Aeolosaurini

Aeolosaurini
Temporal range: Cretaceous, 110–66 Ma
Maxakalisaurus skeleton
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: †Sauropodomorpha
Clade: †Sauropoda
Clade: †Macronaria
Clade: †Titanosauria
Clade: †Lithostrotia
Clade: †Aeolosaurini
Franco-Rosas et al., 2004
Genera[3]

Aeolosaurini is an extinct clade of titanosaurian dinosaurs known from the 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.[4]

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.[5] Some aeolosaurins, such as Shingopana and Overosaurus, were relatively small compared to other titanosaurs,[6][7] whereas others, such as Aeolosaurus maximus, were large.[4]

  1. ^ Silva, J.C. jr.; Martinelli, A.G.; Iori, F.V.; Marinho, T.S.; Hechenleitner, E.M.; Langer, M.C. (2021). "Reassessment of Aeolosaurus maximus, a titanosaur dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Southeastern Brazil". Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. 34 (3): 403–411. doi:10.1080/08912963.2021.1920016. S2CID 235526860.
  2. ^ Gorscak, E.; O'Connor, P.M.; Roberts, E.M.; Stevens, N.J. (2017). "The second titanosaurian (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the middle Cretaceous Galula Formation, southwestern Tanzania, with remarks on African titanosaurian diversity". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 361 (4): 35–55. Bibcode:2017JVPal..37E3250G. doi:10.1080/02724634.2017.1343250. S2CID 90885040.
  3. ^ Santucci, R.M.; Filippi, L.S. (2022). "Last Titans: Titanosaurs From the Campanian–Maastrichtian Age". In Otero, A.; Carballido, J.L.; Pol, D. (eds.). South American Sauropodomorph Dinosaurs. Record, Diversity and Evolution. Springer. pp. 341–391. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-95959-3. ISBN 978-3-030-95958-6. ISSN 2197-9596. S2CID 248368302.
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Santucci2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference daSilvaVidal2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gorscak2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Coria2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).