Berthasaura leopoldinae de Souza et al., 2021 (new genus and species)
(Select bones and schematic skeletal of Berthasaura leopoldinae, with preserved bones in white, from de Souza et al., 2021)
Meaning of name: Berthasaura = [Brazilian zoologist and politician who was a leading figure during the Pan American feminist movement] Bertha Maria Júlia Lutz’s lizard; leopoldinae = for Maria Leopoldina [the first Empress of Brazil]
Age: Early Cretaceous (Aptian–Albian)
Where found: Goio Erê Formation, Paraná, Brazil
How much is known: Nearly complete skeleton of one individual.
Notes: Berthasaura was a small ceratosaurian theropod, less than a meter long in total body length. To be fair, the only known specimen was probably not fully grown. Based on comparison to other ceratosaurs with more completely known growth series, however, it was likely not an early juvenile individual either.
Whereas most other ceratosaurs were sharp-toothed predators, Berthasaura was extremely unusual in having toothless jaws, and it may have instead been an herbivore or an omnivore. The only other toothless ceratosaur named previously was Limusaurus from the Late Jurassic of China. Interestingly, the describers of Berthasaura found that it was probably not especially closely related to Limusaurus. If this is correct, ceratosaurs evolved into toothless forms at least two separate times in their evolutionary history.
Although Limusaurus was a toothless herbivore as an adult, it had sharp teeth as a juvenile. If Berthasaura also went through this process, it might have lost its teeth at an earlier growth stage than Limusaurus did, given the immaturity of the type specimen. However, it is also possible that it was toothless throughout its life. Without additional fossils of Berthasaura at other growth stages, it is hard to be sure.
(Type specimen of Berthasaura leopoldinae, from de Souza et al., 2021)
Reference: de Souza, G.A., M.B. Soares, L.C. Weinschütz, E. Wilner, R.T. Lopes, O.M.O. de Araújo, and A.W.A. Kellner. 2021. The first edentulous ceratosaur from South America. Scientific Reports 11: 22281. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-01312-4
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