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A new African Titanosaurian Sauropod Dinosaur from the middle Cretaceous Galula Formation (Mtuka Member), Rukwa Rift Basin, Southwestern Tanzania.
PLoS One. 2019; 14(2):e0211412.Plos

Abstract

The African terrestrial fossil record has been limited in its contribution to our understanding of both regional and global Cretaceous paleobiogeography, an interval of significant geologic and macroevolutionary change. A common component in Cretaceous African faunas, titanosaurian sauropods diversified into one of the most specious groups of dinosaurs worldwide. Here we describe the new titanosaurian Mnyamawamtuka moyowamkia gen. et sp. nov. from the Mtuka Member of the Galula Formation in southwest Tanzania. The new specimen preserves teeth, elements from all regions of the postcranial axial skeleton, parts of both appendicular girdles, and portions of both limbs including a complete metatarsus. Unique traits of M. moyowamkia include the lack of an interpostzygapophyseal lamina in posterior dorsal vertebrae, pronounced posterolateral expansion of middle caudal centra, and an unusually small sternal plate. Phylogenetic analyses consistently place M. moyowamkia as either a close relative to lithostrotian titanosaurians (e.g., parsimony, uncalibrated Bayesian analyses) or as a lithostrotian and sister taxon to Malawisaurus dixeyi from the nearby Aptian? Dinosaur Beds of Malawi (e.g., tip-dating Bayesian analyses). M. moyowamkia shares a few features with M. dixeyi, including semi-spatulate teeth and a median lamina between the neural canal and interpostzygapophyseal lamina in anterior dorsal vertebrae. Both comparative morphology and phylogenetic analyses support Mnyamawamtuka as a distinct and distant relative to Rukwatitan bisepultus and Shingopana songwensis from the younger Namba Member of the Galula Formation with these results largely congruent with newly constrained ages for the Mtuka Member (Aptian-Cenomanian) and Namba Member (Campanian). Coupled with recent discoveries from the Dahkla Oasis, Egypt (e.g., Mansourasaurus shahinae) and other parts of continental Afro-Arabia, the Tanzania titanosaurians refine perspectives on the development of African terrestrial faunas throughout the Cretaceous-a critical step in understanding non-marine paleobiogeographic patterns of Africa that have remained elusive until the past few years.

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Authors+Show Affiliations

Gorscak E
Department of Anatomy, Midwestern University, Downers Grove, Illinois, United States of America. Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America. Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, United States of America. Department of Biomedical Sciences, Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Athens, Ohio, United States of America. Ohio Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Studies, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, United States of America.
O'Connor PM
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Athens, Ohio, United States of America. Ohio Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Studies, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, United States of America.

MeSH

AnimalsBone and BonesDinosaursFossilsMetatarsusPhylogenySpineTanzaniaTerminology as TopicTooth

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Language

eng

PubMed ID

30759122

Citation

Gorscak, Eric, and Patrick M. O'Connor. "A New African Titanosaurian Sauropod Dinosaur From the Middle Cretaceous Galula Formation (Mtuka Member), Rukwa Rift Basin, Southwestern Tanzania." PloS One, vol. 14, no. 2, 2019, pp. e0211412.
Gorscak E, O'Connor PM. A new African Titanosaurian Sauropod Dinosaur from the middle Cretaceous Galula Formation (Mtuka Member), Rukwa Rift Basin, Southwestern Tanzania. PLoS One. 2019;14(2):e0211412.
Gorscak, E., & O'Connor, P. M. (2019). A new African Titanosaurian Sauropod Dinosaur from the middle Cretaceous Galula Formation (Mtuka Member), Rukwa Rift Basin, Southwestern Tanzania. PloS One, 14(2), e0211412. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0211412
Gorscak E, O'Connor PM. A New African Titanosaurian Sauropod Dinosaur From the Middle Cretaceous Galula Formation (Mtuka Member), Rukwa Rift Basin, Southwestern Tanzania. PLoS One. 2019;14(2):e0211412. PubMed PMID: 30759122.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - A new African Titanosaurian Sauropod Dinosaur from the middle Cretaceous Galula Formation (Mtuka Member), Rukwa Rift Basin, Southwestern Tanzania. AU - Gorscak,Eric, AU - O'Connor,Patrick M, Y1 - 2019/02/13/ PY - 2018/07/10/received PY - 2019/01/14/accepted PY - 2019/2/14/entrez PY - 2019/2/14/pubmed PY - 2019/11/23/medline SP - e0211412 EP - e0211412 JF - PloS one JO - PLoS One VL - 14 IS - 2 N2 - The African terrestrial fossil record has been limited in its contribution to our understanding of both regional and global Cretaceous paleobiogeography, an interval of significant geologic and macroevolutionary change. A common component in Cretaceous African faunas, titanosaurian sauropods diversified into one of the most specious groups of dinosaurs worldwide. Here we describe the new titanosaurian Mnyamawamtuka moyowamkia gen. et sp. nov. from the Mtuka Member of the Galula Formation in southwest Tanzania. The new specimen preserves teeth, elements from all regions of the postcranial axial skeleton, parts of both appendicular girdles, and portions of both limbs including a complete metatarsus. Unique traits of M. moyowamkia include the lack of an interpostzygapophyseal lamina in posterior dorsal vertebrae, pronounced posterolateral expansion of middle caudal centra, and an unusually small sternal plate. Phylogenetic analyses consistently place M. moyowamkia as either a close relative to lithostrotian titanosaurians (e.g., parsimony, uncalibrated Bayesian analyses) or as a lithostrotian and sister taxon to Malawisaurus dixeyi from the nearby Aptian? Dinosaur Beds of Malawi (e.g., tip-dating Bayesian analyses). M. moyowamkia shares a few features with M. dixeyi, including semi-spatulate teeth and a median lamina between the neural canal and interpostzygapophyseal lamina in anterior dorsal vertebrae. Both comparative morphology and phylogenetic analyses support Mnyamawamtuka as a distinct and distant relative to Rukwatitan bisepultus and Shingopana songwensis from the younger Namba Member of the Galula Formation with these results largely congruent with newly constrained ages for the Mtuka Member (Aptian-Cenomanian) and Namba Member (Campanian). Coupled with recent discoveries from the Dahkla Oasis, Egypt (e.g., Mansourasaurus shahinae) and other parts of continental Afro-Arabia, the Tanzania titanosaurians refine perspectives on the development of African terrestrial faunas throughout the Cretaceous-a critical step in understanding non-marine paleobiogeographic patterns of Africa that have remained elusive until the past few years. SN - 1932-6203 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/30759122/A_new_African_Titanosaurian_Sauropod_Dinosaur_from_the_middle_Cretaceous_Galula_Formation__Mtuka_Member__Rukwa_Rift_Basin_Southwestern_Tanzania_ DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -