Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.
Luis M. Chiappe,1*Leonardo Salgado,2Rodolfo A. Coria3
Little is known about the cranial anatomy of the
taxonomically diverse and geographically widespread titanosaurs, a
paucitythat has hindered inferences about the genealogical history andevolutionary development of the latest sauropod dinosaurs. Newlydiscovered fossil eggs containing embryonic remains from the LateCretaceous of Argentina provide the first articulated skulls oftitanosaur dinosaurs. The nearly complete fetal skulls shed lighton
the evolution of some of the most notable cranial featuresof sauropod
dinosaurs, including the retraction of the externalnares, the forward
rotation of the braincase, and the abbreviationof the infraorbital
region.
1 Department of Vertebrate Paleontology,
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Boulevard,
Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA.
2 Museo de
Geología y Paleontología, Universidad Nacional del
Comahue, Buenos Aires 1400, (8300) Neuquén, Provincia del
Neuquén, Argentina.
3 Museo Carmen Funes,
(8318) Plaza Huincul, Provincia del Neuquén, Argentina.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
lchiappe{at}nhm.org
