Open Paleo

Ibirania

Navarro et al., 2022 ee-bih-RAH-nee-uh

Named for Ibirá municipality in São Paulo, Brazil (also derived from Tupi 'ybyrá' meaning 'tree'), combined with a modified form of Greek 'plania' meaning 'wanderer'. The species name is from Latin 'parvus' meaning 'small'.

85.7–72.2 million years ago Santonian–Campanian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Ibirania is a genus of dwarf saltasaurine titanosaur dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Santonian to Campanian) São José do Rio Preto Formation (Bauru Basin) of Southeast Brazil. The type species is Ibirania parva. It is one of the smallest sauropods known to date, comparable in size to the titanosaur Magyarosaurus.

Diagnosis

  1. Dorsal vertebrae with thick rod-shaped PRSL bearing prominent crest at mid-height
  2. Dorsal vertebrae with thick SPRL surpassing half of PRSL height, extending parallelly in anterior elements
  3. Posterior dorsal vertebrae with subparallel anterior and posterior SPDL, posterior ramus projecting dorsally beyond anterior lamina
  4. Single CPRL in posterior dorsal vertebrae with expanded extremities forming anterolateral rim
  5. Posterior dorsal vertebrae with SPOL bearing two rami, lateral ramus forked by enlarged pneumatic foramen
  6. Mid-caudal centra with ventral hollow lacking longitudinal bony septa or ventrolateral ridges
  7. Ulna bearing distinctive muscular pit on posteromedial surface of distal half

Species

Ibirania parva Navarro et al., 2022

Type species

From Latin 'parvus' meaning 'small', after the nanism (dwarfism) seen in the taxon.

Holotype
LPP-PV-0200, LPP-PV-0201, LPP-PV-0202, LPP-PV-0203, LPP-PV-0204, LPP-PV-0205, LPP-PV-0206, LPP-PV-0207 , Laboratório de Paleoecologia e Paleoicnologia, Universidade Federal de São Carlos
Material
Disarticulated postcranial remains: posterior dorsal vertebra, anterior and posterior caudal centra, mid-caudal neural arch, fragmentary radius and ulna, distal metacarpal, nearly complete metatarsal
Horizon
São José do Rio Preto Formation, Santonian–Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 85.7–72.2 million years ago
Locality
Sítio dos Irmãos Garcia, São Paulo, Brazil

Notable specimens

  • LPP-PV-0043

    Laboratório de Paleoecologia e Paleoicnologia, Universidade Federal de São Carlos pathology

    Referred partial fibula bearing acute osteomyelitis, with fossilized parasites preserved in situ inside its vascular canals — the first report of parasites preserved in situ inside the vascular canals of a dinosaur.

    Aureliano et al. (2021)

References

  1. Navarro, B. A.; Ghilardi, A. M.; Aureliano, T.; Díez Díaz, V.; Bandeira, K. L. N.; Cattaruzzi, A. G. S.; Iori, F. V.; Martine, A. M.; Carvalho, A. B.; Anelli, L. E.; Fernandes, M. A.; Zaher, H. (2022). A New Nanoid Titanosaur (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Brazil. Ameghiniana 59(5). Asociacion Paleontologica Argentina. doi:10.5710/amgh.25.08.2022.3477 navarro2022a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the mass and hip height estimates.

    jones2026b
  3. Aureliano, T.; Nascimento, C. S. I.; Fernandes, M. A.; Ricardi-Branco, F.; Ghilardi, A. M. (2021). Blood parasites and acute osteomyelitis in a non-avian dinosaur (Sauropoda, Titanosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous Adamantina Formation, Bauru Basin, Southeast Brazil. Cretaceous Research 118: 104672. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104672

    Describes the referred fibula LPP-PV-0043, before the genus was named, from the "Adamantina Formation (ca. 85.2 ± 2.7 Ma, Santonian; Castro et al., 2018)" at Ibirá.

    aureliano2021a
  4. Castro, M. C.; Goin, F. J.; Ortiz-Jaureguizar, E.; Vieytes, E. C.; Tsukui, K.; Ramezani, J.; Batezelli, A.; Marsola, J. C. A.; Langer, M. C. (2018). A Late Cretaceous mammal from Brazil and the first radioisotopic age for the Bauru Group. Royal Society Open Science 5: 180482. doi:10.1098/rsos.180482

    Cited by Aureliano and colleagues (2021) for the radioisotopic Santonian age of the Adamantina Formation at Ibirá.

    castro2018a