Open Paleo

Sektensaurus

Ibiricu et al., 2019 SEK-ten-SOR-us

From Tehuelche sekten, meaning "island", combined with Greek sauros, "lizard" — means "island lizard"

83.6–66.0 million years ago Campanian–Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Sektensaurus is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur, possibly an elasmarian, from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of Patagonia, Argentina. Its remains were uncovered in the fluvial tuffs of the Lago Colhué Huapí Formation in the Golfo San Jorge Basin. The type and only species is S. sanjuanboscoi. Sektensaurus is the first non-hadrosauroid ornithopod of central Patagonia. The discovery of the genus increases the anatomical knowledge of ornithopods and adds new data on the compositions of dinosaur faunas that lived in Patagonia close to Antarctica at the end of the Cretaceous.

Diagnosis

  1. Well developed lip on articular surfaces of dorsal vertebrae
  2. Sacral vertebrae with transversally narrow ventral surfaces, keeled first sacral, wide unkeeled last sacrals
  3. Fifth sacral vertebra postzygapophyses facets with thin border
  4. Humerus with almost straight distal end and slightly marked incisura
  5. Distal humeral condyles nearly equal in size

Species

Sektensaurus sanjuanboscoi Ibiricu et al., 2019

Type species

Named for the Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco, where most of the paleontologists involved either studied or worked as researchers.

Holotype
UNPSJB-PV 1054 , Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco
Material
Partial skeleton including dorsal arch, three dorsal centra, five sacral vertebrae, eight caudal centra, proximal ends of left and right humerus, distal right humerus, incomplete right radius, proximal right femur, proximal left tibia, proximal left fibula
Horizon
Lago Colhué Huapi Formation, Campanian–Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–66.0 million years ago
Locality
Ephemeral island, Lago Colhué Huapi, Chubut, Argentina

References

  1. Ibiricu, L. M.; Casal, G. A.; Martínez, R. D.; Luna, M.; Canale, J. I.; Álvarez, B. N.; González Riga, B. (2019). A new ornithopod dinosaur (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Late Cretaceous of central Patagonia. Cretaceous Research 98: 276-291. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2019.02.001 ibiricu2019a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.

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

    jones2026a