Pitekunsaurus

Pitekunsaurus
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, Campanian
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Saurischia
Suborder: Sauropodomorpha
Clade: Titanosauria
Family: Aeolosauridae
Tribe: Aeolosaurini
Genus: Pitekunsaurus
Filippi & Garrido, 2008
Type species
Pitekunsaurus macayai
Filippi & Garrido, 2008

Pitekunsaurus is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Neuquén, Argentina. It was described by L. Filippi and A. Garrido in 2008. The type species is P. macayai.[1] The generic name is derived from Mapudungun pitekun, meaning "to discover", the epitheton honours the discoverer, oil company explorer Luis Macaya, who found the fossil in April 2004.

Classification

Pitekunsaurus appears to be a genus of aeolosaurin, most closely related to the genera Gondwanatitan and Aeolosaurus.[2] Its braincase closely resembles that of the aeolosaurin Muyelensaurus as well as the titanosaurs incertae sedis Vahiny and Jainosaurus.[3][4] It cannot be compared to the more closely related Aeolosaurus and Gondwanatitan in this regard, as neither genus is known from cranial material.

References

  1. Filippi, L.S.; Garrido, A.C. (2008). "Pitekunsaurus macayai gen. et sp. nov., new titanosaur (Saurischia, Sauropoda) from Upper Cretaceous Neuquén Basin, Argentina". Ameghiniana 45 (3): 575–590.
  2. Coria, R. A.; Filippi, L. S.; Chiappe, L. M.; García, R.; Arcucci, A. B. (2013). "Overosaurus paradasorum gen. et sp. nov., a new sauropod dinosaur (Titanosauria: Lithostrotia) from the Late Cretaceous of Neuquén, Patagonia, Argentina". Zootaxa 3683 (4): 357–376. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3683.4.2.
  3. Wilson, J. A.; D'Emic, M. D.; Curry Rogers, K. A.; Mohabey, D. M.; Sen, S. (2009). "Reassessment of the sauropod dinosaur Jainosaurus (="Antarctosaurus") septentrionalis from the Upper Cretaceous of India". Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan 32 (2): 17–40.
  4. Curry Rogers, K.; Wilson, J. A. (2014). "Vahiny depreti, gen. et sp. nov., a new titanosaur (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous Maevarano Formation, Madagascar". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 34 (3): 606–617.


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