Muyelensaurus

  • Muyelensaurus pecheni

Muyelensaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the group of Titanosauria that in the Upper Cretaceous (late Turonian ) of South America lived. Like all sauropods had Muyelensaurus a large, quadrupeder ( four-footed ) herbivore with a long neck and tail.

So far, the remains of four adults and one juvenile individual are known, all of which were discovered at the same locality in the Argentine province of Neuquen. The only way Muyelensaurus pecheni, was founded in 2007 by Calvo et al. first described. The first authors suggest Rinconsaurus as the closest known relatives of Muyelensaurus and make a new group, which Rinconsauria to emphasize the similarities between the two genres.

Features

How Rinconsaurus was also Muyelensaurus a medium-sized, rather slender built Titanosaurier. Distinguishing features ( autapomorphies ) are found particularly in the skull bones and vertebrae, as well as the lower end of the pubic bone was rectangular shaped and thick.

Fund and naming

The fossils are from the Loma del Lindero locality, which lies 10 km west of Rincón de los Sauces near the Río Colorado. The excavations at this locality ran from 1998 to 2001 and were under the direction of Argentine paleontologists Jorge Calvo, which is also the first author of the scientific paper. A total of about 300 bones were recovered by titanosaurs, beside it found remains of theropods and a fossil turtle.

The fluvial deposits, from which the fossils belong to Portezuelo lineup, which belongs to the base of the Río Neuquén Subgroup - (Neuquén Group) - this allows the finds dated to the Turonian -early Coniacian. The Muyelensaurus fossils include cervical, dorsal, sacral, and caudal vertebrae with one, also arm and leg bones, scapula, pelvic bones and skull bones ( incomplete braincase ( neurocranium ) and premaxilla with teeth ). In the area around Rincon de los Sauces further Rinconsaurus caudamirus was discovered, along with the Crocodyliformen Pehuenchesuchus enderi. Other finds from this area have been recovered but not yet described.

The name is derived from the words Muyelensaurus sauros ( gr ) - from " lizard" and Muyelen, one of name for the Río Colorado from the Mapuche language, a South American Indian tribe. The Artepitheth pecheni honors Ana María pitches of the National University of Comahue, which supported the dinosaur research in Neuquén.

Swell

  • JO Calvo, BJ González- Riga, JD Porphyrius: Muyelensaurus pecheni Gen. et sp. nov., a new titanosaur sauropod from the Late Cretaceous of Neuquén, Patagonia, Argentina. In: Arquivos do Museu Nacional. 65, No. 4, Rio de Janeiro 2007, pp. 485-504 (PDF).
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