Titanosaurian (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) remains from the “Continental Intercalaire” of Mali

ABSTRACT

We describe fragmentary new postcranial remains of a sauropod from “Continental Intercalaire” rocks of the Tilemsi Valley in northeastern Mali. Addition of this taxon to recently published cladistic analyses indicates that it is nested within Titanosauria and it is among the oldest members of this clade. “Continental Intercalaire” rocks have been poorly understood and, until now, few vertebrate fossils from these rocks have been tied to stratigraphic sections. We present a preliminary description of the dinosaurian locality and tie it to a synthetic stratigraphic section of the Tilemsi Valley. Preliminary analysis of the geology and sedimentology of the locality suggests that the bones fossilized in fluvial deposits of Early Cretaceous (pre-Cenomanian) age.