{"id":16925,"date":"2026-04-16T10:29:45","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T08:29:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/snsb.de\/?p=16925"},"modified":"2026-04-16T10:29:53","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T08:29:53","slug":"palaeontologists-discover-new-long-necked-dinosaur-in-patagonia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/snsb.de\/en\/palaeontologists-discover-new-long-necked-dinosaur-in-patagonia\/","title":{"rendered":"Palaeontologists Discover New Long-Necked Dinosaur in Patagonia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Palaeontology, Munich, 16.04.2026: A German-Argentine team of paleontologists led by SNSB dinosaur expert Oliver Rauhut has discovered a new long-necked dinosaur, Bicharracosaurus dionidei, from the Upper Jurassic period in Argentina, dating back approximately 155 million years. Long-necked dinosaur fossils from the Jurassic period in the Southern Hemisphere are rare, so the new fossil contributes to a better understanding of the evolution of these giant herbivores on the southern continents. The researchers have now published their findings in the journal PeerJ.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With their massive bodies, long necks and tails, and tiny heads, long-necked dinosaurs (sauropods) embody the image of a typical dinosaur for many people. Sauropods include the largest known land animals of all time, with body lengths of up to 40 meters; the best-known examples are Diplodocus<\/em> and Brachiosaurus<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new long-necked dinosaur from southern Argentina is not quite as large: the researchers estimate the length of Bicharracosaurus dionidei<\/em> to be around 20 meters. Parts of its spine were recovered, including over 30 neck, back, and tail vertebrae, several ribs, and a fragment of the pelvic bone. The structure of the bones indicates that the remains belong to an adult animal that lived on the southern continent of Gondwana around 155 million years ago. The fossil is interesting to researchers in many ways: it combines a mix of characteristics from both brachiosaurids and diplodocids. For instance, some skeletal parts of Bicharracosaurus<\/em> show similarities to the African Giraffatitan<\/em>, a brachiosaurid from Tanzania. Other features, particularly those of its dorsal vertebrae, resemble Diplodocus<\/em> and its closest relatives from North America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur phylogenetic analyses of the skeleton indicate that Bicharracosaurus dionidei<\/em> was related to the Brachiosauridae, which would make it the first Brachiosauridae from the Jurassic of South America,\u201d says LMU doctoral student Alexandra Reutter, first author of the study. The paleontologist analyzed the remains of the new dinosaur as part of her doctoral thesis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur knowledge of the evolution of sauropods from the Late Jurassic has so far been based almost entirely on numerous fossil findings from North America and other sites in the Northern Hemisphere. For a long time, there was only a single significant site on the southern continents, in Tanzania. The fossil site in the Argentine province of Chubut, from which Bicharracosaurus dionidei<\/em> originates, provides us with important comparative material, allowing us to continuously supplement and reevaluate our understanding of the evolutionary history of these animals, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere,\u201d says leader of the study and dinosaur expert Prof. Oliver Rauhut of the Bavarian State Collections of Natural History (SNSB).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first remains of Bicharracosaurus dionidei<\/em> were discovered by shepherd Dionide Mesa on his farm, the researchers chose the species name of the new dinosaur in his honor. The genus name is derived from \u201cbicharraco,\u201d colloquial Spanish for \u201cbig animal\u201d. The fossil comes from the Ca\u00f1ad\u00f3n Calc\u00e1reo rock formation in the Patagonian province of Chubut and is housed at the Museo Paleontol\u00f3gico Egidio Feruglio in Trelew, Argentina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publication:
<\/strong>Reutter A, Carballido JL, Windholz GJ, Pol D, Rauhut OWM. 2026. Bicharracosaurus dionidei<\/em>, gen. et sp. nov., a new macronarian (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Late Jurassic Ca\u00f1ad\u00f3n Calc\u00e1reo Formation of Argentina and the problematic early evolution of macronarians. PeerJ 14:e20945 <\/strong>http:\/\/doi.org\/10.7717\/peerj.20945<\/a>
<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientific Contact:<\/strong>
Prof. Dr. Oliver Rauhut
SNSB \u2013 Bayerische Staatssammlung f\u00fcr Pal\u00e4ontologie und Geologie
Richard-Wagner-Stra\u00dfe 10; 80333 M\u00fcnchen
Phone: 089 2180 6645
E-Mail: rauhut@snsb.de<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Landschaft<\/a>
Landscape view from the excavation site. Photo: Amalia Villafa\u00f1e<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Fossil<\/a>
Fossil extraction of Bicharracosaurus dionidei<\/em> in the field. (Photo: Pablo Puerta)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Wirbel<\/a>
Fossil extraction of Bicharracosaurus dionidei<\/em> in the field. (Photo: Pablo Puerta)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\u00c4lterer<\/a>
Dionide Mesa, discoverer of the Bicharracosaurus<\/em> fossils. (Photo: Mar\u00eda Agustinho)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Pr\u00e4paratorin<\/a>
Bicharracosaurus<\/em> vertebrae under preparation at the Museo Paleontol\u00f3gico Egidio Feruglio in Trelew, Argentinien. (Photo: Amalia Villafa\u00f1e)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Forscherin<\/a>
Alexandra Reutter studying Bicharracosaurus<\/em> fossils in the collection of the Museo Paleontol\u00f3gico Egidio Feruglio. (Photo: Amalia Villafa\u00f1e)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Palaeontology, Munich, 16.04.2026: A German-Argentine team of paleontologists led by SNSB dinosaur expert Oliver Rauhut has discovered a new long-necked dinosaur, Bicharracosaurus dionidei, from the Upper Jurassic period in Argentina, dating back approximately 155 million years. Long-necked dinosaur fossils from the Jurassic period in the Southern Hemisphere are rare, so the new fossil contributes to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":16915,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/snsb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/snsb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/snsb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snsb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snsb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16925"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/snsb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16981,"href":"https:\/\/snsb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16925\/revisions\/16981"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snsb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/snsb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snsb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snsb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}