Argentinosaurus, a titanosaur sauropod dinosaur from the Cretaceous period in Argentina. The species lived 100 million to 95 million years ago. [48] Lithostrotia adopted the distinguishing feature of strongly procoelous caudals, previously used for Titanosauria. Significantly contrasting the earlier results, internal relationships of Titanosauria were rearranged. (eds. [8] However, Paul found Patagotitan to be smaller than Argentinosaurus in 2019, due to the latter's dorsal column being considerably longer. Though fragmentary cranial remains are known for several titanosaur genera, nearly complete skulls have been described for only four: Nemegtosaurus, Rapetosaurus, Sarmientosaurus, and Tapuiasaurus. Titanosauroidea was tentatively retained as the opposite clade of titanosaurs, which included all other traditional titanosaurs, although it was noted because of the invalidity of Titanosaurus, Titanosauroidea should be considered an invalid name as well. Rinconsauria included taxa typically found within Aeolosaurini as well, so Aeolosaurini was redefined as Aeolosaurus rionegrinus plus Gondwanatitan to preserve the original restricted content, otherwise the entire rinconsaur-lognkosaur branch would be classified within Aeolosaurini. However, the blue whale . [45] It has been phylogenetically defined as the clade composed of the most recent common ancestor of Saltasaurus and Andesaurus and all of its descendants. [67] Further updates and modifications were then made by Palbo Gallina & Apestegua in 2011, with the additions of Ligabuesaurus, Antarctosaurus, Nemegtosaurus and Bonitasaura and character updates to match, bringing the total to 77 characters and 22 taxa. [2] Bonaparte and Coria described the limb bone discovered in 1987 as an eroded tibia (shin bone), although the Uruguayan palaeontologist Gerardo Mazzetta and colleagues reidentified this bone as a left fibula in 2004. Spinosaurus was a fish eater. [70], Also following the 2002 analysis of Wilson, Jos Carballido and colleagues published a redescription of Chubutisaurus in 2011, and utilized an updated Wilson matrix, expanded to 289 characters across 41 taxa, including 15 titanosaurs. However, they may have played an important role in nutrient storage for titanosaurs living in highly seasonal climates and for female titanosaurs laying eggs. Argentinosaurus is a genus of giant sauropod dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period in what is now Argentina. [29][34][35]:55 Sebastin Apestegua, in 2005, argued the structures seen in Argentinosaurus, which he termed hyposphenal bars, are indeed thickened laminae that could have been derived from the original hyposphene and had the same function. published another paper, describing the basal titanosaur Futalognkosaurus. [72][73][74][75][76] The definition of Titanosauria was preserved following Salgado et al. For instance, Argentinosaurus is one of the biggest sauropods, and it is often referred to as a Titanosaur there is a real titanosaurus species yes, and to be frank if they made it a different larger titanosaur species in the dossier it'd make alot more sense #10 Scanova the Carnotaurus Jun 12, 2016 @ 11:07am Originally posted by Red River: In 1953 a partial vertebral column and a rib were excavated from the Presidente Prudente Formation in suburban Sao Paulo. This unit is located in the Neuqun Basin in Patagonia. [2][6]:205 The pleurocoels (excavations on the sides of the centra) were proportionally small and positioned in the front half of the centrum. One of the most characteristic features shared by most titanosaurs were their procoelous caudal vertebrae, with ball-and-socket articulations between the vertebral centra. Titanosaurs were widespread. Titanosauridae was less strongly defined because of the polytomy between Malawisaurus and Epachthosaurus, so some diagnostic features couldn't be resolved. [65], The second edition of The Dinosauria, published in 2004, included newly described titanosaurs and other taxa reidentified as titanosaurs. They provided a definition for the clade of "including the most recent common ancestor of Andesaurus delgadoi and Titanosauridae and all of its descendants". It is the largest land . This result places Titanosauroidea in a group with Camarasaurus and Brachiosaurus, although Nemegtosauridae (Nemegtosaurus and Quaesitosaurus) was still classified as the basalmost family of diplodocoids. Another taxon of tiny titanosaurs, Ibirania, lived a non-insular context in Upper Creaceous Brazil, and is an example of nanism resultant from other ecological pressures.