Paleontologists have announced the discovery of a new genus and species of saltasauroid titanosaurian dinosaur, based on the fossilized remains found in the Paysandú Department of Uruguay.
Udelartitan celeste. Image credit: Soto et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2024.105894.
The newly-described dinosaur species roamed our planet during the Late Cretaceous epoch, over 85 million years ago.
Named Udelartitan celeste, the ancient giant was between 15 and 16 m (49-52 feet) in body length.
The species belongs to a superfamily of titanosaurian dinosaurs called Saltasauroidea.
“With over 80 species, mainly described in this century, titanosaurs represent the most successful and diverse sauropodomorph group,” said Dr. Matías Soto from the Instituto de Ciencias Geológicas in Uruguay and his colleagues.
“They were the most abundant large-bodied herbivorous in the Late Cretaceous of the supercontinent Gondwana, in strong contrast with the ornithischian-dominated coeval faunas of Laurasia.”
“The clade apparently arose in South America, where it shows its greatest diversity, with records ranging from the Berriasian-Valanginian to the Maastrichtian (from 145 to 72 million years ago).”
The fossilized material of Udelartitan celeste (sixty vertebrae, bone fragments and associated eggshells) was discovered in 2006 within sediments of the Guichón Formation, near Quebracho in Paysandú Department, Uruguay.
“In Uruguay, titanosaur remains are known since the beginning of the 20th century, when four species were recognized based on fragmentary remains,” the paleontologists said.
“Although such referrals have been questioned, their titanosaur identity is out of doubt given the strong procoely of the caudal centra.”
“These findings were relevant because they allowed to confirm the presence of Upper Cretaceous rocks in Uruguay, although in light of recent South American findings, e.g., Ninjatitan zapatai, Tapuiasaurus macedoi, an older age within the Cretaceous cannot be ruled-out in absence of additional data.”
According to the team, Udelartitan celeste shows a unique combination of characters as well as a potential autapomorphy.
Its discovery demonstrates that at least two titanosaur lineages were present in the Late Cretaceous of Uruguay: Saltasauroidea and Aeolosaurini.
“Udelartitan celeste represents a second sauropod taxon recognized in Uruguay, after the recently reported Aeolosaurus vertebra from the Asencio Formation,” the researchers said.
“Its phylogenetic relations as either a saltasaurine saltasaurid or a non-saltasaurid saltasauroid document the presence of saltasauroids in the Guichón Formation.”
The discovery is reported in a paper in the journal Cretaceous Research.
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Matías Soto et al. Phylogenetic relationships of a new titanosaur (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Uruguay. Cretaceous Research, published online March 26, 2024; doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2024.105894
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