No abstract

Most of the postcranial skeleton of the sauropod dinosaur, Tehuelchesaurus benitezii, collected from the Cañadón Calcáreo Formation (Upper Jurassic) in the Chubut River valley, includes several fragments of skin impressions, which correspond to different parts of the body, such as portions of forelimbs, scapular and thorax regions. The most representative skin samples (Type I) consist of non-overlapping tubercular scales of hexagonal shape (3 cm long -2,4 cm width), alternating with smaller ones (2 cm long -1,5 cm width) disposed in a rosette pattern. Other scale samples (Type II) are similar to the first ones, but smaller in size, displaying rhomboidal shapes disposed also in a rosette pattern. This discovery means an unique opportunity to improve the knowledge of the external aspect of non-avian dinosaurs.

No abstract