Aeolosaurini

Aeolosaurini is an extinct clade of titanosaurian dinosaurs known from the late Cretaceous period of Argentina and Brazil. Rodrigo M. Santucci and Antonio C. de Arruda-Campos (2011) in their cladistic analysis found Aeolosaurus, Gondwanatitan, Maxakalisaurus, Panamericansaurus and Rinconsaurus to be aeolosaurids.[1]

Aeolosaurini Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 93.5–66 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Maxakalisaurus skeleton
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Suborder:	†Sauropodomorpha
Clade:	†Sauropoda
Clade:	†Titanosauria
Clade:	†Lithostrotia
Clade:	†Aeolosaurini Franco-Rosas et al., 2004
Genera
†Aeolosaurus †Gondwanatitan †Overosaurus †Maxakalisaurus †Panamericansaurus †Shingopana

Aeolosaurini is characterized by several synapomorphies of the caudal vertebrae, such as angled centra, elongate prezygapophyses, and neural arches shifted anteriorly relative to the centra. In life, their tails may have been strongly curved downward as a result of these traits, which may have increased the force exerted by the caudofemoralis longus muscle in retracting the hindlimb.[2] Some aeolosaurins, such as Shingopana and Overosaurus, were relatively small compared to other titanosaurs,[3][4] whereas others, such as Aeolosaurus maximus, were large.[1]

Phylogeny

Aeolosaurini was defined by Franco-Rosas, Salgado, Rosas and Carvalho (2004) as the stem-based taxon that corresponds to the most-inclusive clade containing Aeolosaurus rionegrinus and Gondwanatitan faustoi, but not Saltasaurus loricatus and Opisthocoelicaudia skarzynskii. Below is a cladogram showing the phylogenetic relationships of Aeolosaurini-based Santucci and Arruda-Campos (2011), from Franca et al. (2016) on the left, and Silva et al. (2019) on the right.[1][5][6]

Lithostrotia   Malawisaurus       Muyelensaurus     Nemegtosauridae   Nemegtosaurus       Tapuiasaurus     Rapetosaurus       Saltasauroidea   Diamantinasaurus     Baurutitan     Isisaurus   Saltasauridae     Alamosaurus     Opisthocoelicaudia         Neuquensaurus     Saltasaurus       Aeolosaurini   Maxakalisaurus     Panamericansaurus     Rinconsaurus       Gondwanatitan       Aeolosaurus maximus       Aeolosaurus colhuehuapensis     Aeolosaurus rionegrinus

Maxakalisaurus     Tapuiasaurus     Trigonosaurus         Lirainosaurus       Ampelosaurus     Bonitasaura     Dreadnoughtus   Saltasauridae     Alamosaurus     Opisthocoelicaudia     Saltasaurinae   Neuquensaurus       Rocasaurus     Saltasaurus         Aeolosaurini   Rapetosaurus       Brasilotitan     Uberabatitan         Aeolosaurus maximus   Rinconsauria   Muyelensaurus     Rinconsaurus           Overosaurus       Gondwanatitan     Aeolosaurus colhuehuapensis     Aeolosaurus rionegrinus

References

1. Rodrigo M. Santucci; Antonio C. de Arruda-Campos (2011). "A new sauropod (Macronaria, Titanosauria) from the Adamantina Formation, Bauru Group, Upper Cretaceous of Brazil and the phylogenetic relationships of Aeolosaurini" (PDF). Zootaxa. 3085: 1–33.
2. da Silva Vidal, Luciano; Pereira, Paulo Victor Luiz Gomes da Costa; Tavares, Sandra; Brusatte, Stephen L.; Bergqvist, Lílian Paglarelli; Candeiro, Carlos Roberto dos Anjos (2020-04-13). "Investigating the enigmatic Aeolosaurini clade: the caudal biomechanics of Aeolosaurus maximus (Aeolosaurini/Sauropoda) using the neutral pose method and the first case of protonic tail condition in Sauropoda". Historical Biology: 1–21. doi:10.1080/08912963.2020.1745791.
3. Gorscak, Eric; O'Connor, Patrick M.; Roberts, Eric M.; Stevens, Nancy J. (2017-07-04). "The second titanosaurian (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the middle Cretaceous Galula Formation, southwestern Tanzania, with remarks on African titanosaurian diversity". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 37 (4): –1343250. doi:10.1080/02724634.2017.1343250.
4. Coria, Rodolfo A.; Filippi, Leonardo S.; Chiappe, Luis M.; García, Rodolfo; Arcucci, Andrea B. (2013-07-05). "Overosaurus paradasorum gen. et sp. nov. , a new sauropod dinosaur (Titanosauria: Lithostrotia) from the Late Cretaceous of Neuquén, Patagonia, Argentina". Zootaxa. 3683 (4): 357. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3683.4.2.
5. França, M.A.G.; Marsola, J.C.d A.; Riff, D.; Hsiou, A.S.; Langer, M.C. (2016). "New lower jaw and teeth referred to Maxakalisaurus topai (Titanosauria: Aeolosaurini) and their implications for the phylogeny of titanosaurid sauropods". PeerJ. 4: e2054. doi:10.7717/peerj.2054. PMC 4906671. PMID 27330853.
6. Silva, J.C.G. Jr.; Marinho, T.S.; Martinelli, A.G.; Langer, M.C. (2019). "Osteology and systematics of Uberabatitan ribeiroi (Dinosauria; Sauropoda): a Late Cretaceous titanosaur from Minas Gerais, Brazil". Zootaxa. 4577 (3): 401–438. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4577.3.1.