Post by spinosaurus1 on Aug 2, 2014 12:33:40 GMT 5
an abstract from the XXVIII Jornadas Argentinas de Paleontología de Vertebrados (28th Argentine Congress of Vertebrate Paleontology) from May of this year, you can find the entire volume here:www.28japv.com.ar/resumenes_28japv.pdf
A NEW SAUROPOD DINOSAUR FROM THE EARLY CRETACEOUS OF COLOMBIA AND THE YOUNGEST BRACHIOSAURID RECORD FOR GONDWANA
J.L. CARBALLIDO1, D. POL1, M.E. PÁRAMO-FONSECA2, F. ETAYO-SERNA3, M.L. PARRA RUGE4, and S. PADILLA BERNAL4
Brachiosaurid sauropods first appeared during the Late Jurassic and achieved a broad distribution during that time. Nevertheless, their Cretaceous record was restricted to the Aptian-Albian of North America, possibly reflecting differential extinction. Here we present a new titanosauriform dinosaur from Colombia, including caudal vertebrae that indicate brachiosaurid affinities. The specimen was recovered from the middle member of the marine Paja Formation (Barremian), close to locality of Villa de Leiva, Colombia and is currently housed in the Junta de Acción Comunal Vereda Monquira Museum (JACVM 0001). The new sauropod is represented by an isolated posterior dorsal centrum, partially preserved sacrum, and the first eight caudal vertebrae preserved in articulation. The combination of several characters indicate the basal titanosauriform affinities of the specimen, which include: opisthocoelous dorsal centrum with large pleurocoels that opens into a polycamerate system and presence of accessory posterior centrodiapophyseal lamina; platycoelous/distoplatyan anterior caudal vertebrae with anteriorly placed neural arches, long centroprezygapophyseal laminae, and posteriorly directed transverse processes with a ventral bulge on them. Among titanosauriforms, the presence of ablind fossa in anterior caudal vertebrae is a character solely present in Giraffatitan, Venenosaurus, Cedarosaurus and Abydosaurus, indicating the brachiosaurid affinities of this sauropod. The weakly laterally expanded and divided transverse processes of the anteriormost caudal vertebrae allow the recognition of a new sauropod species. Although more evidence is needed to test more thoroughly the brachiosaurid affinities of this new taxon, available evidence indicates this clade could have survived at lower latitudes of Gondwana into the Early Cretaceous.
