A new sauropod from Plottier Formation of Patagonia

LEONARDO S. FILIPPI; JOSÉ I. CANUDO; LEONARDO SALGADO; ALBERTO GARRIDO; RODOLFO A. GARCÍA; IGNACIO A. CERDA; ALEJANDRO OTERO

GEOLOGICA ACTA

UNIV BARCELONA

Año: 2011 vol. 9 p. 1 - 12

1695-6133

This paper presents a new titanosaur sauropod, Petrobrasaurus puestohernandezi gen. et sp. nov., collected from levels of reddish clays assigned to the Plottier Formation (Coniacian-Santonian). The holotype of Petrobrasaurus 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. The Coniacian-Santonian is of particular significance 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 characters observed in Petrobrasaurus suggest a relationship with the South American clade Lognkosauria, this new sauropod is regarded as Titanosauria incertae sedis until a deeper analysis of the Titanosauria that includes it is undertaken.