Changes in vertebral laminae across the cervicodorsal transition of a well-preserved rebbachisaurid (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Cenomanian of Patagonia, Argentina

Abstract

The fossil record of rebbachisaurid sauropods has greatly increased recently (Calvo and Salgado, 1995; Bonaparte, 1996; Dalla Vecchia, 1998; Sereno et al., 1999, 2007; Medeiros and Schultz, 2001; Pereda-Suberbiola et al., 2001, 2003; Salgado et al., 2004, 2006; Gallina and Apestegu´ıa, 2005; Apestegu´ıa, 2007; Mannion, 2009). The first fossil remains belonging to this group were described by Nopcsa (1902) but only recently recognized as a rebbachisaurid (Calvo and Salgado, 1995; Apestegu´ıa, 2007). Lavocat (1954) erected Rebbachisaurus garasbae, which has a scapula with broad, ‘racquet’-shaped blade, and a mid-dorsal vertebra with a very tall neural spine. This family is mostly known from rather fragmentary remains, and many specimens are unpublished or only partially described (Gallina and Apestegu´ıa, 2005)...