- Puertasaurus
Taxobox
name = "Puertasaurus"
fossil_range =Late Cretaceous
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
superordo =Dinosaur ia
ordo =Saurischia
subordo =Sauropodomorpha
infraordo =Sauropoda
familia =Titanosauridae
genus = "Puertasaurus"
genus_authority= Novas "et al.", 2005
subdivision_ranks=Species
subdivision=
*"P. reuili" Novas "et al.", 2005 (type)"Puertasaurus" is a
genus oftitanosaur idsauropod that appeared during the LateCretaceous . It lived in what is nowPatagonia . The type species, "Puertasaurus reuili", is named in honor ofPablo Puerta andSantiago Reuil , the co-discoverers in January 2001 of the specimen. "Puertasaurus" is based on a partial spine.cite journal |last=Novas |first=Fernando E. |authorlink=Fernando Novas |coauthors=Salgado, Leonardo; Calvo, Jorge; and Agnolin, Federico |year=2005 |title=Giant titanosaur (Dinosauria, Sauropoda)from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia |journal=Revisto del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, n.s. |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=37–41 |url=http://www.macn.secyt.gov.ar/cont_Publicaciones/Rns-Vol07-1_37-41.pdf |accessdate=2007-03-04 ]Of the four neck, back and tail
vertebra e discovered, together forming theholotype MPM 10002, the most impressive is the back vertebra measuring 1.06 meters (3.48 ft) tall and 1.68 meters (5.51 ft) wide. This is the broadest sauropod vertebra known.Fernando Novas , one of the paleontologists who described "Puertasaurus reuili", estimated that the new species was approximately 35 to 40 meters (115 to 131 ft) long and weighed between 80 and 100metric ton s (88 to 110short ton s).Roach, J. (2006), [http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/07/060728-giant-dinosaur.html "Giant Dinosaur Discovered in Argentina"] , National Geographic News, 28 July 2006. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/07/060728-giant-dinosaur.html, accessed 23 May 2008.] If correct, this would place it as one of the biggest dinosaurs ever to walk the earth, though rivaled in size by the similar "Argentinosaurus ". It would also extend the period of time in which such very large sauropods lived; this species roamed what is now Patagonia towards the end of the Cretaceous period, some 70 million years ago, in the earlyMaastrichtian ."Puertasaurus" belonged to the
clade Titanosauria .References
External links
* [http://dml.cmnh.org/2006Jan/msg00342.html Announcement on the Dinosaur Mailing List]
* [http://www.hmnh.org/archives/2006/08/05/sizing-up-the-super-sauropods Sizing up the Super-Sauropods (revised)]
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