A exceptional new genus and species of small-sized titanosaurian sauropod has been unearthed in Patagonia, Argentina.
Life reconstruction of Titanomachya gimenezi. Picture credit score: Gabriel Díaz Yantén.
Titanomachya gimenezi roamed our planet in the course of the newest Cretaceous interval, round 66 million years in the past.
The traditional species was a member of a bunch of derived titanosaurian sauropods referred to as Lithostrotia and shared some options with the household Saltasauridae.
“Titanosaurian sauropods had been numerous within the newest Cretaceous ecosystems of Patagonia,” mentioned Dr. Agustín Pérez-Moreno, a postdoctoral researcher at CONICET, and his colleagues.
“The present fossil report is closely biased in the direction of the higher sampled Neuquén Group in northern Patagonia, the place two main titanosaur lineages are recorded, Colossosauria and Saltasauroidea.”
“The fossil report in southern Patagonia (Austral Basin) contains colossosaurian titanosaurs, comparable to Puertasaurus reuili and probably Nullotitan glaciaris, in addition to the massive saltasauroid Dreadnoughtus schrani.”
Titanomachya gimenezi was a small-sized titanosaur, round 6-10 tons in physique mass.
“Estimates of lower than 10 tons are uncommon amongst titanosaurs,” the paleontologists mentioned.
“Throughout the household Saltasauroidea there are a number of examples.”
“The lightest titanosaurs are Magyarosaurus dacus and Lirainosaurus astibiae with a mass of lower than a ton and two tons, respectively.”
“Amongst Saltasauridae, the heaviest is Ophistocoelicaudia with a mass of 25 tons, whereas throughout the Saltasaurinae the physique mass varies between 5 and 6 tons.”
The fossilized stays of Titanomachya gimenezi had been recovered from the outcrops of the La Colonia Formation in Chubut Province, Patagonia, Argentina.
“The holotype of Titanomachya gimenezi comes from the center part of the La Colonia Formation, in ranges like these of different dinosaurs (abelisaurids, hadrosaurs, ankylosaurs), turtles, and mammals reported from this formation,” the researchers mentioned.
Regardless of being represented solely by fossilized limb components, the brand new species displays a novel mixture of traits for a Late Cretaceous titanosaur.
“The small grownup dimension of Titanomachya gimenezi locations it in the same vary as Saltasaurus and Neuquensaurus however heavier,” the researchers mentioned.
“Its astragalus shows an intermediate morphology between Colossosauria and Saltasauroidea, permitting for an articulation between zeugopodium and autopodium just like Colossosauria however with contributions from each the tibia and fibula.”
“Additional analysis is required to completely perceive the variety and evolutionary significance of titanosaurian sauropods in Patagonia in the course of the Late Cretaceous epoch and to substantiate the connection between physique mass and the distinctive astragalus morphology noticed in Titanomachya gimenezi.”
“General, Titanomachya gimenezi stands out as an intriguing specimen with its distinctive traits and occupies a major place within the evolutionary panorama of sauropod dinosaurs in Patagonia in the course of the Late Cretaceous epoch.”
The invention of Titanomachya gimenezi is described in a paper within the journal Historic Biology.
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Agustín Pérez-Moreno et al. A brand new titanosaur from the La Colonia Formation (Campanian-Maastrichtian), Chubut Province, Argentina. Historic Biology, printed on-line April 10, 2024; doi: 10.1080/08912963.2024.2332997