science

Yaguarasaurus

Yaguarasaurus is a science 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 Yaguarasaurus rather than just read about it. In short: Yaguarasaurus is an extinct genus of mosasauroid from the Late Cretaceous (Turonian) period of Colombia, South America. The remains discovered (an articulated skull, some vertebrae and ribs) were defined as a new genus and species of mosasaurid, Yaguarasaurus columbianus, by the Colombian paleontologist María Páramo, former director of the Museo de Geología José Royo y Gómez of INGEOMINAS in Bogotá.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Yaguarasaurus is an extinct genus of mosasauroid from the Late Cretaceous (Turonian) period of Colombia, South America. The remains discovered (an articulated skull, some vertebrae and ribs) were defined as a new genus and species of mosasaurid, Yaguarasaurus columbianus, by the Colombian paleontologist María Páramo, former director of the Museo de Geología José Royo y Gómez of INGEOMINAS in Bogotá. The first fossils remains of this animal suggested a cranial length of 47 centimetres (19 in) and a total length of 5 metres (16 ft); an additional skull that measures 87 centimetres (34 in) long implies a larger size. This reptile is a member of the family of marine lizards Mosasauridae characteristic of Middle and Upper Cretaceous, with global distribution, but in South America known only through isolated remains (Price, 1957, Pierce and Welles, 1959; Bonaparte, 1978; Ameghino, 1918). This mosasaur discovered in Yaguará, was at the moment of discovery the most complete material known in South America.

Etymology The remains were found in a limestone bed (Upper Turonian) of the La Frontera Formation, member of the Villeta Group, near Yaguará, Huila, in a site called Cueva Rica. Its name means "Yaguará lizard of Colombia".

Phylogeny

The following cladograms illustrate the phylogenetic analyses of two competing hypotheses on the classification of Yaguarasaurus. Topology A represents the traditional view of the genus belonging to the subfamily Yaguarasaurinae following Palci et al. (2013). Topology B follows Rivera-Sylva et al. (2023) and depicts a new hypothesis holding Yaguarasaurus as a basal member of the Plioplatecarpinae, which was first proposed by Polcyn et al. (2023) based on the discovery of synapomorphies in the braincase. In the second scenario, the two species of Yaguarasaurus are paraphyletic with respect to more derived plioplatecarpines, with Y. regiomontanus lying further up the tree.

Illustrations

Yaguarasaurus: Paleogeography of Northern South America, 90 Maby Ron Blakey — Paleogeography of Northern South America, 90 Maby Ron Blakey

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Yaguarasaurus

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Yaguarasaurus claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, 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 Yaguarasaurus 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 Yaguarasaurus 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 Yaguarasaurus

In research: Yaguarasaurus appears in science 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 Yaguarasaurus 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: Yaguarasaurus is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cretaceous Colombia, Fossil taxa described in 1994, Fossils of Colombia, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Yaguarasaurus 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 Yaguarasaurus in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Yaguarasaurus in simple terms?

Why does Yaguarasaurus matter?

Because it connects several science 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 Yaguarasaurus?

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 Yaguarasaurus.