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Article: A new Upper Cretaceous titanosaur nesting site from La Rioja (NW Argentina), with implications for titanosaur nesting strategies

Palaeontology Cover Image - Volume 59 Part 3
Publication: Palaeontology
Volume: 59
Part: 3
Publication Date: May 2016
Page(s): 433 446
Author(s): E. Martín Hechenleitner, Lucas E. Fiorelli, Gerald Grellet‐Tinner, Léa Leuzinger, Giorgio Basilici, Jeremías R. A. Taborda, Sergio R. Vega, and Carlos A. Bustamante
Addition Information

How to Cite

HECHENLEITNER, E.M., FIORELLI, L.E., GRELLET‐TINNER, G., LEUZINGER, L., BASILICI, G., TABORDA, J.R.A., VEGA, S.R., BUSTAMANTE, C.A. 2016. A new Upper Cretaceous titanosaur nesting site from La Rioja (NW Argentina), with implications for titanosaur nesting strategies. Palaeontology, 59, 3, 433-446. DOI: 10.1111/pala.12234

Author Information

  • E. Martín Hechenleitner - Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja (CRILAR‐CONICET) Anillaco La Rioja Argentina (Email: emhechenleitner@gmail.com)
  • Lucas E. Fiorelli - Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja (CRILAR‐CONICET) Anillaco La Rioja Argentina
  • Gerald Grellet‐Tinner - Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja (CRILAR‐CONICET) Anillaco La Rioja Argentina
  • Gerald Grellet‐Tinner - Orcas Island Historical Museum Eastsound WA USA
  • Léa Leuzinger - Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja (CRILAR‐CONICET) Anillaco La Rioja Argentina
  • Giorgio Basilici - Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja (CRILAR‐CONICET) Anillaco La Rioja Argentina
  • Giorgio Basilici - UNICAMP, Cidade Universitária Instituto de Geociências Campinas Brazil
  • Jeremías R. A. Taborda - Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘Bernardino Rivadavia’ Sección Paleontología de Vertebrados Buenos Aires Argentina
  • Sergio R. Vega - Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja (CRILAR‐CONICET) Anillaco La Rioja Argentina
  • Carlos A. Bustamante - Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja (CRILAR‐CONICET) Anillaco La Rioja Argentina

Publication History

  • Issue published online: 19 April 2016
  • Article first published online: 01 January 1970
  • Manuscript Accepted: 22 January 2016
  • Manuscript Received: 05 December 2015

Funded By

CONICET
Jurassic Foundation
Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica. Grant Number: PICT 2012‐0421
FAPESP. Grant Number: 2012/23209‐0
Municipio A.V. Peñaloza, La Rioja

Online Version Hosted By

Wiley Online Library
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Abstract

Cretaceous titanosaur nesting sites are currently known only from Europe, Asia and South America. In the latter, only the Auca Mahuevo and Sanagasta nesting sites have been confidently assigned to this clade of sauropod dinosaurs. Here we report the discovery of the first eggs and egg clutches found at Tama, a new Upper Cretaceous fossiliferous locality in the Los Llanos Formation, Sierra de Los Llanos (La Rioja, NW Argentina). At least five egg clutches, several partially preserved, isolated eggs and many eggshell fragments were discovered in a single outcrop of a sandstone horizon which represents a cumulative palaeosol profile. Although the mechanical and digital preparation of eggs did not reveal any embryonic remains in ovo, the morphology of the eggs and eggshells closely matches that of titanosaur eggs and eggshells found worldwide. The morphology and spatial grouping of the titanosaur eggs from Tama, along with geological observations support a burrow‐nesting strategy for these dinosaurs. Although the Sanagasta and Tama eggs were found in the same stratigraphical unit and share several morphological characters, they clearly differ in shell thickness and egg size. This, coupled with the interpretation of different sedimentary contexts for these nesting sites, strongly suggests that at least two different titanosaur species nested in La Rioja during the Late Cretaceous, using different nesting strategies. The occurrence of this new titanosaur nesting site in a semiarid palaeoenvironment represents an interesting case study for the reproductive biology of the titanosaur dinosaurs, particularly their labile nesting behaviour.

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