Agustinia (SciiFii)

Agustinia /ɑːɡəˈstɪniə/ is a genus of sauropod dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous Period of South America. It contains the single species Agustinia ligabuei, a single specimen of which was recovered from the Lohan Cura Formation of Neuquen Province in Argentina, thought to date from the late Aptian to Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous Period, between 116 and 100 million years ago.[1]

The name Agustinia honors the discoverer of the specimen, Agustin Martinelli. This dinosaur was originally named in a 1998 abstract written by famous Argentine paleontologist Jose Bonaparte.[2] The original generic name was "Augustia", which, as it turned out, was already preoccupied by a beetle (see also: Megapnosaurus, Protognathosaurus). Bonaparte changed the name to Agustinia in a full paper published in 1999.[1] There is one named species(A. ligabuei), which is named in honor of Dr. Giancarlo Ligabue, a philanthropist who provided financial support to the expedition which recovered the remains.