Quetecsaurus

Quetecsaurus
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, Turonian
Skeletal restoration, known material in blue
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Dinosauria
Order: Saurischia
Suborder: Sauropodomorpha
Clade: Neosauropoda
Clade: Macronaria
Clade: Titanosauria
Genus: Quetecsaurus
González Riga & Ortiz David, 2014
Type species
Quetecsaurus rusconii
González Riga & Ortiz David, 2014

Quetecsaurus is an extinct genus of titanosaur sauropod dinosaur known from the Late Cretaceous of southern Mendoza Province of western Argentina. It contains a single species, Quetecsaurus rusconii.[1]

Discovery

Quetecsaurus was first described and named by Bernardo González Riga, Leonardo Ortiz David in 2014 and the type species is Quetecsaurus rusconii. It is known solely from the holotype, a partial skeleton found in close association that includes a postorbital, teeth, the atlas, a rear cervical vertebra, an incomplete dorsal vertebra, a rear caudal centrum, dorsal ribs, a coracoid, five metacarpals and fragments of a humerus, radius and ulna. The holotype was collected from red mudstones of the Cerro Lisandro Formation, Neuquén Basin, dating to the middle or late Turonian stage of the Late Cretaceous. The specimen represents the first sauropod with well preserved materials from this formation.[1]

Description

Life restoration

Quetecsaurus was diagnosed based on three autapomorphies, i.e. unique traits, by its describers. The intercentrum of its atlas shows a prominent anteroventral border and enlarged posteroventral processes. Its humerus is uniquely shaped, with strongly sigmoid ("S" shaped) proximal border, rounded proximomedial border, and angular proximolateral corner. Like lognkosaur titanosaurs, it possess lateral expansions on the neural spines of its rear cervical vertebra, however they are incipient and relatively reduced.

Phylogeny

Quetecsaurus was assigned to the Titanosauria, and considered to be most closely related to Mendozasaurus and Futalognkosaurus, members of Lognkosauria, based on the presence of these lateral laminae on its neural spines. A preliminary phylogenetic analysis supported this assignment, placing Quetecsaurus as a sister taxon of the clade formed by Mendozasaurus and Futalognkosaurus.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Gonzalez Riga, B.; Ortiz David, L. (2013). "A New Titanosaur (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous (Cerro Lisandro Formation) of Mendoza Province, Argentina". Ameghiniana. doi:10.5710/AMGH.24.12.2013.1889.
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