Patagopelta

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Patagopelta
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Ornithischia
Clade: Thyreophora
Clade: Ankylosauria
Clade: Parankylosauria (?)
Genus: Patagopelta
Riguetti et al., 2022
Species:
P. cristata
Binomial name
Patagopelta cristata
Riguetti et al., 2022

Patagopelta (meaning "Patagonian shield") is an extinct genus of ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (upper Campanian–lower Maastrichtian) Allen Formation of Argentina. The genus contains a single species, P. cristata, known from a partial skeleton. While originally described as a nodosaurine, later discoveries provided support for parankylosaurian affinities for the taxon. Patagopelta is a very small ankylosaur, comparable in size to the dwarf nodosaurid Struthiosaurus , about 2 m (6.6 ft) long.

Discovery and naming

The Patagopelta fossil material was found in sediments of the Allen Formation (Salitral Moreno locality) near General Roca, Río Negro Province, Argentina. This locality is dated to the upper Campanian to lower Maastrichtian ages of the Late Cretaceous period. The first remains were described in 1996 and often appeared in the literature as the "Argentinian ankylosaur". [1] [2] The fossil material consists of various osteoderms, a tooth, dorsal and caudal vertebrae, and femora. The Patagopelta holotype specimen, MPCA-SM-78, is represented by a cervical half-ring element. [3]

New remains described in 2022 allowed Patagopelta cristata to be described as a new genus and species of nodosaurine dinosaurs by Facundo Riguetti, Xabier Pereda-Suberbiola, Denis Ponce, Leonardo Salgado, Sebastián Apesteguía, Sebastián Rozadilla, and Victoria Arbour. The generic name, "Patagopelta", is derived from "Patago", a reference to the discovery of the taxon in Argentinian Patagonia, and the Greek word "pelta", meaning "shield". The specific name, "cristata", means "crested" in Latin, referring to the large crests on its cervical osteoderms and femur. [3]

Classification

In their phylogenetic analyses, Riguetti et al. (2022) recovered Patagopelta as a member of the Nodosaurinae, within a clade of entirely North American nodosaurids from the middle of the Cretaceous period, in contrast to previous analyses that recovered it in the Panoplosaurini. [4] In either case, these results would suggest that nodosaurids were part of a migration event of North American fauna into South America. The cladogram below displays the results of their phylogenetic analyses. [3]

Nodosauridae

A study published in 2024 by Agnolín and colleagues reviewed vertebrate fossils from the Cerro Fortaleza Formation and similar Patagonian formations. They mentioned new findings that suggest that Patagopelta may actually represent a parankylosaurian, similar to ankylosaurs like Antarctopelta rather than nodosaurids. [5] In their 2024 redescription of Antarctopelta , Soto Acuña, Vargas & Kaluza further elaborated on this, explaining that the discovery of additional fossil material allowed for a rescoring of its characters in their phylogenetic matrix. Based on these updates, they recovered Patagopelta within the Parankylosauria, along with other Cretaceous Gondwanan ankylosaurs. Their results are displayed in the cladogram below: [6]

Ankylosauria

Paleoecology

Patagopelta is known from the Late Cretaceous Allen Formation of Río Negro Province, Argentina. Many other dinosaurs, including titanosaurs ( Aeolosaurus , Bonatitan , Menucocelsior , Panamericansaurus , Pellegrinisaurus , and Rocasaurus ), hadrosaurids ( Bonapartesaurus , Kelumapusaura , and Lapampasaurus ), abelisaurids ( Niebla and Quilmesaurus ), dromaeosaurids ( Austroraptor ), and alvarezsaurids ( Bonapartenykus ), have been named from the formation. Birds ( Lamarqueavis and Limenavis ), pterosaurs ( Aerotitan ), rhynchocephalians ( Lamarquesaurus ), plesiosaurs ( Kawanectes ), and dryolestoid and gondwanathere mammals have also been described from the formation. [3] [7] [8]

Dinosaur fauna of the Allen Formation (Patagopelta in red, center right) Allen Formation Fauna.png
Dinosaur fauna of the Allen Formation (Patagopelta in red, center right)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ankylosauria</span> Extinct order of dinosaurs

Ankylosauria is a group of herbivorous dinosaurs of the clade Ornithischia. It includes the great majority of dinosaurs with armor in the form of bony osteoderms, similar to turtles. Ankylosaurs were bulky quadrupeds, with short, powerful limbs. They are known to have first appeared in the Middle Jurassic, and persisted until the end of the Cretaceous Period. The two main families of Ankylosaurs, Nodosauridae and Ankylosauridae are primarily known from the Northern Hemisphere, but the more basal Parankylosauria are known from southern Gondwana during the Cretaceous.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nodosauridae</span> Extinct family of dinosaurs

Nodosauridae is a family of ankylosaurian dinosaurs, from the Late Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous period in what is now North America, South America, Europe, and Asia.

<i>Secernosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Secernosaurus is a genus of herbivorous dinosaur. Secernosaurus was a hadrosaur, a "duck-billed" dinosaur which lived during the Late Cretaceous.

