Remembrance of the New Papers

[Tim Williams <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

Ameghiniana got a mention on this list.  These are from the March edition, 
but I don't think they've been mentioned here yet...

Paulina-Carabajal, A. and Salgado, L. (2007).  A titanosaur (Dinosauria, 
Sauropoda) braincase from the Upper Cretaceous of north Patagonia: 
description and contribution to the knowledge of the dinosaur inner ear.  
[Un basicraneo de titanosaurio (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) del Cretacico 
Superior del norte de Patagonia: descripcion y aportes al conocimiento del 
oido interno de los dinosaurios.]  Ameghiniana 44: 109-120.

Abstract: "The braincase of a sauropod dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of 
Rio Negro, Argentina, is described.  The material is assigned to the clade 
Titanosauria and some characters that resemble the condition present in the 
genus _Antarctosaurus_ such as the presence of short and wide frontals and 
parietals, supraoccipital knob lacking a medial groove, reduced and dorsally 
exposed supratemporal fenestrae, frontals fused on the midline, and a single 
interfrontal medial knob are discussed.  These characters are not diagnostic 
and they can be found in other titanosaurs such as _Rapetosaurus_, 
_Nemegtosaurus_, _Saltasaurus_ and _Bonatitan_.  The braincase, although 
incomplete, is well preserved, allowing the examination of certain delicate 
internal structures like the inner ear, which has been exposed through bone 
fractures.  The titanosaurian inner ear is described here for the first 
time: it is morphologically similar to that of other sauropods such as 
_Diplodocus_ and _Brachiosaurus_, mainly in the spatial disposition of the 
semicircular canals, although showing a proportionally more robust lagena.  
The angle between the planes on which the anterior and posterior 
semicircular canals lie is greater than 909 degrees as in other herbivorous 
dinosaurs, and different from the theropod _Allosaurus_, where that angle is 
smaller."


Tauber, A.A. (2007).  First finding of dinosaur eggs (Upper Cretaceous) in 
the La Rioja province, Argentina.  [Primer yacimiento de huevos de 
dinosaurios (Cretacico Superior) de la provincia de La Rioja, Argentina.]  
Ameghiniana 44: 11-28.

Abstract: "Numerous sites containing dinosaur eggshells have been found in 
the Los Llanos Formation in the Sanagasta Valle, La Rioja Province, 
Argentina.  The eggs were classified as _Sphaerovum erbeni_ Mones, 
corresponding to dinosaurs with a basic type of Dinosauroid-spherulite 
organization and a filisferulitic morphotype, belonging to the 
Faveoloolithidae Oofamily, similar to others reported previously in Uruguay 
and in the Rio Negro and La Pampa provinces, Argentina.  The fossils were 
found in situ, although fragmented mainly due to the process of 
paedogenesis.  The studied eggshells indicate a Campanian-Maastrichtian age, 
being the first fossils of the age in the Sierra de Velasco region."

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