Open Paleo

Inawentu

Filippi et al., 2024 ee-nah-WEN-too

Meaning "imitator"; language not specified in the article

85.7–83.6 million years ago Santonian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Inawentu is an extinct genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Bajo de la Carpa Formation of Argentina. The genus contains a single species, I. oslatus, known from a partial articulated skeleton including the skull. The square-shaped jaw of Inawentu demonstrates convergent characteristics with rebbachisaurids.

Diagnosis

  1. Posterior region of the skull rotated posteroventrally to the same level as the snout, with the foramen magnum subparallel to the tooth row
  2. Ridge at the contact between the ascending process and the body of the premaxilla, forming a prominence in lateral view
  3. Double lateral temporal fenestra, with an anterior subcircular opening and a posterior, enlarged, laterally compressed opening
  4. Highest point of the jaw, twice the height of the dentary, located in the articular sector between the coronoid process and the surangular
  5. Neck composed of only 12 cervical vertebrae, the fewest known in any titanosaur

Species

Inawentu oslatus Filippi et al., 2024

Type species

From Latin 'os' meaning 'mouth' and 'latus' meaning 'broad', in reference to the wide, squared-off snout of the taxon.

Holotype
MAU-Pv-LI-595 , Museo Argentino Urquiza, Rincón de los Sauces
Material
Articulated partial skeleton: an almost complete skull, the axial sequence from the atlas to the last sacral element, and both ilia.
Horizon
Bajo de la Carpa Formation, Santonian, Late Cretaceous , 85.7–83.6 million years ago
Locality
La Invernada, Neuquén, Argentina

References

  1. Filippi, L. S.; Juárez Valieri, R. D.; Gallina, P. A.; Méndez, A. H.; Gianechini, F. A.; Garrido, A. C. (2024). A rebbachisaurid-mimicking titanosaur and evidence of a Late Cretaceous faunal disturbance event in South-West Gondwana. Cretaceous Research 154. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105754 filippi2024a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length, mass, and hip height estimates, and the appearance features.

    jones2026b