<i>Texasetes</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Texasetes is a genus of ankylosaurian dinosaurs from the late Lower Cretaceous of North America. This poorly known genus has been recovered from the Paw Paw Formation near Haslet, Tarrant County, Texas, which has also produced the nodosaurid ankylosaur Pawpawsaurus.

<i>Lametasaurus</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

Lametasaurus named for the Lameta Formation, Jabalpur, India, is the generic name given to a possibly chimeric dinosaur species. The type species is L. indicus.

The Huincul Formation is a geologic formation of Late Cretaceous age of the Neuquén Basin that outcrops in the Mendoza, Río Negro and Neuquén Provinces of northern Patagonia, Argentina. It is the second formation in the Río Limay Subgroup, the oldest subgroup within the Neuquén Group. Formerly that subgroup was treated as a formation, and the Huincul Formation was known as the Huincul Member.

The Los Alamitos Formation is a geological formation of the North Patagonian Massif in Rio Negro Province, northwestern Patagonia, Argentina, whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allen Formation</span> Geological formation in Argentina

The Allen Formation is a geological formation in Argentina whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous (middle Campanian to early Maastrichtian. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation. Indeterminate chelid remains and other vertebrates have also been discovered in this formation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chorrillo Formation</span> Geologic formation in southern Patagonia, Argentina

The Chorrillo Formation, also named as Chorillo Formation, is a Maastrichtian geologic formation in southern Patagonia, Argentina. The formation is more than 50 metres (160 ft) thick and underlies the Calafate Formation and rests on top of the La Irene Formation.

<i>Bonapartenykus</i> A large alvarezsauroid dinosaur

Bonapartenykus is a monospecific genus of alvarezsauroid dinosaur from Argentina that lived during the Late Cretaceous (Campanian-Maastrichtian) in what is now the upper Allen Formation of the Río Negro Province. The type and only species, Bonapartenykus ultimus, is known from a nearly articulated but partial skeleton that was found in close association to two incomplete eggs and several clusters of eggshells belonging to the oogenus Arriagadoolithus. Bonapartenykus was named in 2012 by Federico L. Agnolin, Jaime E. Powell, Fernando E. Novas and Martin Kundrát. Bonapartenykus has an estimated length of 2.5 m (8.2 ft) and weight of 72 kg (159 lb), making it the largest member of the clade Alvarezsauroidea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kritosaurini</span> Extinct clade of dinosaurs

Kritosaurini is a tribe of saurolophine hadrosaurid dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous.

<i>Niebla antiqua</i> Extinct species of dinosaur

Niebla is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period (Campanian-Maastrichtian) of Río Negro province, Argentina. The genus contains a single species, Niebla antiqua, and is known from a partial, non-articulated skeleton. The holotype, found in the Allen Formation, represents an adult individual.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parankylosauria</span> Extinct group of dinosaurs

Parankylosauria is a group of basal ankylosaurian dinosaurs known from the Cretaceous of South America, Antarctica, and Australia. It is thought the group split from other ankylosaurs during the mid-Jurassic period, despite this being unpreserved in the fossil record.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Panoplosaurini</span>

Panoplosaurini is a clade of nodosaurid ankylosaurs from the Cretaceous of North America and South America. The group is defined as the largest clade containing Panoplosaurus mirus, but not Nodosaurus textilis or Struthiosaurus austriacus, and was named in 2021 by Madzia and colleagues for the group found in many previous analyses, both morphological and phylogenetic. Panoplosaurini includes not only the Late Cretaceous Panoplosaurus, Denversaurus and Edmontonia, but also the mid Cretaceous Animantarx and Texasetes, as well as Patagopelta. However, in the study describing it, its authors only placed it as a nodosaurine outside Panoplosaurini. The approximately equivalent clade Panoplosaurinae, named in 1929 by Franz Nopcsa, but was not significantly used until Robert Bakker reused the name in 1988, alongside the new clades Edmontoniinae and Edmontoniidae, which were considered to unite Panoplosaurus, Denversaurus and Edmontonia to the exclusion of other ankylosaurs. As none of the clades were commonly used, or formally named following the PhyloCode, Madzia et al. named Panoplosaurini instead, as the group of taxa fell within the clade Nodosaurinae, and having the same -inae suffix on both parent and child taxon could be confusing in future. The 2018 phylogenetic analysis of Rivera-Sylva and colleagues was used as the primary reference for Panoplosaurini by Madzia et al., in addition to the supplemental analyses of Arbour et al. (2016), Brown et al. (2017), and Zheng et al. (2018).

<i>Huallasaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaur

Huallasaurus is an extinct genus of saurolophine hadrosaur from the Late Cretaceous Los Alamitos Formation of Patagonia in Argentina. The type and only species is H. australis. Originally named as a species of Kritosaurus in 1984, it was long considered a synonym of Secernosaurus before being recognized as its own distinct genus in a 2022 study, different from other members of Kritosaurini.

<i>Kelumapusaura</i> Extinct genus of dinosaur

Kelumapusaura is a genus of saurolophine hadrosaur from the Late Cretaceous Allen Formation in what is now Patagonia in Argentina. The type and only species is K. machi, known from a bonebed of various individuals.

