IANIGLA   20881
INSTITUTO ARGENTINO DE NIVOLOGIA, GLACIOLOGIA Y CIENCIAS AMBIENTALES
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
A new wide-gauge sauropod track site from the Late Cretaceous of Mendoza, Neuquén basin, Argentina
Autor/es:
GONZÁLEZ RIGA, BERNARDO J.; CALVO, JORGE
Revista:
PALAEONTOLOGY
Editorial:
Palaeontological Association, BLACKWELL Publishing
Referencias:
Lugar: London, UK; Año: 2009 p. 631 - 640
ISSN:
0031-0239
Resumen:
Agua del Choique is a new Late Cretaceous sauropod track site from Mendoza Province, Neuquén Basin, Argentina. It is situated in the Loncoche Formation, late Campanian – early Maastrichthian in age, and is one of the youngest sauropod tracks site recorded in the world. Agua del Choique represents a lake setting and river-dominated delta deposits, and comprises at least 160 well-preserved tracks, located on a calcareous sandstone bed. A new ichnotaxon, Titanopodus mendozensis ichnogen. et ichnosp. nov., is erected for the footprints of this track site. T. mendozensis exhibits the following association of features: (1) wide-gauge trackway (manus and pes trackway ratios of 18-22 and 26-31 per cent, respectively), (2)  pronounced heteropody (manus-pes area ratio of 1:3), (3) outer limits of trackway defined, in some cases, by the manus tracks, and (4) manus impression with an asymmetrical crescent contour and acuminate external border. T. mendozensis is an excellent case study of the wide-gauge style of locomotion produced by Late Cretaceous derived titanosaurs that have no impression of manual phalanges. These features, and the fossil record from the Loncoche Formation, suggest that the trackmakers were, probably, middle size saltasaurine or aeolosaurine titanosaurs (14-16 m long). Key words: Titanopodus mendozensis, Late Cretaceous, Neuquén Basin, Argentina