Overview
- CONICET-led researchers formally described the new species Huayracursor jaguensis based on an articulated skeleton from La Rioja’s Quebrada de Santo Domingo at more than 3,000 meters elevation.
- The fossil dates to roughly 230–225 million years ago in the Late Triassic, placing it among the oldest known sauropodomorphs and expanding the known distribution of early dinosaurs in southern Gondwana.
- Anatomy includes part of the skull, a complete vertebral series to the tail, and nearly intact forelimbs and hindlimbs, with an estimated adult length of about two meters and mass around 18 kilograms.
- Phylogenetic analysis places Huayracursor within Bagualasauria, with features indicating incipient neck elongation and relatively larger body size earlier than previous records suggested.
- Authors say the specimen will serve as a key reference for early sauropodomorph evolution, and stratigraphic work identifies a previously underexplored Triassic basin that will guide new field campaigns and detailed studies.