A milestone for the region’s paleontology has been confirmed Center for Applied Coastal Ecology (CECOAL, CONICET-UNNE): the first fossil record of one dinosaur for the province of Corrientes. The find corresponds to a specimen of Titanosaursa long-necked herbivorous sauropod dinosaur.
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The remains were found in sediments of the Solari Formation at a location between the cities Mercedes and Curuzú Cuatiá.
“It is a great find for the paleontology of Corrientes and the region,” the researchers emphasized, since the oldest records of vertebrates in the province so far correspond to mammals from around 25 million years ago.
The discovery was officially announced during the “Vth Scientific Conference on Ecology and Paleontology” organized by CECOAL UNNE.
Fossil details and identification process
The material was collected in mid-2023 as part of a prospecting campaign within the project led by Lionel Fernández Pacella. Pedro Cuaranta was the one who discovered the element, which turned out to be a Osteoderma bone plate that forms in the skin of certain animals.
The CECOAL team, also composed of Marcos Roig and Francisco Cuadrelli, worked with external specialists for almost two years to identify:
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Morphological analyzes and comparisons with materials deposited in other institutions were performed.
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Was used a Microtomography at the University of Córdoba to better characterize microanatomy.
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Ignacio Cerda, a specialist in the study of this type of materials, joined the team.
The studies allowed us to tentatively assign the osteoderm to the group Titanosaur sauropodswhich were very common in the southern hemisphere and have already been detected in Uruguay and Entre Ríos.
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Scientific relevance for the NEA
Although precise numerical dating of the specimen could not be performed, the material has been found in sandstones of the Solari Formation that have been dated elsewhere Early Cretaceous.
For the scientific team, the reliable detection of a dinosaur in Corrientes raises enormous expectations, opens new horizons for study and makes visible the potential of paleontology in the region Northeast Argentinawhere information about vertebrates from this period was missing.
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