Epachthosaurus

Epachthosaurus (meaning "heavy lizard") was a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous. It was a lithostrotian titanosaur. Its fossils have been found in Central and Northern Patagonia in South America.

Epachthosaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 95–90 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Cast mounted in rearing pose, Museo Egidio Feruglio
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Suborder:	†Sauropodomorpha
Clade:	†Sauropoda
Clade:	†Titanosauria
Clade:	†Lithostrotia
Genus:	†Epachthosaurus Powell, 1990
Type species
†Epachthosaurus sciuttoi Powell, 1990

Discovery and naming

The type species, E. sciuttoi, was described by Powell in 1990.[1] The bones assigned to it by Powell in 1990 were, originally, assigned to Antarctosaurus sp., and then to Argyrosaurus superbus?, before being named as a new taxon.[1]

The holotype specimen is MACN-CH 1317, which consists of an incomplete posterior dorsal vertebra.[1][2] Another specimen, the paratype MACN-CH 18689, consists of a cast of six articulated caudal vertebrae, the partial sacrum, and a fragmentary pubic peduncle from the right ilium.[2]

A nearly complete specimen referred to Epachthosaurus, UNPSJB-PV 920, was recovered during field research conducted as part of the project Los vertebrados de la Formación Bajo Barreal, Provincia de Chubut, Patagonia, Argentina by researchers from the Laboratorio de Paleontologia de Vertebrados of the Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia. The specimen, which is one of the most complete titanosaurian skeletons known, consists of a complete, well-preserved, and articulated skeleton only missing the skull, neck, four or five cranial dorsal vertebrae, and several distal caudals.[2]

Description

Skeleton cast, National Museum, Prague

The autapomorphies that distinguish Epachthosaurus from other genera are:[2] middle and caudal dorsal vertebrae with unique articular processes extending ventrolaterally from the hyposphene; a strongly developed intraprezygapophyseal lamina, and processes projecting laterally from the dorsal portion of the spinodiapophyseal lamina; hyposphene-hypantrum articulations in caudals 1–14; and a pedal phalangeal formula of 2-2-3-2-0. The genus shares the following apomorphies with various titanosaurians:[2] caudal vertebrae with ventrally expanded posterior centrodiapophyseal laminae; six sacral vertebrae; an ossified ligament or tendon above the sacral neural spines; procoelous proximal, middle, and distal caudal centra with well-developed distal articular condyles; semilunar sternal plates with cranioventral ridges; humeri with squared proximolateral margins and proximolateral processes; unossified carpals; greatly reduced manual phalanges; nearly horizontal, craniolaterally expanded iliac preacetabular processes; pubes proximodistally longer than ischia; and transversely expanded ischia.

Classification

Mount with alternate skull reconstruction

Epachthosaurus is considered to be the most basal titanosaurian known with procoelous caudal vertebrae.[2]

Below is a phylogenetical cladogram showing the position of Epachthosaurus within Titanosauria:[3]

Titanosauria	Phuwiangosaurus     Andesaurus     Argyrosauridae   Argyrosaurus     Paralititan       Aeolosauridae   Janenschia     Aeolosaurus         Santa Rosa indet.   Antarctosauridae   Isisaurus       Alamosaurus       Opisthocoelicaudia     Antarctosaurus     Argentinosaurus             Aegyptosaurus       Epachthosaurus       Nemegtosauridae       Lirainosaurus     Saltasauridae

The cladogram below follows Mocho et al. (2019), placing Epachthosaurus within Lithostrotia, instead of a basal titanosaur.[4]

Lithostrotia

Malawisaurus         Paludititan     Lohuecotitan         Epachthosaurus       Opisthocoelicaudiinae   Alamosaurus     Opisthocoelicaudia           Saltasaurinae   Neuquensaurus       Rocasaurus     Saltasaurus             Lirainosaurinae   Lirainosaurus       Atsinganosaurus     Ampelosaurus             Bonatitan         Rapetosaurus     Nemegtosaurus       Aeolosaurinae   Gondwanatitan     Aeolosaurus     Rinconsauria   Rinconsaurus       Muyelensaurus       Bonitasaura   Lognkosauria   Mendozasaurus     Futalognkosaurus

Paleoecology

Epachthosaurus is known from the early Late Cretaceous of the Bajo Barreal Formation. Other fauna from the formation include the basal chelid turtles Bonapartemys and Prochelidella, the abelisauroid Xenotarsosaurus, and an unidentified carnotaurine abelisaurid.[2] The Bajo Barreal Formation dates back to the late Cenomanian and early Turonian of the Cretaceous.[2] Other genera that lived alongside Epachthosaurus are Secernosaurus, Notohypsilophodon, Drusilasaura, Campylodoniscus, and Aniksosaurus, Sarmientosaurus.[5][6]

References

1. Powell, J (1990). "Epachthosaurus sciuttoi (gen. et sp. nov.) un dinosaurio sauropodo del Cretácico de Patagonia (provincia de Chubut, Argentina)". Actas del Congreso Argentino de Paleontologia y Bioestratigrafia. 5: 125–128.
2. Martínez, R.D.; Giménez, O.; Rodríguez, J.; Luna, M.; Lamanna, M.C. (2004). "An Articulated Specimen of the Basal Titanosaurian (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) Epachthosaurus scuittoni from the Early Late Cretaceous Bajo Barreal Formation of Chubut Province, Argentina" (PDF). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 24 (1): 107–120. doi:10.1671/9.1.
3. Klein, N.; Sander, P. M.; Stein, K.; Le Loeuff, J.; Carballido, J. L.; Buffetaut, E. (2012). Farke, Andrew A (ed.). "Modified Laminar Bone in Ampelosaurus atacis and Other Titanosaurs (Sauropoda): Implications for Life History and Physiology". PLoS ONE. 7 (5): e36907. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0036907. PMC 3353997. PMID 22615842.
4. Mocho P, Páramo A, Escaso F, Marcos-Fernández F, Vidal D, Ortega F. 2019. Titanosaurs from Lo Hueco (Campanian-Maastrichtian) reveal new information about the evolutionary history of European titanosaurs, pp. 111. In: The Palaeontological Association (ed.), 63rd Annual Meeting, 15th–21st December 2019, University of Valencia, Spain, Programme Abstracts, AGM papers
5. Martínez, Rubén D. F.; Lamanna, Matthew C.; Novas, Fernando E.; Ridgely, Ryan C.; Casal, Gabriel A.; Martínez, Javier E.; Vita, Javier R.; Witmer, Lawrence M. (26 April 2016). Joger, Ulrich (ed.). "A Basal Lithostrotian Titanosaur (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) with a Complete Skull: Implications for the Evolution and Paleobiology of Titanosauria". PLOS ONE. 11: e0151661. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0151661. PMC 4846048. PMID 27115989 – via PLOS One.
6. Weishampel, D.B.; Dodson, P.; Osmolska, H. (2004). The Dinosauria (Second ed.). University of California Press. pp. 300–400. ISBN -0-520-24209-2.