Open Paleo

Brasilotitan

Machado et al., 2013 bruh-ZIL-o-TIE-tuhn

From Brasil (Brazil, the country where fossils were found) + Greek Titan (Τιτάν) meaning 'giant'; overall meaning 'Brazil giant'.

83.6–66.0 million years ago Campanian–Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Brasilotitan is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (early Maastrichtian) Adamantina Formation of Brazil. The type species is Brasilotitan nemophagus. Brasilotitan was a small titanosaur with a squared-off snout, and may be closely related to another Brazilian titanosaur, Uberabatitan.

Diagnosis

  1. Dorsal symphyseal region of the dentary twisted medially, a feature not previously recorded in any titanosaur
  2. Dorsal portion of the dentary symphyseal contact broader anteroposteriorly than the ventral part
  3. Presence of anteriorly directed accessory prezygapophyseal articulation surface on cervical vertebrae
  4. Intraprezygapophyseal laminae of cervical vertebrae V-shaped in dorsal view

Species

Brasilotitan nemophagus Machado et al., 2013

Type species

From Greek, combining words 'nemos' meaning 'pasture' or 'wood' and 'phagos' meaning 'to eat', in reference to the herbivorous diet of this dinosaur.

Holotype
MPM 125R , Museo Padre Molina, Rio Gallegos
Material
Right dentary, two cervical vertebrae, three incomplete sacral vertebrae, fragment of an ilium, fragments of an ischium, one ungual, and fragmentary elements
Horizon
Adamantina Formation, Campanian–Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–66.0 million years ago
Locality
Raposo Tavares state road, km 571, São Paulo, Brazil Machado and colleagues (2013) give the Adamantina Formation, the unit Fernandes and Coimbra (2000) later divided. Bandeira and colleagues (2016) list the taxon from the Presidente Prudente Formation without tying the site to it.

References

  1. Fernandes, L. A.; Coimbra, A. M. (2000). Revisão estratigráfica da parte oriental da Bacia Bauru (Neocretáceo) [Stratigraphic review of the eastern portion of the Bauru Basin (Neocretaceous)]. Revista Brasileira de Geociências 30(4): 717-728. doi:10.25249/0375-7536.2000304717728

    Divides the former Adamantina Formation, among its new units the Presidente Prudente and the Vale do Rio do Peixe.

    fernandes2000a
  2. Bandeira, K. L. N.; Medeiros Simbras, F.; Batista Machado, E.; de Almeida Campos, D.; Oliveira, G. R.; Kellner, A. W. A. (2016). A New Giant Titanosauria (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the Late Cretaceous Bauru Group, Brazil. PLOS ONE 11(10): e0163373. Public Library of Science (PLoS). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0163373

    Lists Brasilotitan among the titanosaurs from the Presidente Prudente Formation, naming no locality or section.

    bandeira2016a
  3. Machado, E. B.; Avilla, L. dos S.; Nava, W. R.; Campos, D. de A.; Kellner, A. W. A. (2013). A new titanosaur sauropod from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil. Zootaxa 3701(3): 301. Magnolia Press. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3701.3.1 machado2013a