title: A gigantic, exceptionally complete titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from southern Patagonia, Argentina.
abstract: Titanosaurian sauropod dinosaurs were the most diverse and abundant large-bodied herbivores in the southern continents during the final 30 million years of the Mesozoic Era. Several titanosaur species are regarded as the most massive land-living animals yet discovered; nevertheless, nearly all of these giant titanosaurs are known only from very incomplete fossils, hindering a detailed understanding of their anatomy. Here we describe a new and gigantic titanosaur, Dreadnoughtus schrani, from Upper Cretaceous sediments in southern Patagonia, Argentina. Represented by approximately 70% of the postcranial skeleton, plus craniodental remains, Dreadnoughtus is the most complete giant titanosaur yet discovered, and provides new insight into the morphology and evolutionary history of these colossal animals. Furthermore, despite its estimated mass of about 59.3 metric tons, the bone histology of the Dreadnoughtus type specimen reveals that this individual was still growing at the time of death.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Kenneth J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Lacovara
authors.affiliation: Section of Vertebrate Paleontology, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Lamanna
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Paleontología, Centro Nacional Patagónico (CENPAT-CONICET), Boulevard Almirante Brown 2915, (9120) Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina.
authors.forename: Lucio M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Ibiricu
authors.affiliation: Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA.
authors.forename: Jason C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Poole
authors.affiliation: Department of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Elena R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Schroeter
authors.affiliation: Department of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Paul V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Ullmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Kristyn K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Voegele
authors.affiliation: Department of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Zachary M
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Boles
authors.affiliation: Department of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Aja M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.affiliation: Department of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Emma K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Fowler
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Life Sciences, The University of Manchester, Dover Street, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
authors.forename: Victoria M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Egerton
authors.affiliation: Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, 2800 Faucette Drive, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
authors.forename: Alison E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Moyer
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, 450 Schoolhouse Road, Johnstown, PA 15904, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Coughenour
authors.affiliation: New Jersey State Museum, 205 West State Street, Trenton, NJ 08608, USA.
authors.forename: Jason P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Schein
authors.affiliation: Dixie State College, 225 South 700 East, St. George, UT 84770, USA.
authors.forename: Jerald D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Paleovertebrados, Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco, (9000) Comodoro Rivadavia, Chubut, Argentina.
authors.forename: Rubén D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.affiliation: Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, Avenida Angel Gallardo 470, (1405) Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Fernando E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Novas
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001118:Argentina; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D025061:Dinosaurs / Q000145:classification; D005580:Fossils; D010802:Phylogeny