<i>Maip</i> Genus of megaraptoran dinosaurs

Maip is a genus of large megaraptorid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Chorrillo Formation of Santa Cruz, Argentina. The genus contains a single species, M. macrothorax, known from an incomplete, disarticulated skeleton. Maip may represent the largest megaraptorid known from South America, and possibly the world.

<i>Yatenavis</i> Extinct genus of birds

Yatenavis is an extinct genus of enantiornithine bird from the Late Cretaceous Chorrillo Formation of Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. The genus contains a single species, Y. ieujensis, known from a partial humerus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austrokritosauria</span> Extinct clade of hadrosaurid dinosaurs

Austrokritosauria is an extinct clade of saurolophine dinosaurs known from the Late Cretaceous of South America. The clade provides evidence of a faunal exchange from North America during the Cretaceous.

<i>Chakisaurus</i> Extinct genus of ornithopod dinosaurs

Chakisaurus is an extinct genus of elasmarian ornithopod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Huincul Formation of Argentina. The genus contains a single species, C. nekul, known from multiple partial skeletons belonging to individuals of different ages. Chakisaurus represents the first ornithischian species to be named from the Huincul Formation.

References

  1. Rivera-Sylva, H.E.; Frey, E.; Stinnesbeck, W.; Carbot-Chanona, G.; Sanchez-Uribe, I.E.; Guzmán-Gutiérrez, J.R. (2018). "Paleodiversity of Late Cretaceous Ankylosauria from Mexico and their phylogenetic significance". Swiss Journal of Palaeontology. 137 (1): 83–93. doi: 10.1007/s13358-018-0153-1 . ISSN   1664-2376. S2CID   134924657.
  2. Frauenfelder, Timothy G.; Bell, Phil R.; Brougham, Tom; Bevitt, Joseph J.; Bicknell, Russell D. C.; Kear, Benjamin P.; Wroe, Stephen; Campione, Nicolás E. (2022-03-28). "New Ankylosaurian Cranial Remains From the Lower Cretaceous (Upper Albian) Toolebuc Formation of Queensland, Australia". Frontiers in Earth Science. 10. doi: 10.3389/feart.2022.803505 . ISSN   2296-6463.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Riguetti, Facundo; Pereda-Suberbiola, Xabier; Ponce, Denis; Salgado, Leonardo; Apesteguía, Sebastián; Rozadilla, Sebastián; Arbour, Victoria (2022-12-31). "A new small-bodied ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of North Patagonia (Río Negro Province, Argentina)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 20 (1): 2137441. doi:10.1080/14772019.2022.2137441. ISSN   1477-2019. S2CID   254212751.
  4. Madzia, D.; Arbour, V.M.; Boyd, C.A.; Farke, A.A.; Cruzado-Caballero, P.; Evans, D.C. (2021). "The phylogenetic nomenclature of ornithischian dinosaurs". PeerJ. 9: e12362. doi: 10.7717/peerj.12362 . PMC   8667728 . PMID   34966571.
  5. Agnolín, Federico L.; Álvarez Herrera, Gerardo; Rolando, Mauro Aranciaga; Motta, Matías; Rozadilla, Sebastián; Verdiquio, Lucía; D'Angelo, Julia S.; Moyano-Paz, Damián; Varela, Augusto N.; Sterli, Juliana; Bogan, Sergio; Miner, Santiago; Moreno Rodríguez, Ana; Muñoz, Gonzalo; Isasi, Marcelo P.; Novas, Fernando E. (2024). "Fossil vertebrates from the Cerro Fortaleza Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Santa Cruz Province, Argentina". Cretaceous Research . 154. 105735. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105735.
  6. Soto Acuña, Sergio; Vargas, Alexander O.; Kaluza, Jonatan (2024). "A new look at the first dinosaur discovered in Antarctica: reappraisal of Antarctopelta oliveroi (Ankylosauria: Parankylosauria)". Advances in Polar Science. 35 (1): 78–107. doi: 10.12429/j.advps.2023.0036 .
  7. Aranciaga Rolando, Mauro; Cerroni, Mauricio A.; Garcia Marsà, Jordi A.; Agnolín, Federico l.; Motta, Matías J.; Rozadilla, Sebastián; Brisson Eglí, Federico; Novas, Fernando E. (2020-10-14). "A new medium-sized abelisaurid (Theropoda, Dinosauria) from the late cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Allen Formation of Northern Patagonia, Argentina". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 105: 102915. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2020.102915. hdl: 11336/150468 . ISSN   0895-9811. S2CID   225123133.
  8. Rozadilla, Sebastián; Brissón-Egli, Federico; Lisandro Agnolín, Federico; Aranciaga-Rolando, Alexis Mauro; Novas, Fernando Emilio (2022). "A new hadrosaurid (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Late Cretaceous of northern Patagonia and the radiation of South American hadrosaurids". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 19 (17): 1207–1235. doi:10.1080/14772019.2021.2020917. S2CID   247122005.