Open Paleo

Bravasaurus

Hechenleitner et al., 2020 BRAH-vah-SOR-us

From Laguna Brava National Park in La Rioja, Argentina (where fossils were found) + Greek sauros (σαῦρος) meaning 'lizard'; overall meaning 'Laguna Brava lizard'.

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

Bravasaurus is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Ciénaga del Río Huaco Formation of La Rioja, Argentina. It contains one species, Bravasaurus arrierosorum.

Diagnosis

  1. Quadrate with articular surface entirely divided by medial sulcus (autapomorphy)
  2. Spinoprezygapophyseal lamina forms conspicuous step between neural spine and prezygapophyses in middle cervical vertebrae (autapomorphy)
  3. Robust dorsal edge of pneumatic foramen in dorsal centra forming prominent shelf extending laterally beyond ventral margin of centrum (autapomorphy)
  4. Humerus with narrow midshaft; midshaft/proximal width ratio of 0.36
  5. Slender fibula with Robustness Index of 0.15; distal condyle transversely expanded, more than twice the midshaft breadth

Species

Bravasaurus arrierosorum Hechenleitner et al., 2020

Type species

Named for the arriero, the cattle drivers in Spanish who carried livestock through the Andes in the 19th century.

Holotype
CRILAR-Pv 612 , Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja
Material
Right quadrate and quadratojugal, four cervical, five dorsal, and three caudal vertebrae, few dorsal ribs, three haemal arches, left humerus, fragmentary ulna, metacarpal IV, partial left ilium with sacral ribs, right pubis, partial ischium, left femur, and both fibulae
Horizon
Ciénaga del Río Huaco Formation, Campanian–Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–66.0 million years ago
Locality
Quebrada de Santo Domingo, La Rioja, Argentina

References

  1. Hechenleitner, E. M.; Leuzinger, L.; Martinelli, A. G.; Rocher, S.; Fiorelli, L. E.; Taborda, J. R. A.; Salgado, L. (2020). Two Late Cretaceous sauropods reveal titanosaurian dispersal across South America. Communications Biology 3(1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1038/s42003-020-01338-w hechenleitner2020a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the hip height estimate.

    jones2026b