Neuquensaurus

Neuquensaurus (meaning "Neuquén lizard") is a genus of saltasaurid sauropod dinosaur that lived in the Late Cretaceous, about 80 million years ago in Argentina in South America.

Its fossils were recovered from outcrops of the Anacleto Formation around Cinco Saltos, near the Neuquén river from which its name is derived.

In 1893, Richard Lydekker named Titanosaurus australis, based on a series of caudal vertebrae and limb elements.

[1] The same year, von Huene named a Titanosaurus robustus, and claimed it differed from T. australis in the limb material.

Von Huene described all the slender limb material to T. australis, but did not identify any differentiating features between the vertebrae.

The centra are elongate, compressed vertically, and strongly opisthocoelous, with an ovoid pleurocoel and rounded neural spine.

Two accessory laminae are present in the dorsals of Neuquensaurus that are absent even in the close relatives Saltasaurus and Rocasaurus.

The features found by Otero in 2010 are: the possession of posterior caudal centra that are dorsoventrally flattened, and strongly developed fibular lateral tuberosity.

[1] The cladogram from Rubilar-Rogers et al. (2021) is shown below:[9] Malawisaurus Baurutitan Rapetosaurus Arackar Isisaurus Tapuiasaurus Alamosaurus Opisthocoelicaudia Neuquensaurus Saltasaurus

Holotypic caudal vertebrae
Size comparison
Humerus and replica skull
Restored skeleton of N. australis