Temporal range: Barremian-Early Aptian ~129.4–123 Ma
PreꞒ
Ꞓ
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Skeletal reconstruction, known material in teal
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Clade:
Dinosauria
Clade:
Saurischia
Clade:
†Sauropodomorpha
Clade:
†Sauropoda
Superfamily:
†Diplodocoidea
Family:
†Dicraeosauridae
Genus:
†Amargatitanis Apesteguía 2007
Species:
†A. macni
Binomial name
†Amargatitanis macni
Apesteguía 2007
Amargatitanis (meaning "Amarga giant") is a genus of dicraeosaurid sauropod dinosaur (a type of large, long-necked quadrupedal herbivorous dinosaur) from the Barremian-age (Lower Cretaceous) La Amarga Formation of Neuquén, Argentina. It is known from a single, incomplete postcranial skeleton consisting of a partial hindlimb, ischium, and two vertebrae. These remains were unearthed by Argentine paleontologist José Bonaparte in 1983 during an expedition by the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales and later described as a new genus and species, Amargatitanis macni by Sebastián Apesteguía. The genus name comes from the words Amarga, where the fossils were collected, and titanis meaning "titan". Its species name is in reference to the MACN (Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ), where the remains are stored.
Though initially thought to be a titanosaur, recent research has found it to be a dicraeosaurid, a group of short-necked, smaller sauropods. It reached around 12 meters (39.7 feet) long and 3.5 metric tons (3.9 short tons) according to one estimate. Like other dicraeosaurids, it has robust limbs, a long tail, and tall neural spines. However, much of its anatomy can only be inferred due to the lack of preserved bones. It lived in a diverse ecosystem that included higher browsing titanosauriforms and smaller, lower browsing dicraeosaurids like Amargatitanis itself.
paper, several phylogenetic studies have recovered Amargatitanis as a dicraeosaurid. Amargatitanis macni is known from a single specimen, the holotype...
Cretaceous have been described more recently, including Pilmatueia faundezi, Amargatitanis macni, and Bajadasaurus pronuspinax, which are all from Argentina. An...
Dyslocosaurus as a member of Dicraeosauridae. A 2016 reappraisal of Amargatitanis has placed it into the Dicraeosauridae, as well. In 2018 a new genus...
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