Open Paleo

Bustingorrytitan

Simón & Salgado, 2023 bus-tin-goh-ree-tie-tuhn

Named after Manuel Bustingorry (the landowner on whose property fossils were found) combined with Greek Titan (Τιτάν) meaning 'giant'; overall meaning 'Bustingorry's giant'.

100.5–93.9 million years ago Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Bustingorrytitan is a genus of lithostrotian titanosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) Huincul Formation of Argentina. The type species is Bustingorrytitan shiva.

Diagnosis

  1. Posterior dorsal vertebrae with spinodiapophyseal laminae bifurcated in two, with very well developed anterior and posterior rami limiting a deep, vertical, socket-like fossa
  2. Posterior dorsal neural arches with forked centropostzygapophyseal laminae
  3. Hyposphene present in anterior caudal vertebrae
  4. Humerus with deltopectoral crest strongly expanded distally
  5. Femur with a low longitudinal crest on the lateromedial half of the anterior face, bifurcated into two minor crests directed toward their respective condyles

Species

Bustingorrytitan shiva Simón & Salgado, 2023

Type species

Named after the Hindu god Shiva, who destroys and transforms the universe, in reference to the Cenomanian-Turonian faunal turnover.

Holotype
MMCH-Pv 59/1-40 , Museo Municipal ‘Ernesto Bachman’, Villa El Chocón
Material
Partial skeleton: right dentary and tooth fragment, one dorsal and five caudal vertebrae, two haemal arches, scapulae, coracoids, sternal plates, left ilium, right pubis, humeri, radius, ulnae, five metacarpals, femur, tibia, fibulae, astragalus, three metatarsals, three ungual phalanges
Horizon
Huincul Formation, Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous , 100.5–93.9 million years ago
Locality
Bustingorry II site, Neuquén, Argentina

Synonyms of the genus

Name Type Reason
Sauropodus junior subjective Treated as a synonym of Bustingorrytitan; material from the Bustingorry II site was later formally described as Bustingorrytitan.

References

  1. Simón, M. E.; Salgado, L. (2023). A new gigantic titanosaurian sauropod from the early Late Cretaceous of Patagonia (Neuquén Province, Argentina). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 68(4): 719-735. Polska Akademia Nauk Instytut Paleobiologii (Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences). doi:10.4202/app.01086.2023 simón2023a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length estimate.

    jones2026b