Puertasaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in South America during the Late Cretaceous Period. It is known from a single specimen recovered from sedimentary rocks of the Cerro Fortaleza Formation in southwestern Patagonia, Argentina, which probably is Campanian or Maastrichtian in age. The only species is Puertasaurus reuili. Described by the paleontologist Fernando Novas and colleagues in 2005, it was named in honor of Pablo Puerta and Santiago Reuil, who discovered and prepared the specimen. It consists of four well-preserved vertebrae, including one cervical, one dorsal, and two caudal vertebrae. Puertasaurus is a member of Titanosauria, the dominant group of sauropods during the Cretaceous. Puertasaurus was a very large animal. Its size is difficult to estimate due to the scarcity of its remains, but current estimates place it around 30 meters (98 feet) long and 50 metric tons (55 short tons) in mass. The largest of the four preserved bones is the dorsal vertebra, which at 1.68 meters (5 ft 6 in) wide is the broadest known vertebra of any sauropod. The Cerro Fortaleza Formation is of uncertain age, due to the inconsistency of stratigraphic nomenclature in Patagonia. When Puertasaurus was alive, the Cerro Fortaleza Formation would have been a humid, forested landscape. Puertasaurus would have shared its habitat with other dinosaurs, including another large sauropod, Dreadnoughtus, in addition to other reptiles and fish.
Discovery and naming The holotype and only known specimen of Puertasaurus reuili was discovered in the Santa Cruz Province of southern Patagonia, Argentina. The remains were recovered in Cerro Los Hornos, near the La Leona River, and were reported from the Cerro Fortaleza Formation (which, at the time, was referred to as the Pari Aike Formation). The holotype was discovered in a grey sandstone lens that also preserved the carbonized remains of cycads and conifers. It was given the specimen number of MPM 10002, and consists of four disarticulated vertebrae, specifically one cervical, one dorsal, and two caudal vertebrae (about 3% of the skeleton). Of this material, only the dorsal vertebra was complete. Most of the cervical vertebra was preserved, but only the centra of the caudal vertebrae are known. Puertasaurus reuilli was described by the paleontologists Fernando Novas, Leonardo Salgado, Jorge Calvo, and Federico Agnolin in 2005, and was named after the fossil hunters Pablo Puerta and Santiago Reuil, who discovered the holotype in January 2001 and prepared it afterwards. Its discovery was announced in July 2006, at the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences in Buenos Aires. Puertasaurus was the first discovered giant titanosaur that preserved cervical vertebrae.
Description
Size
Due to a lack of better material, the size of Puertasaurus is difficult to estimate. Novas estimated the new species was approximately 35 to 40 meters (115 to 131 ft) long and weighing between 80 and 100 metric tons (88 and 110 short tons). This would place it as one of the largest dinosaurs, only rivaled in size by its relative Argentinosaurus, which has been estimated at up to 39.7 meters (130 ft) in length and 90 metric tons (99 short tons) in mass. The discovery of the more complete Futalognkosaurus revealed that these previous estimates were likely too high, and suggested that giants such as Puertasaurus and Argentinosaurus were probably less than 33 meters (108 ft) long. In 2012, Thomas Holtz estimated Puertasaurus to have been potentially 30 meters (98 feet) long and 72.5-80 tonnes (80-88 short tons). In 2013, the entire neck was estimated to have been approximately 9 meters (30 feet) long by Mike Taylor and Matt Wedel. Later the same year, Scott Hartman made a reconstruction that suggests a total length of 27 meters (89 feet), slightly shorter than other estimates. In 2016, Gregory S. Paul estimated a length of 30 meters (98 feet) and a weight of at least 50 metric tons (55 short tons). In 2017, paleontologist José Carballido and his colleagues estimated its mass at roughly 60 metric tons (66 short tons), which was lighter than Patagotitan, a more complete giant sauropod. In 2019, Gregory S. Paul estimated the mass of Puertasaurus to be in the size range of Patagotitan at 45–55 tonnes (50–61 short tons).
Vertebrae
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