biology

Sachicasaurus

Sachicasaurus 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 Sachicasaurus rather than just read about it. In short: Sachicasaurus is an extinct genus of brachauchenine pliosaurid known from the Barremian of the Paja Formation, Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the Colombian Eastern Ranges of the Andes. The type species and only species is S. vitae.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Sachicasaurus is an extinct genus of brachauchenine pliosaurid known from the Barremian of the Paja Formation, Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the Colombian Eastern Ranges of the Andes. The type species and only species is S. vitae.

Etymology The genus name Sachicasaurus refers to Sáchica, the location where the fossil was found, and saurus, meaning "lizard" in Latinised Greek. The species epithet vitae, meaning "of life" in Latin, was chosen because of the life in Sáchica the fossil find has sparked.

Description

Sachicasaurus was a large pliosaur, with the type specimen measuring approximately 10–10.35 metres (32.8–34.0 ft) long and weighing 10.3–12.8 metric tons (11.4–14.1 short tons). The holotype specimen, MP111209-1, was found in 2013 and is known from a near complete skull, and postcranial elements including a complete hindlimb and various vertebrae. Diagnostic features include a very short mandibular symphysis, reduced number of mandibular teeth (17 to 18 versus 25 to 40 in other pliosaurids), slender teeth, among other features. With a preserved length of 9.9 metres (32 ft) (which may be missing the vertebrae from the end of the tail), the specimen is interpreted as a sub-adult individual. It is one of the largest and most complete pliosaurid specimens.

Paleoenvironment Sachicasaurus is one of four pliosaurids from the Paja Formation, others being Acostasaurus, Stenorhynchosaurus, and Monquirasaurus. It is also contemporaneous with the elasmosaurids Callawayasaurus and Leivanectes, the marine turtle Desmatochelys padillai, the sandowniid turtle Leyvachelys, and the ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs Muiscasaurus and Kyhytysuka.

References

Bibliography Sachicasaurus Páramo Fonseca, María Eurídice; Benavides Cabra, Cristian David; Gutiérrez, Ingry Esmirna (2018), "A new large pliosaurid from the Barremian (Lower Cretaceous) of Sáchica, Boyacá, Colombia", Earth Sciences Research Journal, 22 (4): 223–238, doi:10.15446/esrj.v22n4.69916, retrieved 2019-03-09 Other paleofauna Cadena, Edwin A.; Parham, James F. (2015a), "Oldest known marine turtle? A new protostegid from the Lower Cretaceous of Colombia", PaleoBios, 32: 1–42, doi:10.5070/P9321028615, retrieved 2017-03-30 Cadena, Edwin (2015b), "The first South American sandownid turtle from the Lower Cretaceous of Colombia", PeerJ, 3 e1431, doi:10.7717/peerj.1431, PMC 4690369, PMID 26713227 Gómez Pérez, Marcela; Noè, Leslie F. (2017), "Cranial anatomy of a new pliosaurid Acostasaurus pavachoquensis from the Lower Cretaceous of Colombia, South America", Palaeontographica Abteilung A, 310 (1–2): 5–42, Bibcode:2017PalAA.310....5G, doi:10.1127/pala/2017/0068, retrieved 2019-03-09 Maxwell, Erin E.; Dick, Daniel; Padilla, Santiago; Parra, Mary Luz (2015), "A new ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Colombia", Papers in Palaeontology, 2: 59–70, doi:10.1002/spp2.1030, retrieved 2017-03-30 Páramo Fonseca, María Euridice; O'Gorman, José Patricio; Gasparini, Zulma; Padilla, Santiago; Parra Ruge, Mary Luz (2019), "A new late Aptian elasmosaurid from the Paja Formation, Villa de Leiva, Colombia", Cretaceous Research, 99: 30–40, Bibcode:2019CrRes..99...30P, doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2019.02.010, hdl:11336/127809, retrieved 2019-03-09 Páramo, María E.; Gómez Pérez, Marcela; Noé, Leslie F.; Etayo, Fernando (2016), "Stenorhynchosaurus munozi, gen. et sp. nov. a new pliosaurid from the Upper Barremian (Lower Cretaceous) of Villa de Leiva, Colombia, South America", Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, 40 (154): 84–103, doi:10.18257/raccefyn.239, retrieved 2017-04-20

External links "Genus: Sachicasaurus". paleofile.com. Archived from the original on November 1, 2023.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Sachicasaurus

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

In research: Sachicasaurus 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 Sachicasaurus 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: Sachicasaurus is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Barremian life, Cretaceous Colombia, Early Cretaceous reptiles of South America, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Sachicasaurus 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 Sachicasaurus in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Sachicasaurus in simple terms?

Why does Sachicasaurus 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 Sachicasaurus?

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 Sachicasaurus.