Bonatitan

  • Bonatitan reigi

Bonatitan is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the small group of Titanosauria that lived during the Late Cretaceous in what is now South America.

So far, two fragmentary skeletons including skull bones are known to have been recovered together from a reference of the Allen Formation in Argentina. The only known species is Bonatitan reigi. Bonatitan was derived ( modern ) Titanosauria, which is classified within the Saltasaurinae.

Features

The Saltasaurinen belong with lengths between approximately 12 and 15 meters to the smallest known sauropod. Bonatitan was relatively small even compared with other Saltasaurinen. Thus, the thigh bones of the larger of the two specimens is only 58.5 inches long. The bones of the limbs were slender, compared with other Saltasaurinen as Saltasaurus and Neuquensaurus. Bonatitan can be distinguished by several unique characteristics of the skull bones and vertebrae of other genera. For example, runs a pit between the paired parietal ( parietal ) to above the supraoccipital foramen magnum. The vertebral arches of the anterior caudal vertebrae also show between the zygapophyses deep valleys ( Fossa ) with numerous notches.

System

The describer assign Bonatitan the Saltasaurinae, a group of small, modern, south american Titanosaurier. The Saltasaurinae together with the Opisthocoelicaudiinae ( Opisthocoelicaudia and Alamosaurus ) the group Saltasauridae. Common features ( synapomorphies ) of Bonatitan with other Saltasaurinen include a comb to the postzygapophyses the middle caudal vertebrae, and the lower, forward exposed condyle of the femur (femur) with a.

Discoveries and naming

Both skeletons were uncovered, and the same site together in the Bajo de Santa Rosa locality in the Argentine province of Río Negro. The rocks of the discovery site belong to the Allen- formation, a formation of Malargüe group, which is dated to the Campanian to Maastrichtian ( Upper Cretaceous ). The bones of both copies were inarticulate and mixed together found, the assignment to two different individuals was made primarily on the basis of differences in size: As the holotype specimen was about 20 % larger than the other copy.

The holotype specimen ( specimen number MACN PV RN 821 ) consists of a complete skull, vertebrae ( some middle of back and tail vertebrae), as well as leg bone (upper arm bone (humerus ), a metacarpal bone ( metacarpal ), thigh bone, shin (tibia), fibula ( fibula ), heel bone ( calcaneus ), and a metatarsal bone ). The second skeleton ( copy number MACN PV RN 1061 ) also consists of a complete skull together, as well as from incomplete cervical vertebrae, radius ( radius), Elle ( ulna ), femur, tibia, calcaneus, and a metatarsal.

The new genus and species was first described scientifically in 2004 by Agustín Martinelli and Analía Forasiepi. The name honors the significant Bonatitan paleontologist José Fernando Bonaparte, who has rendered outstanding services by exploring the Mesozoic vertebrate fauna of South America. The Artepitheth reigi honors Osvaldo Reig for his contributions to paleontology in South America.

Documents

Main source

  • A. Martinelli, A. M. Forasiepi. 2004: Late Cretaceous vertebrates from Bajo de Santa Rosa (Allen Formation), Rio Negro province, Argentina, with the description of a new sauropod dinosaur ( Titanosauridae ). Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, nuevo serie 6 (2). pages 257-305
Mya (unit) Fossil
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