A new sauropod titanosaur from the Plottier Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of Patagonia (Argentina)

Authors

  • L.S. FILIPPI Museo Municipal “Argentino Urquiza”Jujuy y Chaco s/n, 8319 Rincón de los Sauces, Neuquén, Argentina.
  • J.I. CANUDO Grupo Aragosaurus - IUCA (www.aragosaurus.com), Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza. Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain.
  • J.L. SALGADO CONICET-INIBIOMA, Museo de Geología y Paleontología, Universidad Nacional del Comahue Buenos Aires 1400, 8300 Neuquén, Argentina.
  • A. GARRIDO Museo Provincial de Ciencias Naturales “Prof. Dr. Juan Olsacher”. Dirección Provincial de Minería, Etcheluz y Ejército Argentino, 8340 Zapala, Neuquén, Argentina.
  • R. GARCÍA CONICET-INIBIOMA, Museo de Geología y Paleontología, Universidad Nacional del Comahue Buenos Aires 1400, 8300 Neuquén, Argentina.
  • I.A. CERDA CONICET-INIBIOMA, Museo de Geología y Paleontología, Universidad Nacional del Comahue Buenos Aires 1400, 8300 Neuquén, Argentina.
  • A. OTERO CONICET-INIBIOMA, Museo de Geología y Paleontología, Universidad Nacional del Comahue Buenos Aires 1400, 8300 Neuquén, Argentina.

Keywords:

Titanosauria, Plottier Formation, Coniacian-Santonian, Late Cretaceous, Río Neuquén Subgroup, Argentina

Abstract

This paper presents a new titanosaur sauropod, collected from levels of reddish clays assigned to the Plottier Formation (Coniacian-Santonian). The holotype of Petrobrasaurus puestohernandezi gen. et. sp. nov. is a disarticulated specimen, from which teeth, cervical, dorsal and caudal vertebrae, sternal plates, metacarpals, femora, tibia, a fragment of ilium, pubis, haemal arches, and cervical and dorsal ribs have been preserved. This period is of particular interest because it saw the definitive isolation of the vertebrate faunas of Patagonia, with the separation of South America from the rest of Gondwana, a process that had begun during the Early Cretaceous. Although some of the characters observed in Petrobrasaurus gen. nov. suggest a relationship with the South American clade Lognkosauria, this new sauropod is regarded as Titanosauria incertae sedis until a more profound analysis of the Titanosauria that in which it is included is undertaken.
Any 2011 Vol.: 9 Núm.: 1

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Published

2011-05-06

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Vol. 9 No. 1 (2011)

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