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Dreadnoughtus ("fearing nothing"[1]) is a genus of giant titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Argentina. It was described in 2014 and is the most complete giant titanosaur yet known.
Description
Classification
From a cladistic analysis, Dreadnoughtus appears to be a basal titanosaur. However, its exact placement within Titanosauria is uncertain, and it may be placed into widely varying positions within the group in the future.
The following is a cladogram from Lacovara et al. 2014:[1]
| Sauropodomorpha |
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History
The two specimens of Dreadnoughtus were discovered by a team led by Kenneth Lacovara in the Cerro Fortaleza Formation in Patagonia in 2005. It took four years to fully excavate the skeletons, and the bones were sent to the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh to be prepared.
Dreadnoughtus was described on September 4th, 2014, accompanied by extensive press release. The genus name refers to the early 20th century type of battleship, alluding to the massive size of the creature, and the species name refers to Adam Schran, who supported the project.[1]
Paleoecology
Paleobiology
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lacovara, Kenneth J.; Ibiricu, L.M.; Lamanna, M.C.; Poole, J.C.; Schroeter, E.R.; Ullmann, P.V.; Voegele, K.K.; Boles, Z.M.; Egerton, V.M.; Harris, J.D.; Martínez, R.D.; Novas, F.E. (September 4, 2014). "A Gigantic, Exceptionally Complete Titanosaurian Sauropod Dinosaur from Southern Patagonia, Argentina". Scientific Reports. doi:10.1038/srep06196.