Unraveling sauropod diversity in the Portezuelo Formation of Patagonia through a comprehensive analysis of new and existing material.

ABSTRACT: The Portezuelo Formation preserves an outstanding record of the upper Turonian - lower Coniacian. Despite the discovery of a significant quantity of sauropod fossil material from the formation, only two species have been formally described to date: Malarguesaurus florenciae and Futalognkosaurus dukei. Here we present new sauropod material mostly composed of non-articulated caudal vertebrae (MCF-PVPH 916 and 917) that belong to two titanosauriforms on the basis of the following features: anterior caudal vertebrae with procoelous-opisthoplatyan articulations, transverse processes that reach the posterior articular face of the centrum and neural spines with a transverse width of around 50% of their anteroposterior length; anterior and middle caudal vertebrae with the neural arch restricted to

SUBMITTER: Gomez KL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11234639 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature