A new Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystem from Gondwana with the description of a new sauropod dinosaur

An Acad Bras Cienc. 2007 Sep;79(3):529-41. doi: 10.1590/s0001-37652007000300013.

Abstract

A unique site at the northern area of Patagonia (Neuquén, Argentina) reveals a terrestrial ecosystem preserved in a detail never reported before in a Late Cretaceous deposit. An extraordinary diversity and abundance of fossils was found concentrated in a 0.5 m horizon in the same quarry, including a new titanosaur sauropod, Futalognkosaurus dukei n.gen., n.sp, which is the most complete giant dinosaur known so far. Several plant leaves, showing a predominance of angiosperms over gymnosperms that likely constituted the diet of F. dukei were found too. Other dinosaurs (sauropods, theropods, ornithopods), crocodylomorphs, pterosaurs, and fishes were also discovered, allowing a partial reconstruction of this Gondwanan continental ecosystem.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Argentina
  • Dinosaurs / anatomy & histology*
  • Dinosaurs / classification
  • Ecosystem
  • Fossils*
  • Geologic Sediments*