Open Paleo

Nopcsaspondylus

Apesteguía, 2007 NOP-chuh-SPON-dih-lus Nomen dubium

Named for Baron Franz Nopcsa, the paleontologist who first described the fossil material, combined with Greek 'spondylos' meaning 'vertebra'; translates as 'Nopcsa's vertebra'.

100.5–93.9 million years ago Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Nopcsaspondylus is a dubious genus of rebbachisaurid sauropod dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Neuquén, Argentina. It is based on a now-lost back vertebra described by Nopcsa in 1902 but not named at the time. The specimen had a small vertebral body and large hollows, now known to be typical of rebbachisaurids.

Species

Nopcsaspondylus alarconensis Apesteguía, 2007 Nomen dubium

Type species

Named for Barda Alarcón, in Neuquén, Argentina, the locality to which the holotype vertebra was long attributed.

Holotype
Not catalogued , Paläontologisches Institut und Museum der Universität Wien (lost)
Material
Single dorsal vertebra figured by Nopcsa (1902); never formally cataloged
Horizon
Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous , 100.5–93.9 million years ago
Locality
near Villa El Chocón, Neuquén, Argentina Canale and colleagues place the 1889 discovery near Villa El Chocón from Zapalowicz's own report and travel diary, displacing the Barda Alarcón that entered the literature with Huene. They presume the basal Huincul where Apesteguía presumed the Candeleros, and neither is stated outright.

References

  1. Apesteguía, S. (2007). The sauropod diversity of the La Amarga Formation (Barremian), Neuquén (Argentina). Gondwana Research 12(4): 533-546. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2007.04.007 apesteguía2007a
  2. Canale, J. I.; Garrido, A. C.; Lerzo, L. N. (2024). Sobre la procedencia geográfica y estratigráfica de Nopcaondylus [sic] alarconensis (Sauropoda, Diplodocoidea, Rebbachisauridae). Publicación Electrónica de la Asociación Paleontológica Argentina 24(R3): R34. doi:10.5710/PEAPA.04.04.2024.502 canale2024a
  3. Nopcsa, B. F. (1902). Notes on Cretaceous dinosaurs. Sitzungsberichte der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Classe 111(Abth. I). nopcsa1902a
  4. Lerzo, L. N. (2026). The lost fossil of the first discovered rebbachisaurid: reassessment of Nopcsaspondylus alarconensis (Diplodocoidea, Sauropoda). Historical Biology 38(8): 2748-2755. doi:10.1080/08912963.2025.2594006

    Finds no autapomorphy in the vertebra, its features being widespread among rebbachisaurids, and rules the genus a nomen dubium.

    lerzo2026a