[26]. [57] This was followed up by Upchurch's 1998 study on sauropod phylogenetics, which additionally recovered Phuwiangosaurus and Andesaurus within Titanosauroidea and resolved Opisthocoelicaudia as the sister of Saltasaurus instead of the most basal titanosauroid. (2011) with the description of Tapuiasaurus, which nested closer to Rapetosaurus than Nemegtosaurus, with all three forming a clade of derived lithostrotians. This highly diverse group forms the dominant clade of Cretaceous sauropods. Titanosaurinae included Titanosaurus and the new genus Aeolosaurus, united by multiple features of the caudal vertebrae; the new clade Saltasaurinae was created to include Saltasaurus and the new genus Neuquensaurus, united by very distinct dorsals, caudals, and ilia; the new clade Antarctosaurinae was created to include Antarctosaurus, distinguished by large size, a different form of braincase, more elongate girdle bones, and more robust limb bones; and Argyrosaurinae was created for Argyrosaurus, bearing a more robust forelimb and hand and more primitive dorsals. [57], Fossilised pollen indicates a wide variety of plants were present in the Huincul Formation. [11] In 2006, Kenneth Carpenter reconstructed Argentinosaurus using the more complete Saltasaurus as a guide and estimated a length of 30 metres (98ft). [43] Titanosaurs are now known to be most closely related to euhelopodids and brachiosaurids; together they form a clade named Titanosauriformes. The Barremian (middle Early Cretaceous) species Titanosaurus valdensis, named decades previous by Huene, was kept as the oldest of the titanosaurid and given the new genus name Iuticosaurus. [2] In 2019, Paul estimated the total length of the dorsal vertebral column at 447 centimetres (176in) and the width of the pelvis at 0.6 times the combined length of the dorsal and sacral vertebral column. [37][38] Osteoderms were present on both large and small species, so they were not solely used by smaller species as protection against predators. It is widely regarded by many paleontologists as the biggest dinosaur ever, and perhaps lengthwise the longest animal ever, though both claims have no concrete evidence yet. [29] In 1993, Bonaparte and Coria said the hyposphene-hypantrum articulations were enlarged, as in the related Epachthosaurus, and had additional articular surfaces that extended downwards. It was a member of Titanosauria, the dominant group of sauropods during the Cretaceous. [51]:206207, In 2013, Sellers and colleagues used a computer model of the skeleton and muscles of Argentinosaurus to study its speed and gait. Using the family Titanosauridae to include them all, he grouped the genera into Titanosaurinae, Saltasaurinae, Antarctosaurinae, Argyrosaurinae and Titanosauridae indet. Sadly, these lumbering leviathans died out at the end of the Cretaceous. [39] In 2002, Davide Pisani and colleagues recovered Argentinosaurus as a member of Titanosauria, and again found it to be in a clade with Opisthocoelicaudia and an unnamed taxon, in addition to Lirainosaurus. Although it did coexist with Alamosaurus . The specimen hails from the late cretaceous So Jos do Rio Preto Formation, Bauru Basin, and was described in the journal Cretaceous Research by Aureliano et al. A fourth specimen, of an unidentified titanosaur from Brazil, preserves a nearly complete neck, with only the atlas, the tiny vertebra forming the joint between the skull and neck, missing. The dorsal vertebrae of titanosaurs show multiple derived features among sauropods. Paralititan stromeri was first described in 2001 after earlier excavations at a site roughly 300 km (about 186 miles) southwest of Cairo, Egypt, had revealed a massive 1.69-meter- (5.5-foot-) long femur (thighbone) and a collection of fragmented shoulder blades, front leg bones, teeth, and vertebrae. Together with the brachiosaurids and relatives, titanosaurs make up the larger sauropod clade Titanosauriformes. Argentinosaurus was of a similar mass, maybe even greater, than Dreadnoughtus, but we only have a few of its bones: . [55] Saltasaurus included the species previously known as Titanosaurus australis and T. robustus, which were named Neuquensaurus by Powell in 1986. [41], In 2004, Upchurch and colleagues introduced a new group called Lithostrotia that included the more derived (evolved) members of Titanosauria. However, titanosaurs