Open Paleo

Cathartesaura

Gallina & Apesteguía, 2005 ca-THAR-teh-SOR-uh

From Cathartes (the New World vulture genus) + Greek saura ('lizard', feminine). The name also alludes to the turkey vulture Cathartes aura, whose Spanish name 'buitre' named the 'La Buitrera' locality where the fossils were found.

100.5–89.8 million years ago Cenomanian–Turonian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Cathartesaura is a genus of rebbachisaurid sauropod dinosaur from Late Cretaceous strata of the Huincul Formation, at the "La Buitrera" locality, in the Neuquén Basin of Río Negro Province, Argentina. The fossil remains, described by Gallina and Apesteguía in 2005, consist of a partial skeleton including vertebrae and limb bones. These were found at the base of the formation, which dates back to the Cenomanian and Turonian epochs, in mudstone and sandstone levels.

Diagnosis

  1. Posterior cervical vertebra with accessory lamina (AL2) arising from mid-length of prezygodiapophysial lamina and reaching the centrum
  2. Anterior caudal transverse processes thin and wing-like, mostly supported by ventral bar framing a deep triangular fossa bounded by diapoprezygapophyseal and centroprezygapophyseal laminae
  3. Anterior caudal neural spine lateral lamina formed by junction of spinoprezygapophyseal, lateral spinopostzygapophyseal, and spinodiapophyseal laminae (unique triple junction)

Species

Cathartesaura anaerobica Gallina & Apesteguía, 2005

Type species

Named for the Argentinian adhesive company Anaeróbicos, which provided field and laboratory support during the extraction and preparation of the fossils.

Holotype
MPCA-PV 232 , Museo provincial de Cipolletti "Carlos Ameghino"
Material
Posterior cervical vertebra, dorsal vertebra, anterior caudal, mid caudal vertebra, left scapula, left ilium, right femur; poorly preserved dorsal vertebra, humerus, and metatarsal also collected.
Horizon
lower Huincul Formation, Cenomanian–Turonian, Late Cretaceous , 100.5–89.8 million years ago
Locality
La Buitrera, Río Negro, Argentina

References

  1. Gallina, P.; Apesteguía, S. (2005). Cathartesaura anaerobica gen. et sp. nov., a new rebbachisaurid (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Huincul Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Río Negro, Argentina. Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales 7: 153-166. Museo Argentino de Ciencia Naturales. doi:10.22179/revmacn.7.332 gallina2005a
  2. Paul, G. S. (2024). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (3rd ed.). Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length and mass estimates.

    paul2024a