Futalognkosaurus

Taxobox|
name = "Futalognkosaurus"
fossil_range = Late Cretaceous

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image_width = 260px
image_caption = Artist's restoration of "Futalognkosaurus"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
superordo = Dinosauria
ordo = Saurischia
subordo = Sauropodomorpha
unranked_familia = Titanosauria
genus = "Futalognkosaurus"
genus_authority = Calvo, Porfiri, González-Riga, & Kellner, 2007
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision ="F. dukei" Calvo "et al.", 2007 (type)

"Futalognkosaurus" (meaning "giant chief lizard") is a genus of titanosaurian dinosaur. Its fossils were found in the Neuquén province of Argentina in 2000, and were scientifically described in 2007. The genus name is derived from the local indigenous language Mapudungun and is pronounced foo-ta-long-koh-sohr-us: "futa" means "giant" and "lognko" means "chief".Calvo, J.O., Porfiri, J.D., González-Riga, B.J., and Kellner, A.W. (2007) "A new Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystem from Gondwana with the description of a new sauropod dinosaur". "Anais Academia Brasileira Ciencia", 79(3): 529-41. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17768539] ] The type species, "Futalognkosaurus dukei", is estimated to be between 32 and 34 meters (105-111 ft) in length. It is based on three fossil specimens, yielding an estimated 70% of the skeleton in total. The fossil team described the find as "the most complete giant dinosaur known so far". The herbivorouscite news | last = Pellim | first = Roberto | title = Nieuwe dinosoort | work = Metro | pages = 7 | language = Dutch | date = 2007-10-19 | accessdate = 2007-10-19] "Futalognkosaurus" lived approximately 87 million years ago in the Coniacian stage of the late Cretaceous Period. The fish and leaf fossilised debris on the site, together with other dinosaur remains, suggest a tropical climate in Patagonia during this period.

In their phylogenetic analysis, Calvo and colleagues found "Futalognkosaurus" to be a member of the Titanosauridae (or Lithostrotia, depending on the definitions being used), and most closely related to "Mendozasaurus". They defined a new clade for the group containing both "Futalognkosaurus" and "Mendozasaurus", their common ancestor, and all descendants, which they named the Lognkosauria. The authors found "Malawisaurus" to be the sister group of this new clade. Besides "Futalognkosaurus" other fauna was discovered in the Futalognko site, including two further undescribed sauropod taxa, specimens of "Megaraptor", "Unenlagia" and some pleurodiran turtles.

The alternate early spelling "Futalongkosaurus" may be found in some press reports and on websites.

References

External links

* [http://dml.cmnh.org/2004Aug/msg00291.html Dinosaur Mailing List entry which discusses the genus]
* [http://www.proyectodino.com.ar Fósiles hallados en el Centro Paleontológico Lago Barreales] - contains images of "Futalognkosaurus" languageicon|Spanish
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7046223.stm BBC Report] of Monday, 15 October 2007 - includes a photo of some of the dinosaur's bones, attributed to National Museum of Brazil.
* [http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iGJds4L0q44m7IWynfx7Mgr0NXeAD8S9TC9G0 Computer generated image] - Associated Press article, 15 October 2007