A new giant basal titanosaur sauropod in the Upper Cretaceous (Coniacian) of the Neuquén Basin, Argentina
Registro en:
Filippi, L. S., Salgado, L., & Garrido, A. C. (2019). A new giant basal titanosaur sauropod in the Upper Cretaceous (Coniacian) of the Neuquén Basin, Argentina. Cretaceous Research; 100; 61-81.
1095-998X
0195-6671
Autor
Filippi, Leonardo S.
Salgado, Leonardo
Garrido, Alberto Carlos
Institución
Resumen
Fil: Filippi, Leonardo S. Museo Municipal Argentino Urquiza. Nuequén, Argentina. Fil: Salgado, Leonardo. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro. Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología y Geología. Río Negro, Argentina. Fil: Salgado, Leonardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Buenos Aires, Argentina. Fil: Garrido, Alberto Carlos. Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Departamento Geología y Petróleo, Facultad de Ingeniería. Neuquén, Argentina. A new basal sauropod titanosaur, Kaijutitan maui gen. et sp. nov., is described. The holotype of this
species, which comes from the Sierra Barrosa Formation (upper Coniacian, Upper Cretaceous), consists of
cranial, axial, and appendicular elements presenting an unique combination of plesiomorphic and
apomorphic characters. The most notable characteristic observed in Kaijutitan is the presence of anterior
cervical vertebrae with bifid neural spines, a condition that would have evolved several times among
sauropods. The phylogenetic analysis places Kaijutitan as a basal titanosaur, the sister taxon of
Epachthosaurus þ Eutitanosauria. The new species supports the coexistence, in the Late Cretaceous
(Turonian-Santonian), of basal titanosaurs and eutitanosaurian sauropods, at least in Patagonia. true -