Tengrisaurus

Tengrisaurus (meaning "Tengri lizard") is a genus of lithostrotian sauropod, from the Early Cretaceous (Barremian-Aptian), of the Murtoi Formation, Russia. It was described in 2017 by Averianov & Skutschas. The type species is T. starkovi.[1]

Tengrisaurus Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 127–119 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Suborder:	†Sauropodomorpha
Clade:	†Sauropoda
Clade:	†Titanosauria
Clade:	†Lithostrotia
Genus:	†Tengrisaurus Averianov & Skutschas, 2017
Type species
†Tengrisaurus starkovi Averianov & Skutschas, 2017

Description

Tengrisaurus starkovi is based on three caudal vertebrae. The genus is characterized by strongly procoelous anterior and middle caudal vertebrae, with strongly developed pre-epipophyses, highly pneumatic neural spine, and solid bone structure of the centrum.[1]

Classification

Amerianov and Efimov (2019) recovered Tengrisaurus as a lithostrotian titanosaur. They found Lithostrotia to be divided into two main lineages, one containing Saltasauridae, the other containing Lognkosauria, with Tengrisaurus belonging to the former. The following cladogram follows their analysis.[2]

Lithostrotia	Malawisaurus         Aeolosaurus     Nemegtosaurus     Rapetosaurus     Tapuiasaurus     Tengrisaurus       Isisaurus     Saltasauridae           Pitekunsaurus     Volgatitan       Epachthosaurus       Muyelensaurus     Rinconsaurus     Lognkosauria

References

1. Averianov, A.; Skutschas, P. (2017). "A new lithostrotian titanosaur (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Early Cretaceous of Transbaikalia, Russia". Biological Communications. 62 (1): 6–18. doi:10.21638/11701/spbu03.2017.102.
2. Averianov, Alexander; Efimov, Vladimir (2018). "The oldest titanosaurian sauropod of the Northern Hemisphere". Biological Communications. 63 (6): 145–162. doi:10.21638/spbu03.2018.301.