Rodolfo A. Coria, Leonardo S. Filippi, Luis M. Chiappe, Rodolfo García y Andrea B. Arcucci

A new lithostrotian sauropod, the small-sized Overosaurus paradasorum n. gen et sp. from the Anacleto Formation (Cam-panian, Late Cretaceous, Neuquén Group, Patagonia, Argentina) is here described. The specimen (MAU-Pv-CO-439) consists of a fully articulated vertebral series from the 10th cervical to the 20th caudal vertebra, the last cervical ribs, several dorsal ribs in articulation with their respective vertebrae, the complete right ilium and fragments of the left ilium. Overosaurus paradasorum is diagnosed by a unique combination of characters that includes (1) posterior cervical vertebrae with long pre- and postzygapophyses that project beyond the anterior and posterior borders of the centrum, respectively, (2) postspinal lamina absent in all dorsal neural spines, (3) wide and massive 9th and 10th caudal centra that are slightly exca-vated laterally and have relatively flat ventral surfaces, (4) laminar projection on the posterior border of the second and third dorsal rib, (5) ilium proportionally shorter anteroposteriorly and taller dorsoventrally than in other lithostrotians, and (6) the preacetabular process of the ilium strongly deflected laterally and with a ventrolaterally tapering end. Analysis of the phylogenetic relationships of Overosaurus places it within the Aeolosaurini, as the sister taxon of a monophyletic group formed by Aeolosaurus rionegrinus, A. maximus, Gondwanatitan faustoi and Pitekunsaurus macayai. Overosaurus is a new representative of a highly diversified assemblage of Campanian lithostrotians from Patagonia that includes both Aeolosaurini and saltasaurids (e.g. Saltasaurus, Neuquensaurus) this small new taxon falls within the low end of the size spectrum represented by these Late Cretaceous sauropods.

Coria, R. A., Filippi, L. S., Chiappe, L. M., García, R. & Arcucci, A. B. 2013. Overosaurus paradasorum gen. et sp. nov., a new sauropod dinosaur (Titanosauria: Lithostrotia) from the Late Cretaceous of Neuquén, Patagonia, Argentina. Zootaxa 3683 (4): 357-376.


 
Ariana Paulina Carabajal, Juliana Sterli, Johannes Müller y André Hilger

Turtles are one of the least explored clades regarding endocranial anatomy with few available descriptions of the brain and inner ear of extant representatives. In addition, the paleoneurology of extinct turtles is poorly known and based on only a few natural cranial endocasts. The main goal of this study is to provide for the first time a detailed description of the neuroanatomy of an extinct turtle, the Late Jurassic Plesiochelys etalloni, including internal carotid circulation, cranial endocast and inner ear, based on the first digital 3D reconstruction using micro CT scans. The general shape of the cranial endocast of P. etalloni is tubular, with poorly marked cephalic and pontine flexures. Anteriorly, the olfactory bulbs are clearly differentiated suggesting larger bulbs than in any other described extinct or extant turtle, and indicating a higher capacity of olfaction in this taxon. The morphology of the inner ear of P. etalloni is comparable to that of extant turtles and resembles those of slow-moving terrestrial vertebrates, with markedly low, short and robust semicircular canals, and a reduced lagena. In P. etalloni the arterial pattern is similar to that found in extant cryptodires, where all the internal carotid branches are protected by bone. As the knowledge of paleoneurology in turtles is scarce and the application of modern techniques such as 3D reconstructions based on CT scans is almost unexplored in this clade, we hope this paper will trigger similar investigations of this type in other turtle taxa.

 
Carabajal AP, Sterli J, Müller J, Hilger A (2013) Neuroanatomy of the Marine Jurassic Turtle Plesiochelys etalloni (Testudinata, Plesiochelyidae). PLoS ONE 8(7): e69264. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0069264

;;