[D] Bonatitan reigi [sG] [T]
Describer
Martinelli & Forasiepi, 2004
Time
Cretaceous Late Campanian Maastrichtian
Classification
Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Sauropoda Titanosauria
Diet
Herbivore
Fossilsite
Rio Colorado Formation (Allen Fm.), Bajo de Santa Rosa area , Provincia de Rio Negro, Patagonia, Argentina
Length
6 meter
Info
Genus - Typespecies
The small saltasaurine titanosaurid, Bonatitan reigi gen. et sp. nov.,known from two incomplete skeletons is diagnosed by the following association of characters: 1) longitudinal groove located on the suture between parietals that continues posteriorly over the supraoccipital to the foramen magnum; 2) basisphenoid tubera long and narrow; 3) dorsal to middle caudal vertebrae with deep oval to circular pits present on both sides of the prespinal lamina; 4) anterior caudal vertebra with spino-postzygapophysial and spino-prezygapophysial laminae 5) neural arch of anterior caudals with deep interzygapophysial fossae with numerous pits; 6) anterior caudal vertebra with an accessory sub-horizontal lamina extending from the antero-ventral portion of the postzygapophysis to the mid-portion of the spino-prezygapophysial lamina; and finally, 7) anterior caudal vertebra with a prominent axial crest on the ventral surface of the centrum. Bonatitan is a small (about 6 m) very lightly constructed sauropod, with cavities even in the caudal vertebrae.