Ameghiniana Round Up, Pt. I

["Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." <th81@umail.umd.edu>]

Well, I just got back from Alberta yesterday (after a weekend's blitz of the
RTMP collections...), and along the way I picked up the latest dinosaur
papers from Ameghiniana.  Some of them (particularly the two covered in the
next post) will be of *considerable* interest for sometime to come...

Salgado, L. 1996.  _Pellegrinisaurus powelli_ nov. gen. et sp. (Sauropoda,
Titanosauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous of lago Pelligrini, northwestern
Patagonia, Argentina.  Ameghiniana 33(4):355-365.

A new large (est. 20-25 m long) titanosaurid from the lower Allen Formation
(Campanian to lower Maastricthian).  The specimen (some dorsals, twenty six
caudals, and an incomplete right femur) has previously been referred to as
cf. _Epachthosaurus_ sp.  Salgado considers it a titanosaur more derived
than _Epachthosaurus_ or _Andesaurus_, but is not certain of its affinities
beyond that.

He also notes that _Pelligrinisaurus_ and its sympatric fauna
(_Titanosaurus_ and _Abelisaurus_) may represent upland faunas from the same
interval  where the titanosaurid _Aeolosaurus_ and various hadrosaurids
inhabited the coastal lowlands.

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Salgado, L. & R.A. Coria.  1996.  First evidence of an ankylosaur
(Dinosauria, Ornithischia) in South America.  Ameghiniana 33(4):367-371.

A right femur (25.5 cm long) from the lower Allen Formation documents the
presence of a eurypod (stegosaur or ankylosaur) in the Campanian-lower
Maastricthian of Argentina.  It most closely resembles the femur of
primitive nodosaurids such as _Struthiosaurus_.  It does suggest that at
least some of the osteoderms found in Late K Argentina are from armored
ornithischians after all, instead of all of them being from titanosaurids.

----------------

Coria, R.A. & L. Salgado.  1996.  "_Loncosaurus argentinus_" Ameghino, 1899
(Ornithischia, Ornithopoda): a revised description with comments on its
phylogenetic relationships.  Ameghiniana 33(4):373-376.

Title says it all: _Loncosaurus_ (known from a proximal end of a femur),
formerly considered a theropod, turns out to be a small ornithopod.


----------------

Dinosaur abstracts from the XII Jornadas Argentinas de Paleontologia de
Vertebrados.

Arcucci, A.B. & R.A. Coria.  1996.  Los Prosauropodes de la Formacion Los
Colarados.  Ameghiniana 33(4):459.

New material of _Riojasaurus_ and _Coloradisaurus_.

Calvo, J.O.  1996.  Phylogenetic relationships of _Asiatosaurus
mongoliensis_ (Osborn, 1924). _Chiayusaurus lacustris_ a junior synonym of
_Asiatosaurus_ (Sauropoda).  Ameghiniana 33(4): 461.

title says all.

Coria, R.A. & J.O. Calvo.  1996. Analisis filogenetico preliminar del primer
dinosaurio Iguanodontia registrado en la Formacion Rio Limay.  Ameghiniana
33(4):462.

Four partial skeletons of a new primitive iguandontian from the Rio Limay
Formation (Cenomanian).  It seems to be the "brother group" (in Spanish,
"sister group" is rendered "grupo hermano") to Dryomorpha (_Dryosaurus_ +
higher iguanodonts) and possibly the sister group with the new Rio Colorado
basal iguandontian (see below).

Coria, R.A., G. Cladera & L. Salgado.  1996.  Una nueva localidad fosilifera
en la Formacion Rio Limay?, Cretacio Superior, cerro Bayo Mesa, Provincia de
Neuquen.  Ameghiniana 33(4):463.

A new site of the Rio Limay Formation, stratigraphically above the Huincul
Member (which produced _Argentinosaurus_), producing fish, turtles, crocs,
theropod teeth & vertebrae, and the ornithopod mentioned in the previous
abstract.  Strangely, no sign of titanosaurs.

Gimenez, O. del V.  1996. Hallazgo de impronte de piel de un dinosaurio
sauropodo en la provincia de Chubut.  Ameghiniana 33(4):465.

Skin impressions and footprints associated with a postcranial skeleton of a
sauropod from the Canadon Asfalto Formation (Middle-Upper Jurassic) of Chubut.

Gonzalez Riga, B.J. 1996.  Reconstruccion "in vivo" de reptiles fosiles
Argentinos. Discusion metodologica. Ameghiniana 33(4):466.

How to reconstruct fossil Argentine reptiles, step-by-step.  Probably a lot
more impressive with pictures...

Powell, J.E.  1996.  Nuevos datos sobre huevos de dinosaurios del Cretacio
Superior de Rio Negro, Argentina.  Ameghiniana 33(4):470.

Four different types of dino eggs from the province of Rio Negro.

Salgado, L., R.A. Coria & S.E. Heredia.  1996.  Nuevos materiales de
ornithopodos (Ornithischia) en la Formacion Rio Colorado (Cretacio Superior)
de la provincia de Rio Negro.

Eleven specimens (juveniles & subadults) of a new species of basal
iguanodontian from the Rio Colorado Formation.  Associated fauna includes
fish, saltosaurine titanosaurids, and the booid snake _Dinilysia_.

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Another abstract, from a different meeting (forgot to xerox the first page
of the abstract list).  This was the only dino paper I noticed among the
abstracts:

Bonaparte, J.F. 1997.  _Rayososaurus agrioensis_ Bonaparte 1995.
Ameghiniana 34(1):116.

Bonaparte defends the legitimacy of _Rayosaurus_ (considered a nomen dubium
by Calvo & Salgado in the paper describing _Rebbachisaurus tessonei_).  He
considers the (older) _Rayososaurus_ as the most primitive member of a new
family, the Rebbachisauridae (comprised of _Rayososaurus_ and the two
legitimate species of _Rebbachiosaurus_).

Next post: the titanic papers...

Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
Vertebrate Paleontologist     Webpage: http://www.geol.umd.edu
Dept. of Geology              Email:th81@umail.umd.edu
University of Maryland        Phone:301-405-4084
College Park, MD  20742       Fax:  301-314-9661