New vertebrate remains from the Huincul Formation (Cenomanian-Turonian; Upper Cretaceous) in Río Negro, Argentina

MOTTA, MATÍAS J.; BRISSON EGLI, F.; ARANCIAGA ROLANDO, A.M.; ROZADILLA, S.; GENTIL, A.; LIO, G.; CERRONI, M.A.; GARCIA MARSA, J.A.; AGNOLÍN, F.L.; D´ANGELO, J.; ALVAREZ HERRERA, G.; ALSINA, C. ; NOVAS, F.E.

Congreso; XXIII Jornadas Argentinas de Paleontología de Vertebrados; 2018

The Violante’s Farm is a fossiliferous locality located in the northwest of the province ofRío Negro, Argentina. In this locality, the Huincul Formation (Neuquén Group,Cenomanian-Turonian, Upper Cretaceous) is widely exposed. Numerous vertebrateremains have been collected from this fossiliferous site and were recently published,including the enigmatic Gualicho shinyae Apesteguía et al. 2016, and the theropodsAoniraptor libertatem and Taurovenator violantei Motta et al., 2016. In a recentexploration carried out in this locality, a large number of vertebrate fossils were foundand are preliminarily presented in this abstract. The remains represent different vertebrateclades that include: Lepisosteiformes cf. Lepidotes sp.; Sphenodontia Eilenodontinaeindet.; Squamata indet.; Chelidae indet.; Crocodyliformes cf. Neosuchia; Titanosauriaindet.; Ornithopoda indet; Carcharodontosauridae indet.; Abelisauridae indet.;Megaraptoridae indet.; and Coelulosauria indet. The two Eilenodontinae specimensrepresent the first sphenodontian records for the Huincul Formation. The coelulosaurs,abelisaurid and carcharodontosaurid specimens show distinct autapomorphic traits andare different from previously known theropods found in the Huincul Formation. The goodpreservational state and the large number of specimens collected will allow increasing theknowledge about the fauna represented on the Huincul Formation. This large number ofdifferent clades of vertebrates in a single fossiliferous location positions the HuinculFormation as one of the richest vertebrate associations in Patagonia.