijasaurus 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: Perijasaurus is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Aalenian dinosaurs, Dinosaur genera, Dinosaurs of South America, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Perijasaurus 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 Perijasaurus in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Perijasaurus in simple terms?

Why does Perijasaurus 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 Perijasaurus?

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 Perijasaurus.