Paleontologists have announced the discovery of a new genus and species of saltasauroid titanosaurian dinosaur, based on the fossilized remains found in the PaysandĂș Department of Uruguay.
The newly-described dinosaur species roamed our planet during the Late Cretaceous epoch, over 85 million years ago.
Named Udelartitan celeste, the ancient giant was between 15 and 16 m (49-52 feet) in body length.
The species belongs to a superfamily of titanosaurian dinosaurs called Saltasauroidea.
âWith over 80 species, mainly described in this century, titanosaurs represent the most successful and diverse sauropodomorph group,â said Dr. MatĂas Soto from the Instituto de Ciencias GeolĂłgicas in Uruguay and his colleagues.
âThey were the most abundant large-bodied herbivorous in the Late Cretaceous of the supercontinent Gondwana, in strong contrast with the ornithischian-dominated coeval faunas of Laurasia.â
âThe clade apparently arose in South America, where it shows its greatest diversity, with records ranging from the Berriasian-Valanginian to the Maastrichtian (from 145 to 72 million years ago).â
The fossilized material of Udelartitan celeste (sixty vertebrae, bone fragments and associated eggshells) was discovered in 2006 within sediments of the GuichĂłn Formation, near Quebracho in PaysandĂș Department, Uruguay.
âIn Uruguay, titanosaur remains are known since the beginning of the 20th century, when four species were recognized based on fragmentary remains,â the paleontologists said.
âAlthough such referrals have been questioned, their titanosaur identity is out of doubt given the strong procoely of the caudal centra.â
âThese findings were relevant because they allowed to confirm the presence of Upper Cretaceous rocks in Uruguay, although in light of recent South American findings, e.g., Ninjatitan zapatai, Tapuiasaurus macedoi, an older age within the Cretaceous cannot be ruled-out in absence of additional data.â
According to the team,…
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