Open Paleo

Tralkasaurus

Cerroni et al., 2020 TRAL-kuh-SOR-us

From Mapudungun 'tralka' meaning 'thunder' and Greek 'sauros' meaning 'lizard', giving 'thunder lizard'.

100.5–89.8 million years ago Cenomanian–Turonian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Tralkasaurus is a genus of abelisaurid dinosaur from the Huincul Formation from Río Negro Province in Argentina. The type and only species is Tralkasaurus cuyi, named in 2020 by Mauricio Cerroni and colleagues based on an incomplete skeleton. A medium-sized abelisaurid, Tralkasaurus exhibits a conflicting blend of characteristics found among the early-diverging abelisauroids with others that characterize the highly specialized clade Brachyrostra, and thus its position within the clade is poorly-resolved.

Diagnosis

  1. Antorbital fossa widely exposed over entire dorsal portion of maxillary body
  2. Internal and external margins of antorbital fossa anterodorsally directed
  3. Dorsal vertebra with parapophysis dorsoventrally narrow and rod-like
  4. Dorsal vertebra with proximally restricted paradiapophyseal lamina

Species

Tralkasaurus cuyi Cerroni et al., 2020

Type species

Named for the village of El Cuy in Río Negro Province, Argentina, near the Violante Farm fossil site where the holotype was discovered.

Holotype
MPCA-PV 815 , Museo provincial de Cipolletti "Carlos Ameghino"
Material
Incomplete skeleton of an abelisaurid
Horizon
upper Huincul Formation, Cenomanian–Turonian, Late Cretaceous , 100.5–89.8 million years ago
Locality
Pueblo Blanco Natural Reserve, Río Negro, Argentina

References

  1. Agnolín, F. L.; González Riga, B. J.; Aranciaga Rolando, A. M.; Rozadilla, S.; Motta, M. J.; Chimento, N. R.; Novas, F. E. (2023). A new giant titanosaur (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Northwestern Patagonia, Argentina. Cretaceous Research 146. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105487

    Gives the site as "the Pueblo Blanco Natural Reserve (ex Violante farm)" and lists Tralkasaurus among the taxa described from it.

    agnolín2023a
  2. Cerroni, M. A.; Motta, M. J.; Agnolín, F. L.; Aranciaga Rolando, A. M.; Brissón Egli, F.; Novas, F. E. (2020). A new abelisaurid from the Huincul Formation (Cenomanian-Turonian; Upper Cretaceous) of Río Negro province, Argentina. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 98. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2019.102445 cerroni2020a
  3. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Theropods. Princeton University Press.

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

    jones2026c