A gigantic, exceptionally complete titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from southern Patagonia, Argentina.

ABSTRACT: Titanosaurian sauropod dinosaurs were the most diverse and abundant large-bodied herbivores in the southern continents during the final 30 million years of the Mesozoic Era. Several titanosaur species are regarded as the most massive land-living animals yet discovered; nevertheless, nearly all of these giant titanosaurs are known only from very incomplete fossils, hindering a detailed understanding of their anatomy. Here we describe a new and gigantic titanosaur, Dreadnoughtus schrani, from Upper Cretaceous sediments in southern Patagonia, Argentina. Represented by approximately 70% of the postcranial skeleton, plus craniodental remains, Dreadnoughtus is the most complete giant titanosaur yet discovered, and provides new insight into the morphology and evolutionary history of these colossa

SUBMITTER: Lacovara KJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5385829 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature