Baurutitan & Trigonosaurus

[Matias Soto <soto@adinet.com.uy>]

The following is courtesy of Hebert Bruno Campos.


_Baurutitan britoi_

Kellner, A. W. A., Campos, D. A. & Trotta, M. N. F. 2005. Description of a
titanosaurid caudal series from the Bauru Group, Late Cretaceous of Brazil.
Arquivos do Museu Nacional 63 (3): 529-564.

A new titanosaurid, _Baurutitan britoi_ n. gen., n. sp., is described and 
compared
with other taxa of that sauropod clade. The specimen (MCT 1490-R) consists 
of the
last sacral followed by a sequence of 18 caudal vertebrae that were found in 
the
continental deposits of the Late Cretaceous Bauru Group that outcrop at the
Peirópolis region, near the town of Uberaba, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. 
This
new taxon is distinguished from other titanosaurians by several features,
including subrectangular to square outline of the anterior articulation 
surface of
the anterior and middle caudals, strongly pointed laterally directed process
intercepting the spinoprezygapophyseal lamina in caudal 1; dorsal 
prezygapophyseal
tuberosity on the lateral margin of the prezygapophyses of caudals 2-4, that
smoothens out in midcaudals. This material demonstrates that the horizontal 
ridge
present in middle and posterior caudals of some titanosaurs, in _Baurutitan
britoi_ is homologous with a dorsal tuberosity and not with the transverse 
process.


_Trigonosaurus pricei_

Campos, D. A., Kellner, A. W. A., Bertini, R. J. & Santucci, R. M. 2005. On 
a
titanosaurid (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) vertebral column from the Bauru Group, 
Late
Cretaceous of Brazil. Arquivos do Museu Nacional 63 (3): 565-593.

A new titanosaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous continental deposits of 
the
Bauru Group is described. _Trigonosaurus pricei_ n. gen., n. sp., is based 
on two
specimens, both collected at the Caieira Quarry near Peirópolis, Minas 
Gerais. The
holotype consists of the five most posterior cervical vertebrae, 10 dorsals, 
six
sacrals and the left ilium (MCT 1488-R). The second specimen (paratype) 
consists of
10 caudal vertebrae that according to a quarry map, were found isolated but 
show a
similar morphology and compatible size suggesting that they belonged to one
individual (MCT 1719-R). _Trigonosaurus pricei_ is diagnosed by a 
combination of
characters such as elongated cervicals and middorsals, dorsal vertebrae 9 
and 10
with incipient postzygodiapophyseal lamina and transverse processes well 
developed
throughout the sequence formed by anterior and medial caudals. The 
occurrence of
this new taxon indicates a higher diversity of titanosaurids in the Brazil 
during
the  Cretaceous period.

Hope this helps,
Matías Soto