Open Paleo

Pitekunsaurus

Filippi & Garrido, 2008 PEE-tuh-koon-SOR-us

From Mapudungun pitekun, meaning 'to discover', combined with Greek sauros meaning 'lizard'; meaning 'discovery lizard'

83.6–72.2 million years ago Campanian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Pitekunsaurus is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Anacleto Formation of Neuquén, Argentina. It was described by L. Filippi and A. Garrido in 2008. The type species is P. macayai. The generic name is derived from Mapudungun pitekun, meaning "to discover", the epithet honors the discoverer, oil company explorer Luis Macaya, who found the fossil in April 2004.

Under dispute

Placed conservatively within Colossosauria. The describing paper (Filippi and Garrido, 2008) ran no phylogenetic analysis and referred Pitekunsaurus only to Titanosauria, tentatively noting a possible affinity with Rinconsaurus. Subsequent analyses conflict: Coria and colleagues (2013) recovered it within Aeolosaurini (in their topology the sister group of Rinconsauria), whereas González Riga and colleagues (2018) recovered it as a basal colossosaur outside Rinconsauria. Colossosauria is the least-inclusive node these placements share.

Diagnosis

  1. Basipterygoid processes broadly separated and projected parallelly
  2. Small depressions or longitudinal grooves in spinal sector of spinopostzygapophyseal lamina in anterior cervical vertebrae
  3. Centropostzygapophyseal lamina bifurcated proximally in anterior dorsal vertebrae
  4. Posterior centrodiapophysial lamina with accessory lamina in anterior dorsal vertebrae

Species

Pitekunsaurus macayai Filippi & Garrido, 2008

Type species

Named for Luis Macaya, an oil company explorer who discovered the fossil in April 2004.

Holotype
MAU-Pv-AG-446/1, MAU-Pv-AG-446/2, MAU-Pv-AG-446/3, MAU-Pv-AG-446/4, MAU-Pv-AG-446/5, MAU-Pv-AG-446/6, MAU-Pv-AG-446/7, MAU-Pv-AG-446/8, MAU-Pv-AG-446/9, MAU-Pv-AG-446/10, MAU-Pv-AG-446/11, MAU-Pv-AG-446/24, MAU-Pv-AG-446/25, MAU-Pv-AG-446/27, MAU-Pv-AG-446/28, MAU-Pv-AG-446/30 , Museo Argentino Urquiza, Rincón de los Sauces
Material
Braincase and left frontal, one tooth, axis, two anterior cervical vertebrae, one posterior cervical vertebra, two anterior dorsal vertebrae, one posterior dorsal vertebra, one anterior caudal vertebra, three posterior caudal vertebrae, the proximal portion of the left femur, right scapula, and right ulna
Horizon
Anacleto Formation, Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–72.2 million years ago
Locality
Cañadón de Aguada Grande, Neuquén, Argentina

References

  1. Filippi, L. S.; Garrido, A. C. (2008). Pitekunsaurus macayai gen. et sp. nov., nuevo titanosaurio (Saurischia, Sauropoda) del Cretácico Superior de la Cuenca Neuquina, Argentina [Pitekunsaurus macayai gen. et sp. nov., new titanosaur (Saurischia, Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of the Neuquén Basin, Argentina]. Ameghiniana 45(3): 575-590. filippi2008a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length estimate.

    jones2026b
  3. Coria, R. A.; Filippi, L. S.; Chiappe, L. M.; García, R.; Arcucci, A. B. (2013). Overosaurus paradasorum gen. et sp. nov., a new sauropod dinosaur (Titanosauria: Lithostrotia) from the Late Cretaceous of Neuquén, Patagonia, Argentina. Zootaxa 3683(4). Magnolia Press. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3683.4.2

    Overosaurus phylogenetic analysis recovered Pitekunsaurus within Aeolosaurini alongside Aeolosaurus and Gondwanatitan

    coria2013a
  4. González Riga, B. J.; Mannion, P. D.; Poropat, S. F.; Ortiz David, L. D.; Coria, J. P. (2018). Osteology of the Late Cretaceous Argentinean sauropod dinosaur Mendozasaurus neguyelap: implications for basal titanosaur relationships. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 184(1): 136-181. Oxford University Press (OUP). doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx103

    Recovered Pitekunsaurus as a basal colossosaur outside Rinconsauria.

    gonzálezriga2018a