FULL COMMUNICATION PALAEONTOLOGY A new lithostrotian titanosaur (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Early Cretaceous of Transbaikalia, Russia Alexander Averianov a, b and Pavel Skutschas c a Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya nab., 1, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russian Federation;
[email protected],
[email protected] b Department of Sedimentary Geology, Institute of Earth Sciences, Saint Petersburg State Univer- sity, 16th Liniya V. O., 29, St. Petersburg, 199178, Russian Federation c Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Saint Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya nab., 7–9, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russian Federation;
[email protected] Address correspondence and requests for materials to Alexander Averianov Abstract Tengrisaurus starkovi, gen. et sp. nov., is described based on three caudal verte- brae from the Lower Cretaceous (Barremian?) Murtoi Formation at Mogoito locality, near Gusinoe Lake in Buryatia, Russia. The new taxon is characterized by strongly procoelous anterior and middle caudal vertebrae, with strongly developed pre-epi- pophyses, highly pneumatic neural spine, and solid bone structure of the centrum. The reweighted phylogenetic analysis places the new taxon as a non-saltasau- rid lithostrotian titanosaur (Sauropoda). This is one of the oldest fossil records of Lithostrotia and Titanosauria, which suggests a long and unexplored evolution of titanosaurs in the Early Cretaceous of Asia. Keywords: Dinosauria, Sauropoda, Titanosauria, Lithostrotia, Early Cretaceous, Transbaikalia, Russia Citation: Averianov, A. and Skutschas, P. 2017. A new lithostrotian titanosaur (Dinosauria, Introduction Sauropoda) from the Early Cretaceous of Transbaikalia, Russia. Bio. Comm. 62(1): 6–18. The first Russian dinosaur, the theropod “Allosaurus” sibiricus, was found in the doi: 10.21638/11701/spbu03.2017.102 Lower Cretaceous strata of Transbaikalia (Riabinin, 1914; Ivanov, 1940).