Open Paleo

Huinculsaurus

Baiano et al., 2020 HYOO-win-kul-SOR-us

Named after the Huincul Formation of Argentina where it was found, combined with Greek sauros (lizard); meaning 'Huincul lizard'

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

Huinculsaurus is an extinct genus of noasaurid dinosaurs known from the Late Cretaceous Huincul Formation of Argentina. The genus contains a single species, Huinculsaurus montesi, known from five partial vertebrae.

Under dispute

Baiano and colleagues (2020) recover Huinculsaurus as the sister of Elaphrosaurus, tentatively, given its incompleteness. Cerroni and colleagues (2022) recover it instead as the basal noasaurine, Hendrickx and colleagues (2024) leave it in a polytomy within Abelisauroidea, and Pol and colleagues (2024), Jiménez Velandia and colleagues (2025) and Canale and colleagues (2026) prune it as unstable. It is placed at Abelisauroidea incertae sedis.

Diagnosis

  1. Prezygapophyseal articular facets in posterior dorsal vertebrae twice longer than wide
  2. Anterior centroparapophyseal lamina strongly developed as extensive lateral lamina in posterior dorsal vertebrae
  3. Pneumatic foramina located ventrally to postzygodiapophyseal lamina in posterior dorsal vertebrae
  4. Posteriorly tapering postzygapophysis pointed posteriorly
  5. Parapophyseal centrodiapophyseal fossa in posterior dorsal neural arches separated by accessory lamina

Species

Huinculsaurus montesi Baiano et al., 2020

Type species

Named for Eduardo Montes, a fossil preparator at the Carmen Funes Museum who helped prepare the specimen and died shortly before its official publication.

Holotype
MCF-PVPH 36 , Museo ‘Carmen Funes’, Plaza Huincul
Material
Partial postcranial skeleton
Horizon
upper Huincul Formation, Cenomanian–Turonian, Late Cretaceous , 100.5–89.8 million years ago
Locality
Aguada Grande, Neuquén, Argentina

References

  1. Baiano, M. A.; Coria, R. A.; Cau, A. (2020). A new abelisauroid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Huincul Formation (lower Upper Cretaceous, Neuquén Basin) of Patagonia, Argentina. Cretaceous Research 110. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104408 baiano2020a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Theropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the mass and hip height estimates.

    jones2026c
  3. Cerroni, M. A.; Baiano, M. A.; Canale, J. I.; Agnolín, F. L.; Otero, A.; Novas, F. E. (2022). Appendicular osteology of Skorpiovenator bustingorryi (Theropoda, Abelisauridae) with comments on phylogenetic features of abelisaurids. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 20(1): 1-32. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/14772019.2022.2093661

    Recovers Huinculsaurus as the basal member of Noasaurinae, unlike the original elaphrosaurine placement.

    cerroni2022a
  4. Hendrickx, C.; Cerroni, M. A.; Agnolín, F. L.; Catalano, S.; Ribeiro, C. F.; Delcourt, R. (2024). Osteology, relationship, and feeding ecology of the theropod dinosaur Noasaurus leali, from the Late Cretaceous of North-Western Argentina. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 202(4): zlae150. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae150

    Recovers Huinculsaurus in a polytomy within Abelisauroidea.

    hendrickx2024a
  5. Pol, D.; Baiano, M. A.; Černý, D.; Novas, F. E.; Cerda, I. A.; Pittman, M. (2024). A new abelisaurid dinosaur from the end Cretaceous of Patagonia and evolutionary rates among the Ceratosauria. Cladistics 40(3): 307-356. Wiley. doi:10.1111/cla.12583

    Prunes Huinculsaurus as one of the unstable taxa that collapse the ceratosaurian ingroup.

    pol2024a
  6. Jiménez Velandia, H.; Ezcurra, M. D.; Hechenleitner, E. M.; Basilici, G.; Martinelli, A. G.; Fiorelli, L. E. (2025). A New Late Cretaceous Abelisaurid Species from La Rioja Province, Northwestern Argentina. Ameghiniana 62(6). Asociacion Paleontologica Argentina. doi:10.5710/amgh.24.09.2025.3653

    Prunes Huinculsaurus as an unstable taxon to resolve Ceratosauria.

    jiménezvelandia2025a
  7. Canale, J. I.; Cerroni, M. A.; Baiano, M. A.; Meso, J. G.; Palombi, D.; Paulina-Carabajal, A. (2026). The Skull Beneath the Skin: Cranial Osteology of Skorpiovenator bustingorryi (Dinosauria, Theropoda, Abelisauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina. Ameghiniana. Asociacion Paleontologica Argentina. doi:10.5710/amgh.20.08.2026.3665

    Prunes Huinculsaurus as an unstable taxon.

    canale2026a