Katepensaurus
| Katepensaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
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|---|---|
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| Cervical vertebrae | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Superfamily: | †Diplodocoidea |
| Family: | †Rebbachisauridae |
| Subfamily: | † Limaysaurinae
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| Genus: | †Katepensaurus Ibiricu et al., 2013 |
| Type species | |
| †Katepensaurus goicoecheai Ibiricu et al., 2013
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Katepensaurus ("hole lizard") is an
sauropod dinosaur known from the Late Cretaceous of south-central Chubut Province of central Patagonia, Argentina
. It contains a single species, Katepensaurus goicoecheai.
Fossil record
The
metatarsal and an astragalus).[2] It represents an individual that was at least seven years old and had not finished growing when it died.[3] The Lower Member of the Bajo Barreal Formation is considered to date to the Cenomanian or Turonian age of the early Late Cretaceous. Additional rebbachisaurid specimens from the Bajo Barreal Formation have been described, including a cervical vertebra (UNPSJB-PV 1005), an isolated caudal vertebra (UNPSJB-PV 580), and a partial tail consisting of four incomplete caudal vertebrae and two chevrons (UNPSJB-PV 1004).[4] It is possible that these specimens also belong to Katepensaurus, although the available evidence is insufficient to determine their affinities more precisely than Rebbachisauridae.[1] Remains of a rebbachisaurid taxon distinct from Katepensaurus have been found in the Bajo Barreal Formation, and it is possible that these specimens belong to this other unnamed species.[5]
Discovery and naming
The only known specimen of Katepensaurus goicoecheai was collected from the "2005 Quarry" at Estancia Laguna Palacios, a ranch owner at which the
National University of the Patagonia San Juan Bosco regularly conducted field work. In 2013, Lucio M. Ibiricu, Gabriel A. Casal, Rubén Dario Martínez, Matthew C. Lamanna, Marcelo Luna and Leonardo Salgado described this specimen as representing a new genus and species, which they named Katepensaurus goicoecheai. The generic name is derived from Tehuelche katepenk, "hole", referring to a distinctive opening in the transverse processes of the dorsal vertebrae. The specific name honours Alejandro Goicoechea, the owner of the Estancia Laguna Palacios.[1] At the time the species was named, only three cervical vertebrae, three dorsal vertebrae, and two caudal vertebrae had been excavated and identified, but subsequent excavations conducted at the quarry uncovered additional bones from the same skeleton.[2]
Description
Katepensaurus is distinguished from other
postzygapophyses,[1] and a teardrop-shaped profile of the posterior articular surface of the centrum.[2]
Classification
Katepensaurus exhibits a combination of traits characteristic of
limaysaurines,[1] and its phylogenetic affinities are not certain. An analysis by Ibiricu and colleagues in 2015 recovered Katepensaurus as a limaysaurine;[2] in contrast, analyses by Fanti and colleagues in 2015 and Canudo and colleagues in 2018 recovered Katepensaurus as the basalmost rebbachisaurine.[6][7] Analyses by Mannion and colleagues in 2019 could not resolve the affinities of Katepensaurus precisely, and found differing results depending on their analysis protocol. In one of their analyses, Katepensaurus was recovered as a limaysaurine, but in the other, it was recovered outside Khebbashia, as a basal rebbachisaurid.[8]