rebbachisaurid paper and La Butrera fieldtrip fundings

[Sebastian Apesteguia <sebapesteguia@yahoo.com.ar>]

Dear Jaime
I never expected to hear that a rebbachisaurid would
be a "less controversial" taxon!
That sound a little bit strange for us (Leo Salgado,
Pablo Gallina and I am sure also Jeff Wilson)
considering that the family was named only 10 years
ago and we had no idea about how common they were in
Gondwanan Cretaceous ecosystems. Actually Pablo and I
wrote an abstract in 2002, calling them "elephants
under the carpet" considering "how we didn't saw
them!"
I think this is related to the fact that they are
giants with papery bones. At least in Nigersaurus,
they are full of laminae and cavities as I've never
seen before in a sauropod.
On the other side, South American rebbs are also very
pneumatized but not as much as Nigersaurus. This is
probably teh reason why we almost have no skulls.

No, take it easy, about La Buitrera, is far from being
exhausted. However, I actually didn't make a 2006
exploration because my dear jurassic Foundation, which
funded all the previous trips to La Buitrera, this
year decided not provide money for my 2006 fieldtrip,
what is perfectly understandable but sad for us. 
So we'll have to wait one more year for additional
discoveries. Anyway, we still have some new stuff in
preparation (furry balls and webby wings!).

I'm sending you the paper in minutes. Sebastian



Lic. Sebastian Apesteguia
Seccion Paleontologia de Vertebrados
Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales 'B. Rivadavia'
Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA
www.paleoninjapesteguia.com.ar

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