AMEGHINIANA (Rev. Asoc. Paleontol. Argent.) - 44 (2): 473-477. Buenos Aires, 30-6-2007 ISSN 0002-7014 NOTA PALEONTOLÓGICA New records of basal ornithopod dinosaurs in the Cretaceous of North Patagonia Rodolfo A. CORIA1,3, Andrea V. CAMBIASO1 and Leonardo SALGADO2,3 Introduction Systematic paleontology During the last decade, the record of non- DINOSAURIA Owen, 1842 hadrosaur ornithopod dinosaurs (collectively called ORNITISCHIA Seeley, 1887 in many texts as either basal iguanodontians or, in a ORNITHOPODA Marsh, 1871 more inclusive way, basal ornithopods) has been sig- IGUANODONTIA Dollo, 1888 nificantly increased. Current sampling of this group shows a wide range of preservation, from articulated Iguanodontia indet. to semi-articulated specimens (Coria and Salgado, Figures 2.A-E 1996a; Coria and Calvo, 2002; Novas et al., 2004) dis- articulated or incomplete (Martinez, 1998), to frag- Material. MCF-PVPH-479, almost complete right tibia, lacking the mentary or poorly preserved (Coria, 1999; Calvo and distal third. Porfiri, 2003). Provenance. South shore of Neuquén River, near the Despite of the relative amount of osteological in- Buena Esperanza water plant, 40 km north of Plaza formation in each specimen, the presence of basal or- Huincul, Neuquén Province, Argentina. Coordina- nithopods in South American Cretaceous rocks is tes: 38º S 69º W (figure 1). unquestionable. Basal ornithopods are virtually pan- Horizon. Candeleros Formation, Albian-Cenoma- Patagonian throughout the Late Cretaceous. nian (Ramos, 1981; Leanza et al., 2004). In this contribution, fragmentary limb elements Description. The specimen consists of a right tibia of basal ornithopod dinosaurs are reported from the that lacks the distal end (figures 2.A-D). The proxi- Candeleros and Allen formations respectively, both mal end of the bone is expanded anteroposteriorly from northern Patagonia (figure 1). The presence of with a robust cnemial crest as in most iguanodon- a basitrochanteric facet in the femoral shaft of tians (Norman and Weishampel, 1990). The crest of MEPyG-177 and the slender and narrow tibial shaft MCF-PVPH-479 is transversely thick (figures 2.C, of MCF-PVPH-479 allow to identify the specimens E), proportionally short dorsoventrally and strong- as basal non-hadrosaur ornithopods and extends ly curved laterally (figures 2.A, D, E). In medial the temporal range of this ornithischian dinosaur view, the cnemial crest of the specimen from the group, from the oldest (Cenomanian) record for the Candeleros Formation does not taper anteriorly as Neuquén Basin, to the youngest record (Cam- much as in other basal iguanodontians like panian-Maastrichtian) of the group for South Anabisetia (figures 2.D, D'). The fibular condyle on America. the lateral side of proximal end of the tibia is rela- tively more posterior in position than in Anabisetia Institutional abbreviations. MCF-PVPH, Museo Carmen Funes, Paleontología de Vertebrados, Plaza Huincul, Neuquén Province; (figures 2.E, E') and Gasparinisaura. MEPyG, Museo Educativo de Paleontología y Geología del The tibial shaft is wider anteroposteriorly than Instituto de Formación Docente Continua de General Roca, Río lateromedially as in most ornithopods (figures 2.A, Negro Province; USNM, United States Nacional Museum, C). Distally, the shaft expands transversely suggest- Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC. ing the distal end expanded as in most ornithopods. The bone has a narrow cavity. Iguanodontia indet. 1Museo Carmen Funes, Av. Córdoba 55, 8318 Plaza Huincul, Neuquén, Argentina. [email protected] Figure 2.F 2Museo de Geología y Paleontología, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Buenos Aires 1400, 8300 Neuquén, Argentina. Material. MEPyG-177, almost complete right femur. The speci- 3CONICET. Consejo Nacional de Investiones Científicas y Téc- men is crushed, collapsed anteroposteriorly, and lacks most of the nicas. distal end. ©Asociación Paleontológica Argentina AMGHB2-0002-7014/07$00.00+.50 474 R.A. Coria, A.V. Cambiaso and L. Salgado Figure 1. Map of the fossil localities. The areas where the bones were discovered are indicated by stars / mapa de las localidades fosilíferas. Las estrellas indican las áreas donde se realizaron los hallazgos. Provenance. Salitral Ojo de Agua, 80 km south of odonts (Norman and Weishampel, 1990) and is sig- General Roca, Río Negro Province, Argentina. nificantly shorter than the greater trochanter. As in Coordinates: 39º S, 67º W (figure 1). most ornithopods, there is no indication of fusion be- Horizon. Allen Formation (Campanian - Maastrich- tween the two trochanters, which is the apomorphic tian) (Hugo and Leanza, 2001). condition present in Gasparinisaura (Coria and Salga- Description. Although the specimen is badly cru- do, 