Baurutitan
| Baurutitan Temporal range: Late Cretaceous | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Sauropsida |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Sauropodomorpha |
| Infraorder: | Sauropoda |
| (unranked): | Titanosauria |
| Genus: | Baurutitan |
| Binomial name | |
| Baurutitan britoi Kellner et al., 2005 | |
Baurutitan was a genus of sauropod dinosaur that appeared in the Late Cretaceous Period. This plant eater (herbivore) grew up to around 13 meters long. It was a titanosaur which lived in what is now present-day Brazil.
The type species, Baurutitan britoi, was described in 2005 by Kellner, Campos, and Trotta and is based on distinctive caudal vertebrae. This South American dinosaur was found in Uberaba, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais.
Discovery
The Baurutitan remains were found by Llewellyn Ivor Price, famous Brazilian paleontologist, in the region of Peirópolis, state of Minas Gerais. His breakthrough came in 1957, but only in 2005 it was officially presented to the public as being a herbivore dinosaur. The works Price in Peirópolis (which is rural district of Uberaba), Minas Gerais, began in 1947 after Jesuíno Felicíssimo Junior, from Instituto Geográfico e Geológico of São Paulo, told him about the presence of fossils in the region. Price then went to an old quarry, known as Quarry Caieira in São Luis farm, where he began to dig. It was a place with lots of fossils, being recovered remains of turtles, crocodylomorphs, theropod dinosaurs and sauropods, fish fragments, freshwater invertebrates (gastropods, bivalves), trace fossils, shale fragments of eggs and plant debris. Sometimes it was necessary to use dynamite explosion to remove materials embedded in the rock. Among the findings were a series of 19 vertebrae (the last sacral and 18 caudals), baptized as Series "C" which referred to Titanosaurs sauropods, and later related to Baurutitan. There were expeditions to Caieira in the years of 1949, 1950, 1953, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1959 and 1961 being the last year due to a few relevant findings. All material found was stored in the collection of Museu de Ciência da Terra (Earth Science Museum - MCT) of the Departamento Nacional de Produção Mineral (National Department of Mineral Production).[1]
Etymology
The name Baurutitan comes from the junction of the word bauru, which alludes to the geographical region of the finding, within the Bauru Group, and the word titan of Greek myths. Already britoi is given in honor of Ignacio Aureliano Brito Machado (1938-2001), an important Brazilian paleontologist who advised the study and description of this dinosaur, whose fossils have remained stored for many years.[1]
Description
Baurutitan was a sauropod, herbivorous dinosaur, which was estimated to have measured 12-14 meters long and had a height of around 3.5 meters. . The holotype specimen was found in the Marilia Formation, dating to the Maastrichtian epoch, some 72-66 million years ago. It was assumed to have similar habits to other sauropods. Baurutitan was the fourth sauropod described in Brazil, after Antarctosaurus, Gondwanatitan and Amazonsaurus.[1]