A new genus and species of titanosaurus, a sauropod dinosaur that lived during the Cretaceous period, has been identified from fossils found in northern Patagonia, Argentina.
rebuilding the life of Yenen Hassai. Image credit: Gabriel Rio.
named Yenen Hassaia new species roamed our planet about 83 million years ago (Late Cretaceous period).
Ancient creatures belong to titanosauridaea group of large, long-necked plant-eating dinosaurs that inhabited the Gondwana supercontinent.
“Yenen Hassai The head was small compared to the rest of the body,” said Dr. Leonardo Filippi, a paleontologist at CONICET and Urquiza Municipal Museum in Argentino.
“It was 10 to 12 meters (33 to 39 feet) long and weighed about 8 to 10 tons.”
fossil remains are Yenen Hassai was recovered from Bajo de la Culpa formation A place known as Cerro Obero la Invernada in the province of Neuquén, Patagonia, Argentina.
This material represents one of the most complete skeletons of a titanosaurus found in the region, preserving six cervical vertebrae, ten dorsal vertebrae with associated ribs, the sacrum, and the first caudal vertebrae.
In addition to the holotype individual, paleontologists identified the remains of at least two other sauropods at the site. They also include a juvenile specimen and another adult titanosaurus that may belong to another as-yet-undescribed species.
“As a result of phylogenetic analysis, Yenen Hassai is closely related to Nalambuenatitan and Overosaurusas a basal member of an unnamed clade of derived non-litrostrossian saltasaurids,” they said.
“Evidence from the sauropod titanosaur fauna of Cerro Obero la Invernada suggests that species diversity was relatively high during the Santonian period, and that at least two lineages, colossosaurs and saltasauroids, coexisted.”
“This discovery makes the Cerro Obero-La Invernada region the region with the greatest diversity of titanosaurs for the Santonians of the Neuquen Basin, making it a special region for understanding the evolution of the dinosaur fauna during this period.”
This finding is reported in the following article: paper Published in the Journal on January 12, 2026 historical biology.
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LS Philippi others. Yenen Hassai generation. etc. November Overview of the diversity of sauropod titanosaurs from the Cerro Overo-La Invernada region (Bajo de la Carpa Formation of the Santonian), Northern Patagonia, Argentina. historical biologypublished online on January 12, 2026. doi: 10.1080/08912963.2025.2584707