Describer

Rich, Vickers-Rich, Gimenez, Cuneo, Puerta & Vacca, 1999

Time

Jurassic Late Kimmeridgian Tithonian

Classification

Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Sauropoda Cetiosauridae

Diet

Herbivore

Fossilsite

Cañadón Calcareo Formation, Chubut Province, Argentina

Info

Genus -Typespecies - Skin

Based on about 50 percent of a skeleton of one individual. The ten most posterior dorsal centra are not complete, lacking much of the neural arches, nonetheless it is their features which provide the most useful evidence regarding the affinities of Tehuelchesaurus benitezii.

Primarily on that basis, Tehuelchesaurus benitezii appears to have its closest affinities with the Chinese Middle Jurassic cetiosaur Omeisaurus tianfuensis.\\\\\\\"

Named after the Tehuelche Indians, who populate the locality where the type specimen was discovered, and Aldino Benitez, the discoverer of the specimen.

Originally described as hailing from the Canodon Asfalto Formation (Callovian; Rich et al., 1999) Rauhut, O.W.M. (2003). A dentary of Patagosaurus (Sauropoda) from the Middle Jurassic of Patagonia. Ameghiniana 40(3): 425-432 says it comes from the younger Cañadón Calcareo Formation (Kimmeridgian-Tithonian).