biology

Tarascosaurus

Tarascosaurus 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 Tarascosaurus rather than just read about it. In short: Tarascosaurus ("Tarasque lizard") is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from Late Cretaceous of France. It was a relatively small theropod measuring 2.5–3 metres (8.2–9.8 ft) long.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Tarascosaurus ("Tarasque lizard") is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from Late Cretaceous of France. It was a relatively small theropod measuring 2.5–3 metres (8.2–9.8 ft) long.

Discovery After having in 1988 identified an upper jaw bone found near Pourcieux as belonging to a member of the Abelisauridae, French paleontologist Éric Buffetaut reviewed the known remains of larger theropods found in the Late Cretaceous of Europe concluding they all were of abelisaurid affinity. Most of these fossils, earlier named as Megalosaurus pannoniensis, Megalosaurus hungaricus and Megalosaurus lonzeensis, he considered to be nomina dubia because of the paucity of the material. However, when in the collection of the University of Lyon he discovered some theropod bones once excavated by an unknown collector at an escarpment of a place named Lambeau du Beausset, in the "syncline of Le Beausset" (in French: synclinal du Beausset), Buffetaut and Jean Le Loeuff named and described these in 1991 as the type species Tarascosaurus salluvicus. The generic name is derived from the Tarasque or Tarasca, a devouring monster from Occitan and Spanish folklore. The specific name refers to the Salluvii, a Gallic tribe in Antiquity inhabiting the area near Marseille. The holotype PSL 330201 was found in the Fuvelian Beds, dating from the lower Campanian. It consists of the upper part of a thigh bone, 22 centimetres (8.7 in) long. PSL 330202, consisting of two dorsal vertebrae, was made a paratype; these bones may belong to the same individual. Referred was PSL 330203, a damaged tail vertebra. The femur, with an undamaged length estimated at 35 centimetres (14 in), indicates a body length of 2.5–3 metres (8.2–9.8 ft). Tarascosaurus was placed in the Abelisauridae in 1991. It was then seen as the only known abelisaurid from the Northern Hemisphere apart from Betasuchus of the Maastrichtian of the Netherlands but since then more species of abelisaurids have been found in the northern hemisphere. However, in 2003, Ronan Allain and Xabier Pereda-Suberbiola concluded that the type lacked any uniquely abelisaurid traits and that it should be considered a nomen dubium. In 2003, Oliver Rauhut concluded that Tarascosaurus itself was also a nomen dubium because the material was not diagnostic. In 2014, Tortosa and colleagues considered Tarascosaurus as a distinct abelisaurid from related taxa like Genusaurus and Arcovenator based on its femoral morphologies and its ontogenetic features. Phylogenetic analyses in the 2020s also support that it is an abelisaurid.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Tarascosaurus

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

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

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Tarascosaurus in simple terms?

Tarascosaurus ("Tarasque lizard") is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from Late Cretaceous of France. It was a relatively small theropod measuring 2.5–3 metres (8.2–9.8 ft) long.

Why does Tarascosaurus 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 Tarascosaurus?

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 Tarascosaurus.