Overview

• The CONICET-led team, headed by Martín Hechenleitner at CRILAR, formally names the species in a peer-reviewed study.
• Dating to roughly 230–225 million years ago, the find places the animal among the earliest known sauropodomorphs.
• The specimen preserves part of the skull, a complete vertebral column through the tail, and largely intact fore and hind limbs.
• Analyses indicate a longer neck and relatively small skull for its body size, with these traits appearing 5–8 million years earlier than previously inferred.
• Work at the high-altitude Quebrada de Santo Domingo underscores the Precordillera’s importance alongside Ischigualasto and southern Brazil for Triassic dinosaur research.