Mendozasaurus


Mendozasaurus is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur. It was a member of Titanosauria, which were massive sauropods that were common on the southern landmasses during the Cretaceous period. The titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur Mendozasaurus neguyelap is represented by several partial skeletons from a single locality within the Coniacian Sierra Barrosa Formation in the south of Mendoza Province, northern Neuquén Basin, Argentina.
The type species, Mendozasaurus neguyelap, was described by Argentine paleontologist Bernardo Javier González Riga in 2003. Mendozasaurus is the first dinosaur named from Mendoza Province, Argentina.

Description

This species belonged to the discovered clade Lognkosauria, a transitional group of titanosaurs which included the gigantic Futalognkosaurus and Puertasaurus. Like both of these animals, Mendozasaurus had a long neck with very wide cervical neural spines. Holtz estimated its length at. In 2010 Gregory S. Paul estimated Mendozasaurus at 20 meters in length and 16 tonnes in weight.

Classification

A phylogenetic analysis conducted by González Riga and colleagues in 2018 recovered Mendozasaurus as the most basal member of Lognkosauria, including Futalognkosaurus and the gigantic titanosaurs Argentinosaurus, Notocolossus, Patagotitan and Puertasaurus.
The following cladogram shows the position of Mendozasaurus in Lognkosauria according to González Riga and colleagues, 2018.