Chubutisaurus
| Chubutisaurus | ||||||||||
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||
| Upper Cretaceous ( Cenomanium ) | ||||||||||
| 100.5 to 93.9 million years | ||||||||||
| Locations | ||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Chubutisaurus | ||||||||||
| Del Corro , 1974 | ||||||||||
| Art | ||||||||||
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Chubutisaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur thatlived in South Americaduring the Early Upper Cretaceous ( Cenomanium ). Within the sauropods, Chubutisaurus is placed among the Titanosauriformes , the systematic position within this group being disputed.
So far, a single fragmentary skeleton is known that includes various incomplete vertebrae and some bones of the front and rear legs. Further vertebrae of the same skeleton were recovered in 1991 and 2007. The site is in the Argentine province of Chubut , the fossils can probably be dated to the Cenomanium . The only known species is Chubutisaurus insignis .
features
Chubutisaurus was a large sauropod, so the thigh bone found measures 168 centimeters in length. Like all sauropods, it was a herbivore with a long neck and tail and a small head. Chubutisaurus can be distinguished from related genera on the basis of three unique features ( autapomorphies ) of the vertebrae, for example the middle vertebrae show deep lateral cavities (pleurocoels), within each of which there are three laminae (thin bone bridges).
Systematics
Originally, del Corro (1975) classified this genus within its own, monotypic group of sauropods, the Chubutisauridae. The name Chubutisauridae was not used by later authors. Salgado (1993) noted that Chubutisaurus showed similarities with the Brachiosauridae and the titanosaurs , but classified the genus as sauropods that cannot be classified further (Sauropoda incertae sedis ). Later Salgado and colleagues (1997) classified Chubutisaurus for the first time as a representative of the Titanosauriformes , a group that includes the Brachiosauridae, the Titanosauria and various original forms. This classification is still supported today, with the exact position within the Titanosauriformes being disputed. While in the 1990s an affiliation to the Brachiosauridae was discussed, the genus is now considered either as the original representative of the Titanosauria or as a representative of the Titanosauriformes outside of the Titanosauria and the Brachiosauridae.
Research history and naming
The only known specimen was discovered by a local farmer around 1961 and recovered in 1965 by a paleontological expedition led by Guillermo del Corro . The retrieval of the fossils took 30 days of continuous fieldwork and was done with the help of dynamite . These fossils are now kept in the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia . In 1991 a second expedition succeeded in finding the site again with the help of the farmer's son. Excavations in 1991 and 2007 then uncovered other fossils of the same specimen, mainly vertebrae. These additional finds are kept in the Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio .
The site is located in the Paso de Indios department in the Argentine province of Chubut . He is a member of the Bayo Overo , a sub -formation of the Cerro Barcino formation .
The first description published in 1974 by Guillermo del Corro is short and only dealt with the caudal and dorsal vertebrae as well as the humerus and thigh bones. A more extensive description, which also includes ulna, radius and metacarpal bones, was published in 1993 by Leonardo Salgado . In 2011, José Carballido and colleagues finally published a detailed description of all known fossils from the specimen, including those recovered in 1991 and 2007.
Del Corro named this sauropod after the Argentine province of Chubut . The second part of the species name, insignis , comes from Latin and means something like "outstanding", which should indicate the special size of the leg and vertebral bones.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h José L. Carballido, Diego Pol, Ignacio Cerda, Leonardo Salgado : The osteology of Chubutisaurus insignis Del Corro, 1975 (Dinosauria: Neosauropoda) from the 'middle' cretaceous of central Patagonia, Argentinia. In: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Vol. 31, No. 1, 2011, ISSN 0272-4634 , pp. 93-110, doi : 10.1080 / 02724634.2011.539651 .
- ↑ a b c Leonardo Salgado: Comments of Chubutisaurus insignis del Corro (Saurischia, Sauropoda). In: Ameghiniana . Vol. 30, No. 3, 1993, pp. 265-270.
- ↑ a b c d Guillermo del Corro: Un nuevo sauropodo del Cretácico Superior. In: Actas del Primer Congreso Argentino de Paleontología y Bioestratigrafía, Argentina, 12-16 de agosto de 1974. Volume 2. Asociación Paleontológica Argentina, Tucumán 1975, ZDB -ID 1009373-4 , pp. 229-240.
- ↑ Chubutisaurus . In: The Paleobiology Database. Retrieved August 13, 2014 .