Quetecsaurus

Quetecsaurus is known from a partial skeleton that includes a postorbital bone, teeth, the atlas, a rear cervical vertebra, an incomplete dorsal vertebra, a rear caudal centrum, dorsal ribs, a coracoid, five metacarpals, and fragments of a humerus, radius and ulna.1

It is the first sauropod with well-preserved remains to be discovered in the Cerro Lisandro Formation.1

Quetecsaurus had three unique features that set it apart from other dinosaurs. Its atlas had a prominent front bottom edge and enlarged back bottom processes. Its humerus had a strongly S-shaped top border. And the neural spines on its rear neck vertebrae had small side expansions.1

Scientists think Quetecsaurus was closely related to other giant titanosaurs like Mendozasaurus and Futalognkosaurus. It belongs to a group called Lognkosauria.1

The name Quetecsaurus comes from the Milcayac word 'quetec', meaning fire, and the Greek word 'sauros', meaning lizard.1

Quetecsaurus lived during the Turonian stage of the Late Cretaceous, about 93 to 90 million years ago.2