Describer

Salgado & Carvalho 2008

Time

Cretaceous Late Maastrichtian

Classification

Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Sauropoda Titanosauria

Diet

Herbivore

Fossilsite

Marilia Formation, Serra da Galga Member, Uberaba County, Minas Gerais State. Bauru Basin, Brazil

Info

Etymology

Uberabatitan (meaning \\\\\\\"Uberaba titan\\\\\\\", in reference to where it was found. In honour of Luiz Carlos Borges Ribeiro, director of the Centro de Pesquisas Paleontolo´ gicas Lewellyn Price, for his consistent support of palaeontological research in Minas Gerais State.

Uberabatitan ribeiroi is the youngest titanosaur to have been recorded from the Bauru Basin. The autapomorphies that support the new species are:

1: Anterior and mid-cervicals with postzygodiapophyseal lamina (podl) segmented in zygapophyseal and diapophyseal laminae, of which the first extends rostrodorsally over the second
2: Mid-dorsals with a robust lateral lamina formed mainly by a diapophyseal lamina (probably homologous to the postzygodiapophyseal lamina), and, to a lesser extent, by a relic of the spinodiapophyseal lamina (spdl)
3: Mid (and probably posterior) dorsals with accessory neural laminae, which are lateral to the prespinal lamina, and probably homologous to the spinoprezygapophyseal laminae (sprl)
4: Mid-caudal centra with deeply excavated lateral faces
5: Pubis very thick and robust, with a very stout longitudinal crest on its external (ventral) face
6: Proximal end of the tibia with a prominent lateral protuberance, which articulates with an equally prominent medial knob of the fibula.

The titanosaurian assemblage at Uberaba includes, apart from U. ribeiroi, well-preserved specimens assigned to species of uncertain affinities (Trigonosaurus pricei and Baurutitan britoi), as well as a few vertebrae assigned to aeolosaurines.

Uberabatitan ribeiroi is represented by three partial specimens (A, B, and C), the most complete of which (A), has been chosen as the holotype. The more than sixty bones yielded by the quarry at site BR-050 B, collected during the past four years, were not initially linked to different individuals. For this reason, each bone was at first registered with its own catalogue number. In order to identify the different specimens, we have added an acronym following the original number; in the case of the holotype, the acronym is UrHo (Uberabatitan ribeiroi Holotype); for specimens B and C, UrB and UrC, respectively

Holotype

Specimen A (CPP-UrHo): CPP-1058-UrHo, 1057-UrHo, 914-UrHo, 919-UrHo (anterior cervical vertebrae); 1091-UrHo, 1104-UrHo (anterior cervical neural arches); 992-UrHo, 1023-UrHo (mid-cervical vertebrae); 993-UrHo, 915-UrHo (posterior cervical centra); 922-UrHo, 917-UrHo, 1081-UrHo, 921-UrHo, 929-UrHo, 1105-UrHo (cervical ribs); 1077-UrHo (anterior dorsal); 1068-UrHo (mid-dorsal neural arch); 923-UrHo (dorsal rib); 1099-UrHo (sacral centrum); 1079-UrHo (anterior caudal vertebra); 1017-UrHo (mid-caudal vertebra); 1009-UrHo, 1010-UrHo, 1011-UrHo, 1012-UrHo (posterior caudal vertebrae); 1056-UrHo (anterior haemal arch); 1006-UrHo (posterior haemal arch); 1027-UrHo (sternal plate); 1109-UrHo (right coracoid); 1030-UrHo (left humerus); 1032-UrHo (left radius); 911-UrHo (right radius); 1080-UrHo (right metacarpal); 1029-UrHo, 1103-UrHo (left and right pubes); 912-UrHo (left tibia); 1107-UrHo (left fibula); 1082-UrHo (left astragalus).

Referred material

Specimen B (CPP-UrB): CPP-1075-UrB, 1022-UrB (anterior cervical vertebrae); 1085-UrB (anterior mid-cervical vertebra); 994-UrB (mid-cervical vertebra); 1070-UrB (mid-cervical centrum); 1024-UrB, 1108-UrB (posterior cervical vertebrae); 918-UrB (cervical vertebra); 991-UrB (posterior cervical neural arch); 1014-UrB (posterior caudal vertebra); 1078-UrB (fragment of vertebra); 1065-UrB (dorsal rib); 1018-UrB (mid-caudal vertebra); 1019-UrB (mid-caudal vertebra);
1020-UrB (two fused mid-caudal vertebrae); 1008-UrB (posterior caudal centrum); 1005-UrB, 1003-UrB, 1004-UrB (haemal arches); 1120-UrB (left coracoid); 913-UrB (fragment of right pubis); 1026-UrB (fragment of ischium), 898-UrB (distal end of a right femur); 1106-UrB (left fibula). Specimen C (CPP-UrC): CPP-1116-UrC (mid-dorsal centrum); 894-UrC (partial right femur).

Type horizon and locality

Marilia Fomation, upper section of the Serra da Galga Member, site BR-050 B, Uberaba, Minas Gerais state, Brazil.

Diagnosis

Titanosaur presenting the following autapomorphies: (1) anterior and mid-cervicals with postzygodiapophyseal lamina (podl) segmented in two unconnected laminae, zygapophyseal and diapophyseal, of which the zygapophyseal segment extends rostrodorsally over the diapophyseal; (2) mid-dorsals with a robust composite lateral lamina formed mainly by a diapophyseal lamina, probably homologous to the postzygodiapophyseal lamina and, to a lesser extent, by a relic of spinodiapophyseal lamina (spdl); (3) mid (and possibly posterior) dorsals with neural accessory laminae parallel to the prespinal lamina, which are probably the spinoprezygapophyseal laminae (sprl); (4) mid-caudal centra with deeply excavated lateral faces; (5) pubis notably thick and robust, with a very stout longitudinal crest on its external (ventral) face; (6) proximal end of the tibia with a very robust lateral protuberance that articulates with an equally robust medial knob of the fibula.

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