evolved the manus even further, completely losing the phalanges and heavily modifying the metacarpals. In order to create additional stability, Saldago also defined Andesauroidea for only Andesaurus, as every titanosaur closer to that genus than Saltasaurus, and also it's opposite Titanosauroidea as every titanosaur closer to Saltasaurus than Andesaurus. [5][8] While the holotype specimen does not preserve a femur, it preserves a slender fibula (originally interpreted as a tibia) that is 1.55 metres (5.1ft) in length. In height, the Titanosaurs were about 30 ft (9.1 m) taller than the blue whale. The second sacral rib was larger than the other preserved sacral ribs, though the size of the first is unknown due to its incompleteness. [36] Several other arrangements have been proposed, such as a single row along the midline, and it is possible that different species had different arrangements. [15] No complete titanosaur skeletons are known, and many species are only known from a few bones. [20] These fossil embryos are among the few titanosaur specimens to preserve complete skulls. This, coupled with the preservation of a single phalanx on digit IV of Epachthosaurus and potentially Opisthocoelicaudia (further study is necessary), show that preservation biases may be responsible for the lack of hand phalanges in these taxa. Within the recommended results, she only named Titanosauria, Lithostrotia, Saltasauridae, Saltasaurinae and Opisthocoelicaudiinae, because of the weakness of support (below and left). Before computer simulations, the only way of estimating speeds of dinosaurs was through studying anatomy and trackways. One vertebra was interpreted by these studies as the first, fifth or third; and another vertebra as the second, tenth or eleventh, or ninth, respectively. [14] In 2014 and 2018, Roger Benson and colleagues estimated the mass of Argentinosaurus at 90 and 95 tonnes (99 and 105 short tons),[17][18] but these estimates were questioned due to a very large error range and lack of precision. Written by Upchurch, Paul Barrett and Peter Dodson, a review of Sauropoda included a more expansive Titanosauria for sauropods more derived than brachiosaurids. It is one of the largest terrestrial vertebrates known, with the immature type specimen measuring 26 metres (85 ft) in total body length and weighing 48-49 metric tons (53-54 short tons) (the greatest mass of any land animal that can be calculated with reasonable certainty). The new clade (defined as Rinconsaurus and Muyelensaurus) was placed as the sister taxon of Aeolosaurini, which together grouped with Rapetosaurus as sister to Saltasauridae. Other taxa like Epachthosaurus show a reduction of phalanges to one or two bones. [2][5], Relationships within Titanosauria are amongst the least understood of all groups of dinosaurs. The primary focus of the analysis was on the basal titanosauriform taxa, but Titanosauria was defined, as the most recent common ancestor of Andesaurus delgadoi and Saltasaurus loricatus, and all its descendants, although the only autapomorphy of the group recovered was the absence of a prominent ventral process on the scapula. Argentinosaurus was named by Bonaparte and the Argentine palaeontologist Rodolfo Coria in 1993; the genus contains a single species, A. huinculensis. The osteoderms were certainly far more sparse than those of ankylosaurs, and did not completely cover the back in scutes. Dreadnoughtus is known from rock deposits of southern Patagonia, Argentina, that date to about 77 million years ago. [71] This same matrix and basis of characters was further utilized and expanded for analyses on Tehuelchesaurus, Comahuesaurus and related rebbachisaurs, Europasaurus, and Padillasaurus, before being expanded upon once again in 2017 by Carballido et al. By the beginning of the Cretaceous period, about 145 million years ago, gigantic, plant-eating dinosaurs like Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus were on the evolutionary decline. [32] However, Diamantinasaurus, while lacking carpals, preserves a manual formula of 21111, including a thumb claw and phalanges on all other digits. And Amphicoelias is. In early 1989, the Argentine palaeontologist Jos F. Bonaparte initiated a larger excavation of the site involving palaeontologists of the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, yielding a number of additional elements from the same individual.
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