1996a). shed, several features can be recognized. The femoral The femoral shaft collapsed anteroposteriorly by head is voluminous and projects laterally. The grea- postmortem pressure. However, on its medioposterior ter trochanter is convex dorsally, flat laterally and the side, a conspicuous basitrochanteric facet can be ob- uppermost edge levels with the dorsal surface of the served (figure 2.F'). It is proximal on the shaft, as in femoral head (figure 2.F). The anterior trochanter is most small-sized ornithopods like Hypsilophodon, flat transversely as it was mentioned for some iguan- Dryosaurus, Gasparinisaura and Anabisetia (Galton, Figure 2. Comparison of the right tibiae of the Candeleros Formation specimen (MCF-PVPH-479) and the right femur of the Allen Fm. specimen (MEPyG-177) (Iguanodontia indet.) with similar bones of Anabisetia saldiviai. A, B, C, D, E, MCF-PVPH-479, in A, lateral; B, caudal; C, cranial; D, medial and E, proximal views; A´, B´, C´, D´, E´, Anabisetia saldiviai; in A', lateral; B', caudal; C', cranial; D', me- dial and E', proximal views. F, F', MEPyG-177 in F, internal view of the femur and F', detail of the basitrochanteric fossa. G, G', G'', right femur of Anabisetia saldiviai in G, medial view, G', detail of the basitrochanteric fossa; H, Calibrated stratigraphic cladogram depict- ing the record of ornithopod dinosaurs from the Neuquén Basin and from other austral basins. The tibia MCF-PVPH- 479 is represent- ed by the number 1 and the femur MEPyG-177 by 2. Abbreviations: bf: basitrochanteric fossa, cc: cnemial crest, gt: greater trochanter, h: head, fc: fibular condyle. Scale bars: 10 cm / comparación de la tibia derecha del ejemplar de la Formación Candeleros (MCF-PVPH- 479) y el fémur derecho del ejemplar MEPyG-177 (Iguanodontia indet.) de la Fm. Allen con huesos correspondientes de Anabisetia saldiviai. A, B, C, D, E, MCF-PVPH-479 en vistas A, lateral; B, caudal; C, craneal; D, medial y E, proximal. A', B', C', D', E', Anabisetia saldiviai en vistas A', later- al; B', caudal; C', craneal; D', medial y E', proximal. F, F'. MEPyG-177 en F, vista interna y F', detalle de la foseta basitrocantérica. G, G', G´´, fé- mur derecho de Anabisetia saldiviai en G, vista medial; G', detalle de la foseta basitrocantérica; H, Cladograma estratigráfico calibrado del registro de dinosaurios ornitópodos en la cuenca Neuquina y de otras cuencas australes. La tibia MCF-PVPH-479 está representada por el número 1 y el fé- mur MEPyG-177 por el 2. Abreviaturas: bf: foseta basitrocantérica, cc: cresta cnemial, gt: trocánter mayor, h: cabeza femoral, fc: cóndilo fibular. Escalas: 10 cm. AMEGHINIANA 44 (1), 2007 Basal iguanodontians from Patagonia 475 AMEGHINIANA 44 (1), 2007 476 R.A. Coria, A.V. Cambiaso and L. Salgado 1974, 1981; Coria and Salgado, 1996a; Coria and Calvo, Basin of Chubut Province (figure 2.H). Notohypsi- 2002) (figure 2.G'). This is also the condition in me- lophodon is represented by a juvenile individual dium sized basal ornithopods like in "Loncosaurus ar- (Martínez, 1998), the tibia of which is significantly gentinus" (Coria and Salgado, 1996b) and Thescelo- smaller than the tibia of MCF-PVPH-479. The tibia of saurus (USNM 7757). Unlike hadrosaurs, where a well Notohypsilophodon has a smaller cnemial crest than defined basitrochanteric fossa is present, the specimen that of the Neuquenian specimen. Nevertheless, MEPyG-177 shows a basitrochanteric facet (not a fo- more anatomical evidence is needed for either link- ssa) with a posterior end defined by a sharp edge like ing or differentiating Notohypsilophodon and MCF- in the specimen known as "Loncosaurus argentinus". PVPH-749. The femur (MEPyG-177) was found in outcrops of the Allen Formation, considered mid Campanian- Discussion lower Maastrichtian in age (Hugo and Leanza, 2001). Until this discovery, the only ornithopods recorded Since the first South American dinosaur was re- from this level (and correlated) were the hadrosaurs ported (see Coria and Salgado, 2000) and throughout (Brett Surman, 1979; Bonaparte et al., 1984; Powell, most of the 20th Century, the only ornithopod di- 1987; Apesteguía and Cambiaso, 1999; González Riga nosaurs known from South America were and Casadío, 2000). hadrosaurs (Casamiquela, 1964; Bonaparte et al., MEPyG-177 suggests a Campanian-Maastrichtian 1984; Bonaparte and Rougier, 1987; Powell, 1987). basal group of ornithopods existed in South America However, discoveries made during the last fifteen together with the hadrosaurs. However, the available years have added new information about basal or- evidence prevents further specifications about the nithopods of the Mesozoic austral ecosystems. phylogenetic relationships of the femur MEPyG-177. The first non-hadrosaurian iguanodontian recog- Therefore, the information is