A new Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystem from Gondwana with the description of a new sauropod dinosaur.
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.
Calvo
Jorge O
JO
Proyecto Dino, Centro Paleontológico Lago Barreales, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Neuquén, Argentina. jorgecalvo@digimedia.com.ar
Porfiri
Juan D
JD
González-Riga
Bernardo J
BJ
Kellner
Alexander W A
AW
D000818:Animals; D001118:Argentina; D025061:Dinosaurs / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification; D017753:Ecosystem; D005580:Fossils; D019015:Geologic Sediments