Open Paleo

Traukutitan

Juárez Valieri & Calvo, 2011 TRAW-cu-TIE-tuhn

From Mapuche/Araucanian Trauku (a mountain spirit usually represented as a giant) and Greek titan ('giant'), meaning 'Trauku titan'

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

Traukutitan is a genus of titanosaur sauropod dinosaur which lived during the late Cretaceous (Santonian age).

Diagnosis

  1. Proximal caudal vertebral centra higher than wider, with strongly procoelous center
  2. Prezygodiapophyseal lamina subvertical, with ventrocaudal placement of transverse process at first caudal
  3. Single deep foramen ventral to base of transverse process
  4. Middle caudal vertebrae wider than length, with procoelous-opisthoplatyan centra

Species

Traukutitan eocaudata Juárez Valieri & Calvo, 2011

Type species

From Ancient Greek 'eos' meaning 'dawn' and Latin 'cauda' meaning 'tail', a reference to the basal morphology of the middle caudal vertebrae.

Holotype
MUCPv 204 , Universidad Nacional del Comahue
Material
Partial semi-articulated skeleton including femora and thirteen anterior and middle caudal vertebrae
Horizon
lower Bajo de la Carpa Formation, Santonian, Late Cretaceous , 85.7–83.6 million years ago
Locality
Sitio Trauku, Neuquén, Argentina

References

  1. Juárez Valieri, R. D.; Calvo, J. O. (2011). Revision of MUCPv 204, a Senonian basal titanosaur from northern Patagonia. Paleontología y dinosaurios desde América Latina (Calvo, J. O.; Porfiri, J. D.; González Riga, B. J.; Dos Santos, D. D., eds.) 143-152. Editorial de la Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza. juárezvalieri2011a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length estimate.

    jones2026b