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RE: Fwd: Rinconsaurus paper now available online




Jaime A. Headden wrote:

Opisthocoely grading into amphiplatyan and
platycoelous vertebrae in *Opisthocoelicaudia* now no longer is so
"bizarre,"

Sort of makes you wonder why some folks (not many, mind you) are so dead-set against putting _Opisthocoelicaudia_ in with the titanosaurs. It looks like a bona fide titanosaur to me - and _Opisthocoelicaudia_ may one day prove to be the same as _Nemegtosaurus_. (_N_. is known only from a skull, and _O_. is known from a skeleton with the head and neck missing.) The presence of opisthocoelous caudals in at least two titanosaurs (_Opisthocoelicaudia_, _Rinconsaurus_) reinforces the point that titanosaur caudal vertebrae can show considerable diversity in their combination of articular surfaces.


In any case, having opisthocoelous proximal caudals was never that bizarre, considering that the posterior dorsals of derived titanosaurs are also opisthocoelous.


Tim

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