Rinconsaurus
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Rinconsaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Neosauropoda |
| Clade: | †Macronaria |
| Clade: | †Titanosauria |
| Tribe: | †Aeolosaurini |
| Genus: |
†Rinconsaurus Calvo & Riga, 2003 |
| Species | |
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Rinconsaurus is a genus of dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous. It was a titanosaurid sauropod which lived in what is now Argentina. The type species, Rinconsaurus caudamirus, was described by Calvo and Riga in 2003, and is based on three partial skeletons.
Like all sauropods, Rinconsaurus was a large long-necked quadrupedal animal, with a long, whip-like tail and four pillar-like legs. Rinconsaurus was an unusually slender sauropod. Although fossil discoveries are incomplete, and no complete necks or heads have been found, fully grown Rinconsaurus are estimated to have been 11 meters (36 ft) long and approximately 2.5 meters (8 ft) high at the shoulder. Though only a portion of one skull has been recovered, Rinconsaurus may have had a long, narrow skull, based on fossil evidence of the skulls of related titanosaurs.
Fossils of Rinconsaurus were discovered in 1997 by Gabriel Benítez near Rincón de los Sauces, in the Neuquen province of Argentina. The fossils, which consisted of three individuals (two adults and one juvenile), were excavated by Jorge Calvo of the Paleontology Museum of the National University of Comahue.
The type, and only known species, Rinconsaurus caudamirus, was described by Calvo and Bernardo J. González Riga of the Paleovertebrate Laboratory in Mendoza, Argentina, in 2003. The authors noted derived traits unique to the genus, including distinctive tail vertebrae with bony processes. The fossil remains included vertebrae, limb bones, scapula, hip bones (pubis, ilium, and ischium) and several ribs. Cranial fragments, a mandible, and two teeth have also been discovered. These teeth resemble those of another titanosaurid, Malawisaurus dixeyi.
The generic name refers to Rincón de los Sauces, where the fossils were discovered, while the specific name, caudamirus, means "amazing in the tail" in Latin, in reference to the unusual shape of the tail vertebrae, especially a strange sequence of procoelous, amphicoelous, opisthocoelous, biconvex and ultimately again procoelous vertebrae shown by one individual.
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Wikipedia