Researchers working in Argentina have discovered a new long - necked , plant - eating titanosaur . The 95 - million - year - oldSarmientosaurus musacchioihad well developed sensory capabilities and a habitually downward - present snout . It ’s draw inPLOS ONEthis week .
Titanosaurs were some of the with child craniate to ever walk the planet . They were a character ofsauropoddinosaur that was passing diverse and abundant during the Cretaceous , and their fossils have been discovered around the world . However , their skulls have rarely been line up . There are at least 60 recognize titanosaurs , but only four of them are represented by nigh complete or even middling thoroughgoing skulls .
Now , using CT imaging , a team run by Rubén Martínez of Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco was able to study what they discover as a “ wonderfully - save grownup skull ” that was still articulated with associated bones . The nigh - complete skull , cervix vertebra , and the right costa of the anatomically primitive titanosaur was unearthed from Upper Cretaceous sandstone in the Bajo Barreal Formation of south - central Chubut Province in key Patagonia .
CT - based digital visualizations of the Sarmientosaurus skull with reconstructed brain endocase ( purple ) , inner pinna ( pink ) , and eye . It ’s shown here with its guess habitual forefront posture . Martínez RDF et al . , PLoS ONE 2016
The 43 - centimeter - retentive ( 16.9 - column inch ) cranium likely housed a minor brainiac relative to its gigantic body – which was distinctive of sauropods . Although , the squad did find evidence of sensory capabilities that may have been better than most other sauropods : Giant centre scope suggest they had beneficial vision , and the form of their inner pinna suggests they were well - tuned for hearing lower frequency airborne sounds .
to boot , the interior ear also point thatSarmientosaurushabitually check its head with the snout facing downwardly around 46 degrees . This downturned head posture likely help the whale feed on plants that grew low-spirited to the earth . Using its robust tooth , the dinosaur slice up up unfolding works , ferns , horsetails , and cycads .
The new genus name combines “ Sarmiento , ” for the area it was discovered in , with “ saurus , ” Greek for lizard . The species name honour the late Eduardo Musacchio of Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco .
life sentence Reconstruction Period of Sarmientosaurus musacchioi in its 95 - million - yr - old habitat in southerly Chubut Province , cardinal Patagonia , Argentina . Mark A. Klingler / Carnegie Museum of Natural History & WitmerLab / Ohio University
