Zapalasaurus

Zapalasaurus is an extinct genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous-aged La Amarga Formation of what is today Patagonia. The type and only species is Z. bonapartei.

==Discovery and naming== The fossils which would eventually be named Zapalasaurus were discovered in 1995 at a locality called Puesto Morales. This corresponds to the Piedra Parada Member of the La Amarga Formation. The specimen was excavated from 1995-1996 by scientists associated with the Bernardino Rivadavia Natural Sciences Argentine Museum and the Juan A. Olsacher Museum under the leadership of the famous Argentine paleontologist José F. Bonaparte. Additional remains of this specimen were later excavated in 2004 by the Geology and Paleontology Museum of the National University of Comahue. The specimen was given the designation Pv-6127-MOZ. It was described and named in 2006 by a team of scientists led by Leonardo Salgado. Zapalasaurus was named after the city of Zapala, which is approximately away from where the holotype was discovered. The species epithet was given in honor of Dr. José Bonaparte, who was an important Argentine paleontologist in the 20th century.