Open Paleo

Chubutisaurus

del Corro, 1975 choo-BOOT-i-SAWR-us

Named after Chubut Province in Patagonia, Argentina, where the fossils were discovered, + Greek sauros ('lizard'), meaning 'Chubut lizard'.

113.2–93.9 million years ago Albian–Cenomanian, Early Cretaceous–Late Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous and Late Cretaceous stages

Chubutisaurus is a genus of somphospondylan sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian to Albian) Cerro Barcino Formation of Argentina. The type species, Chubutisaurus insignis, was described by del Corro in 1975. Chubutisaurus had a more robust radius than Venenosaurus. In 2010 Gregory S. Paul gave a length of 18 meters (59 ft) and a weight of 12 tonnes (13 short tons). Thomas Holtz estimated its length at 23 meters (75 ft) in 2012.

Diagnosis

  1. One or more caudosacral vertebrae with articular faces lying in different planes, a condition not described in other sauropods
  2. Pleurocoels on the caudosacral vertebrae
  3. Complete, unforked prespinal lamina on the posterior dorsal vertebrae

Species

Chubutisaurus insignis del Corro, 1975

Type species

From Latin 'insignis' meaning 'remarkable'.

Holotype
MACN 18222 , Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘Bernardino Rivadavia’
Material
A dorsal centrum, neural arch and spine, eleven caudal centra, a sacro-caudal vertebra, left femur, tibia, humerus, ulna, radius, four metacarpals, part of a fifth, and appendicular fragments
Horizon
Bayo Overo Member, Cerro Barcino Formation, Albian–Cenomanian, Early Cretaceous–Late Cretaceous , 113.2–93.9 million years ago
Locality
Cerro Barcino, 50 km north of Los Altares, Chubut, Argentina Carrano and colleagues (2012) give the teeth associated with the holotype as "derived from the Albian–Cenomanian Bayo Overo Member".

References

  1. Carrano, M. T.; Benson, R. B. J.; Sampson, S. D. (2012). The phylogeny of Tetanurae (Dinosauria: Theropoda). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 10(2): 211-300. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/14772019.2011.630927

    Gives the teeth associated with the holotype as "derived from the Albian–Cenomanian Bayo Overo Member".

    carrano2012a
  2. del Corro, G. (1975). Un nuevo sauropodo del Cretácico Superior [A new sauropod from the Upper Cretaceous]. Actas del Primer Congreso Argentino de Paleontologia y Bioestratigrafia 2: 229-240. delcorro1975a
  3. Salgado, L. (1993). Comments on Chubutisaurus insignis del Corro (Saurischia, Sauropoda). Ameghiniana 30(3): 265-270.

    Redescription of Chubutisaurus insignis.

    salgado1993a
  4. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the hip height estimate.

    jones2026b